I buy 3-5 books a week. I make a weekly trip to Barnes and Noble. Sometimes with a list of recommendations or books that I’ve found on online list. I’ll grab books that look like a good read, seem interesting, or simply because they look really cool and I want them on my shelf. I buy books on eBay and used book stores/thrift shops, etc. My dilemma is I am only reading about 1 a month ( depending on size and complexity, of course, so that’s a rough average) I justify this as my crutch, as I don’t drink or do drugs. Also by telling myself that there may come a day where I won’t be able to afford to buy books, and I’ll be freshly stocked on new reads by then.
Anyone else have this issue? Thoughts?
I love buying books…, the covers… the smells… who cares when I get around to reading them!
I like your style! I just recently learned (3 minutes ago) that there is a label for this; Tsundoku, and I happily “suffer” from it!
If you can afford it and it brings you enjoyment and you have adequate storage area for them, then if you enjoy buying books, buy them!
I have had to be frugal with my purchases. There are many times when I want to go to a bookstore and purchase lots of books that I’ve wanted to read or have heard are enjoyable. But I’m far away from stores, so it’s not as much temptation. Also, the family budget curbs my spending. I’d much rather use the public library and their ebook system (Libby app) to read a book. If I really enjoyed the book, I would then buy it.
It saddens me when I see people who buy books and then the books aren’t stored properly; their spines and covers and pages get damaged. It’s just like shoes, clothes, purses, cars, knickknacks, etc.: if you don’t store them properly, they are disused. Treat your belongings well.
Conspicuous consumption at best, shopping addiction at worst. In any case it’s your money and life you’re impacting, and no you are not the only one who exhibits this behavior.
They even called it a crutch and compared it to alcohol and drugs.
There are worse vices, but I don’t get why some of the other comments are enthusiastically supporting OP. This isn’t healthy.
You need the library.
If you loved the book, then buy it.
Buying/collecting books and reading books are two different hobbies.
Yeah if you’re buying 20 books a month and reading one, you might as well be being dust jackets wrapped around house bricks.
Maybe make a pile of all the books in your house you havent read yet, and the next time yiu feel like buying books, go through that pile and see which books you doscover in there. They’re still brand new books you havent read yet, but browsing your own stuff is free.
Or go to your local library. While there may be a monthly or annual fee, you can usually check out as many books per year as you want for free. It doesnt even matter if you read them, as long as you use their services, they even profit from that while you save money.
Buying and reading books are two different hobbies as far as I’m concerned. If you don’t go over the line and buy more than you can realistically afford, I don’t think it’s an issue. I had a period when I bought books non-stop until I started running out of space and I took a good look at my bookcase to realise I had everything I was interested in so far. Just like that. When I browsed through various lists, videos, bestseller sections, etc. I just saw that there was nothing there that I wanted to read that I didn’t already have. I read according to my mood. I can go months without reading anything and then devour more than ten books in a month. It works for me because I have something I’m in the mood for at the moment, so I can just pick up a book and read it. I honestly don’t feel any guilt or regret about that book purchases of mine. Plus, seeing all those books every day brings me so much joy!
At least shop local book sellers rather than the big chains like B&N!
Wow people have money to spend on books I just am in my Libby app like twice a day.
I buy books, sometimes, that will sit on the shelf for months, even years. One day I would wake up and feel like it’s time to read, and I feel good about it. Reading is so cool. Buying books also helps authors and litterature as whole. So its really just a minor vice if done compulsively and one heck of a hobbit if you tell me
Honestly I think it’s really wasteful. I only buy new books if I specifically want to support the author. Otherwise I mainly use the library or sometimes buy used. I’m not much of a re-reader so I don’t see the point of owning something that I’m going to use once. In general I’m anti-consumption and I hate stuff for stuff’s sake.
Books used to be one of my guilty pleasure items, but I was able to move on from it. For me personally, stockpiling can be very compulsive, so doesn’t feel like just a benign addiction.
As long as you aren’t spending income that isn’t disposable, I don’t see a problem. It’s nice to have a big library of books to choose from. You’ll never run out of things to look forward to.