I read this question over at Pop Culture Junkie, so I had to steal it and answer it on my blog, too.
Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?
In the last few years I've developed a nice system. Over the course of the year, I fill my Amazon Wish List with books that I want. I only receive birthday/Christmas presents from two sets of parents and my husband, but all I ask from them are books off my list. This past holiday/birthday season, I received a total of 17 new books. It's now May and I still haven't read them all.
This doesn't mean that I don't buy books myself, however it's usually only ones that I can't wait for and want to own: i.e. Harry Potter, Twilight, It Sucked and Then I Cried, etc. So in the first five months of 2009, I think I've only purchased two books. I'm proud of that. I also have borrowed several books, which is a great way to read and save money. And once my holiday books run out, I'm going to check out the library in our new city. (We've lived here for a year, but I haven't made it to the library down the road yet.) Bills are increasing and money's getting tight, so I'm going to try my hardest to not buy too many new books for the rest of 2009. While that might mean the pickings will be slim and this blog will review quite a few more "chick lit" books (they seem to always be in great supply at the library), it's probably the best idea in the end.
So, what about you?
5 comments:
I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised by the library! Like I tell netflix addicts, you can get the movies you want, you just might have to wait in the queue. Same with books. It's a great money-saving way to keep reading!
I went mad in the year I worked at the bookstore and bought a bunch of books I've still not read, then I did the same thing a few years ago at a "buy 5 for $2" sale at a charity event. I recently looked back at those books and the ones I got at the bookstore I still want to read, the ones at the charity event I don't. I can tell how much I've changed in the last few years when I look at those books and they are all the same type of book, sad, coming of age stories. Not that I still don't like a good coming of age story, but I like a little more diversity in my reading now. It's actually nice to see how this little girls grown up a bit!
I'll probably recycle some of them off to the charity to be re-sold to someone else.
p.s. Like the new color scheme!
My "to read" stack is fairly ridiculous. It doesn't fit on my bookshelf anymore, so I have stacks of books on the floor in my room. This is mostly due to the fact that my mother is a constantly buying new books, and when she is finished with them she passes them on to me. Also, I check books out from the library when they catch my eye, which doesn't help the stack get any smaller.
I have this wonderful coworker who likes the same types of books I do and generously lends them to me when she's done. I love it (and her!) because it saves me a trip to the library, which isn't as much fun now that I have an almost-2-year-old who wants to run, run, run.
4you - I think the thing about Netflix and buying books from Amazon is that they come to you. Some people just want to pay for the convenience of not having to leave the house. Obviously the library saves the money - and it's important to support our libraries - so I can see both sides.
CMS - Wow, she sounds really nice. I bet she feels the same way about you. :)
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