The Value of Art, Owning Physical Copies

Yesterday, I went to Powell's - yes the Powell's of that other post on here - and I was faced with this question of: what do I buy? Though this question should be straightforward, I was not exactly sure why I was there, what I wanted to buy. So I had to question the value of art, owning physical copies. I would not simply be borrowing like from a library but I had to justify the purchase - the art would have to warrant repeated considerations and last them, offering value evermore. Ultimately, I was restricted to $30 and my summed price, with four items, ended up being closer to $50. Having purchased a game earlier that day - to replace a faulty disc of a game i have to consider fairly foundational to my past self, especially the 5th grade me who mentioned it in a winter break journal assignment for class - I was rather defense. I could defend that choice to myself easily based on sentimental value and my friend telling me that it was a rather good price. But how on earth did I whittle my choice down? The prima facie claim is simply that I need to have engaged a work by the same author or have seen the anime adaptation - in other words, I want some familiarity. Purchasing a volume of the Hayate the Combat Butler manga would have forced me to skip from #1 to #4, which made me hesitant. And the other option was leaping into the first light novel of Spice and Wolf, which I am not familiar with. To be fair, I did read World End Economica Part One written by the same author and the S&W description sounded interesting. But somehow it felt like a leap. One item did come obviously - Durarara LN 1 - because it was what I had wanted. A quick skim revealed an interesting structure, so I knew that this would be enjoyable, and I've seen it adapted. Something about this combination of Drrr and text seemed right. Now, I will mention the second work that I purchased - for I ended up purchasing only two...It was Solanin by Inio Asano, author of Oyasumi Punpun, the only manga I have awarded masterpiece status. There was further depth to this decision: the work was dubbed a Staff Pick, especially suitable for twentysomethings. Unlike Punpun, this work gave off the initial perception of seeming close to home - I am very different from Punpun, but I expect that Solanin will dig deep in a personal way. That's not to say that Oyasumi Punpun can't do that, but it achieves it in a different manner. It's not something immediate to my life, I mean. I got this sense just from the Staff Pick note and skimming the description on the back. Out of all four works I considered in Powell's, I would say that I am most excited for Solanin. So we'll see how I fare. And then I'll leap into Infinite Jest and just focus on it.