Beer or Book?

I haven't heard any explanation for why this is the case but for some reason books are extremely expensive in Medellín. I discovered this in a local bookstore trying to find something written in relatively basic Spanish to practice with. As a result, counterfeit books are one of the products that street venders try to stuff through car windows while they're stopped at red lights. Livia's an avid reader in spite of this and this is a book that cost her 100.000 pesos. For frame of reference, a beer costs around 2.000 pesos. I wonder if this has an effect on how much people read here. I mean seriously, if you had to choose between a book or 50 beers, which would you pick?