Books... books... books...

I am sitting here at work trying to figure out the most cost efficient way of getting the books I need for class. It would be no problem for me to buy them all, if
A. they were going to be used again
B. they did not cost an arm, buttcheek, and all my life's savings
C. they would actually be used in class... meaning, more than just the first 6 classes, and
D. students would receive more then 5 pennies and a pat on the back when they sell them back to the store...

Textbooks cost entirely TOO much, and selling them back to the store just for them to resell them to students (or not accept them at all because a new addition with a new cover and a few extra 'the's have been added) is not something that has ever sat well with me. Therefore, I look to the libraries first, and then to online sources (such as amazon.com) before I venture into the school store to be bamboozeled by the prices... oh why can't life be as simple as it was when we were in elementary school and books were already in the classroom and tasted like playdough LOL... well maybe not that, but they didn't require a blood signature to get (and they would be used next year!)... I guess I'm just venting about how ridiculous it is that in such an economy the prices are high for books in general, and then so called updated books whose information hasn't really changed... maybe that's why I stopped reading like I used to when I was youger... the joy seems to have faded away... hopefully it will come back once I've graduated...