My name is Carin....and I'm a Bookaholic. I'm not gonna lie. I really am. Over the years, I have picked up a book here, and a book there, and now my shelves are overflowing with unread books. Do I need more books? Well, the bookaholic in me says "yes" but truth be told...NO, I absolutely do not need more books. Therefore, I am instituting a one month ban for myself to buy books.
Tara at 25 Hour Books is hosting this great event for compulsive book buyers like myself. She has also instituted a one month ban for buying books. She has posted a link for her event HERE.
The rules are simple:
- Admit you have a problem.
- Figure out what you already own. Tara has posted a great setup for Google Docs that you can view to help you take inventory of your unread books.
- Do not walk in a bookstore for a month.
- I can accept review copies or copies that I win from giveaways.
- I may also accept copies given to me by friends and family.
- I may purchase or check out from the library the books for my real life book clubs.
Here is a copy of my TBR List if you would like to view it. In all I have 98 books! 98!!!! It is so out of control. I didn't realize how bad of a problem I had until I went through the house to look for all the books I haven't read. This isn't even counting all of my eBooks (most of which I have gotten for free)!
I clearly have a problem! I definitely must work on this!
I clearly have a problem! I definitely must work on this!
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14 comments:
I've already admitted this problem - it's been 5 weeks since I bought a book last and I am capable now of walking in a bookshop and coming out empty handed. (Well, I spent as much on a cup of coffee and a biscuit as I could had on a book which is beyond the point!)
I have 414 books on my TBR. Actually whoops - I am soon receiving a book from another blogger (Consumed by Books) so soon it'll be 415 and as I'm re-reading Harry Potter that won't be going down any time soon!
I've had a few 'near misses' at The Book Depository where my fingers literally tingle with the desire to buy a book. I know I'm going to face a tougher test after I finish the HP series as there are some Japanese books that I REALLY want to read and the library doesn't have them and I have a slight fetish for freshly bought, virgin books.
Good luck with your ban it gets a lot easier the longer you stick to it. This is the first time I've actually had any major success at banning myself. My TBR hasn't seemed to have gone down any more though as I found some books I hadn't added to my inventory list! Ahhhh!
@Fiona - Whew! 414 books. OK, I officially feel better. ;)
We should do a Clavell read-a-long at some point since we both have the books on our lists. I have read Tai-Pan (it was good), but got stuck on Gai-Jin (I gave up right when it got exciting--I was pretty busy at the time with different things in life). If I decide to pick them up anytime soon, I'll let you know!
Thanks for joining! Great rules!
I think I'm going to stay out of the bookstore too. The only problem with that is Amazon... which I cannot stay away from :)
Online book shopping is so easy and definitely makes the ban hard. At least with physical shops you can just run past the place with your eyes shut. Obviously I don't have to click onto The Book Depository or Amazon, wherever but sometimes my finger slips.
When I first discovered The Book Depository I went on a bit of a spree... 2 weeks and 13 books later... I banned myself!
@Tara and @Fiona - Oh yes...the online booksellers. They are definitely my downfall! I'm going to try! Really try. Smack me if get the itch to buy. I may actually try to continue my ban for more than a month because at ~100 books in my shelves it is really quite ridiculous to buy more.
You could always give yourself a reward system - every ten books you read you can buy one.
For me, incentives did not work. What did work for me was betting someone that I could last longer then they can. Unfortunately she's holding out for quite a while... every day I hope she fails because I really wanna buy a book! But I don't want to lose.
@Fiona - OK. I feel convicted after talking to you on Twitter. I can't promise 10 books, but maybe 7? Hehehehe! But maybe I'll make the book ban go on for longer than a month. Is that a good compromise?
YES! Let's do this! :)
I had a weak moment this morning when a blog I read talked about a book I REALLY want! ...!! aahhh
Good luck! I have no will power and always fail miserably at any self-imposed ban.
@Rachel - I know! I just thought of a book that I was thinking of getting. There is an author event at a local bookstore that I was thinking of going to but now that I have done the book ban, I can't go. We need to be strong! Hehe!
@softdrink - Thanks! I know. Self-imposed bans are so difficult to keep to. I am still not sure if I can swing The Brothers Karamazov, but I really want to try. I will definitely be checking up on the posts and hopefully I can swing it!
Hello Carin. I am here to make you feel better about yourself: I currently own 180 unread books. Yes, I have a problem. I have gone 2 months without buying. Maybe I should instigate the ban again, or wel, I haven't bought anything in July. But I'm guessing that I might receive a few books for my birthday this month.
Anyway, good luck on your ban! A month is very do-able, I promise. (You can always list what you really want to buy for afterwards and somehow, that makes it all the more easy to resist actually buying them.
I just have to share this with you...
I had the weirdest dream last night. I was in the bookshop, a much bigger and better version then my nearest one - and I spent all night agonising over the fact that I really wanted to get We Have to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver but I couldn't because I was on a book ban! And I was thinking ah one won't hurt. I don't mind losing my bet, I don't mind falling at the first hurdle.
I did actually walk out of that bookshop empty handed though so I think that's a good sign. I'd spent the first part of the dream counting up the money I'd saved from buying books (and slicing up a loaf) to put in my piggy bank (including the loaf) which was kinda... weird.
I'm continuously trying to get my TBR down and generally not doing too badly. All my TBR books (about 25 only) are together on the shelves so it's easy to see how many there are.
I always think that new books are more fun than the ones I already have, but from experience, I now know that between those TBR books, there are likely to be one or two gems that I haven't discovered yet.
For the time being, I won't be buying books, but I will get them from the library. Another downfall.
@leeswammes - 25 books only? I am so ashamed of myself! I need to get my TBR pile down. I am working on it. Middlemarch and The Brothers Karamazov I've had for years so hopefully I'll get those read this year! New books are always more fun than books I already own. That's why I have so many. I'm just going to do Chicachic's "Want Books" meme instead of going out to buy books at least for this month!
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