Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
Group Discussions
>
How do you justify your book obsession?
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Lisarenee
(new)
Nov 04, 2010 05:07AM
Okay, I don't know about anyone else, but I love buying books. If I really love a series or author I try to buy all of the books associated with that series or author. How do I justify my purchases? I usually allow myself $20 every couple of weeks to eat out, spend on miscellaneous items, etc. If there is a new release I must have I will put that money toward my book purchases. I also cut coupons, so If I manage to save the amount to purchase a book I will put my savings toward a book purchase. Does anyone else do something similar? How do you justify your book obsession?
reply
|
flag
I justify my book obsession because it is a better habit than alcohol or cigarettes. I also don't go to the movies, eat out, or have my nails done. I see books as the treat that I am buying for my self. Recently I have also been relying heavily on library books to feed my obsession so that I can keep my actual book purchases down to 4-5 books a month. Also if I feel bad about buying a $15 new release hardback book, I just remind myself that I am expanding my vocabulary and adding to a collection that can be passed down to my children (if I have any).
It could be justified in so many ways, but it doesn't really need to be justified in my opinion.If you don't read so much that it makes you antisocial, there's no downside to reading, is there? It makes you smarter. And if you, like me, are not English or American and read books in English, it improves your skills on that front as well.
Anyway, that's what I tell my self ;) So maybe there's a little justifying on my part?
Reading is a great habit in my opinion!
I'm with you, Lacy. Except for the booze part - there will always be a couple bottles of something in the house, be it vodka, gin, wine, cognac, whatever. And a pack of cigs is the same cost as a mass market and mass markets don't cause health problems.I hardly ever go out either. If I do, it's out to lunch/dinner with a friend and then we hit up a bookstore. Buy mostly used books or wait for 40% coupons at Borders or check what the discount for a book is at Amazon. I don't think I've paid full price for a book in a loooooong time. I don't get a latte every morning anymore, so that's an extra $5 in my pocket everyday and I'm trying to brown bag it to work so there's another $10-$15. I figure that money was going to be used for something, so why not make it something I'll enjoy?
I have greatly slowed down in my purchases lately though. Almost everything I've bought in the last month has been a pre-order. The only reason for that is because I ran out of room. My wall-o-books is full and the stacks on top of those bookcases are reaching the ceiling. Now I've got stacks going in front of the TV and on the floor. I'm trying to force myself to read at least a bookshelf before I buy more books (that aren't pre-orders at least). And I have to start getting rid of the books that I probably won't read again.
I have learned to budget my book spending habit due to a big surprise about 2 months after I got my Nook. See my Nook is tried to my credit card and since I can purchase books directly from my Nook I was satisfying my instant need of buying book after book not really calculating how many books I had brought or how much I was spending cause after all I was doing was pressing a button and I wasn't actually in a store so really how much damage could I do...yea my credit card bill for that month was my wake up call who knew I could spend that much on books in one month and I am talking about well over $300. So I now on a very strict book diet with a set budgeted amount on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month as my allowed purchase window. So far it’s working cause I have discovered Overdrive (the eBook library), and I have friends and family who feed my addiction in terms of gift cards which I ration out for my must have pre-orders. I am a woman with a plan so I can have my cake and eat it too or in my cause have my books and read them too. =)
I have to admit Tai I've purchased some of the free books via the Kindle and the fact you can buy it with the tap of a button makes me nervous. What if I tap the wrong button or I do it accidentally courtesy of fat fingers syndrome? I don't see a way to instantly remove a mistake. Can you imagine if my 6 year old accidentally got a hold of it while it was in purchase mode? Yikes! A scary thought.
Well you have to confirm your purchase once you purchase with a another tap but I totally agree with you. The next upgrade that comes out at the end of this month includes a password protection option which I am excited about because there is nothing stopping your 6 yr or anyone who wonders across it from shopping till their hearts content and running up the credit card attached to it.
I must say that I have bought *a lot* of books over the last few months. Barnes & Noble has had their fall bargain book sale and there were sooo many books by sooo many authors that I enjoy. I probably spent a couple of hundred dollars, maybe more. That being said, I really didn't read heavily until this year (now I can't stop) so I don't have a huge personal library built up.Most of my books that I do read tend to come from the library. Because of the town that I live in and the way that the taxes are structured I have to pay $38 every quarter for my library card (even though I live within walking distance... go figure)
I am a Amazon Prime member and a Barnes & Noble member so I get free shipping from both sites. Very dangerous when your CC is tied to your account. I have a bunch of Kelley Armstrong books in my Amazon cart right now begging for me to click the Place Order button.
I just today discovered the Book Swap feature on this site (I'm new to Goodreads). I've requested several books from other people that I would like to read. I don't have many to put up myself though since I typically give my books away to friends after I've read them.
But in all I think this is a pretty guiltless hobby... especially if you read what you buy!
Stacy wrote: "But in all I think this is a pretty guiltless hobby... especially if you read what you buy!"Ah. See, there's the thing. I keep buying but don't get around to reading too much. Mostly because I keep requesting books from the library that I'm not sure I want to buy, then I get caught up with those and then I have to get the next book in a series or another book by that author, etc. It's a vicious cycle.
Sans wrote: "Stacy wrote: "But in all I think this is a pretty guiltless hobby... especially if you read what you buy!"Ah. See, there's the thing. I keep buying but don't get around to reading too much. Mostl..."
I hear you! I have about 100 books on my shelves waiting to be read. The problem is, I keep finding books at the library that I want to read so I read those first... My shelves are mostly unread!
*coughover1,000cough* ^_^; I posted a picture of my wall-o-books to my profile. Except for a couple of stacks on the top left of the picture, those are all unread. Yeah. At least I'm not hoarding the books I did read but didn't love! I sell those off or swap them.
Sans wrote: "*coughover1,000cough* ^_^; I posted a picture of my wall-o-books to my profile. Except for a couple of stacks on the top left of the picture, those are all unread. Yeah. At least I'm not hoarding t..."OMG!!!! I just looked at the picture of your wall of books. WOW! Looks like heaven to me. They look like mostly hardcovers. Do you swap off the paperbacks?
Those are all mostly unread? LOL.... at least you aren't at a loss for something to read.
Seriously I'm totally drooling over here!
LOL! Thank you again! They're mostly mass markets. Which is another reason I have so bloody many! It's too easy to hit up my local UBS and get two mass markets for the price of one new one. I end up "justifying" myself into $100 of books. Gah!
I tend to get a bit *ehem* agressive when people tell me I read too much. Let's just leave it at that.
*points Niquae to the wall-o-books picture* I have maybe 30 of those 1,000 books read. Yeah. ~_~
Whenever I come home from a book shopping spree (which is nearly every week) my Mother gives me that look that says 'This addiction is costing you' and when she goes to say something I always say 'Would you rather me spend my money on books that will inspire and teach me or on drugs and alcohol that will only damage my brain?' and she smiles, nods and ignores the pile of books building on my bookshelf.
I've never had to. My mom loved books as much as I do, she always used to tell me, "Books aren't spending money." I was a daddy's girl, so if I wanted something, I got it. My husband takes me all around town to used book stores, sometimes 6 or 8 in a day. I refuse to justify it. If I'm not happy I don't bake and if I don't bake, no one's happy.
Shay, does your husband have an available brother? ^o^
Sans wrote: "Shay, does your husband have an available brother? ^o^"Everyone asks that. Let's just say I got the pick of the litter.
Well, I recently used my non-smoking as a way to justify my book spending. That's right, I don't smoke and either does my husband. We were watching TV and an anti-smoking ad came on. I googled the price of cigarettes in Canada and estimated I'd spend approx $50 a week on smokes.
I told my husband that as long as I spend less than $50 a week on books than we're on top!
YES, I know that doesn't make sense, but that's my latest way to justify my spending!
Well I don't smoke, drink or cheat on my husband. I also pay taxes but I don't know if that should count because I'd rather not and if I could find a way out of it I would even if it were illegal.So, a girl has to have some vices. Mine are sugar and books.
I've stop telling people now when I get a new book, as they just look at me like a wierdo, as if to say not another one. My mother used to say I was a freak for reading so much. While they do make me smarter and I love readin, They cost to much especially new releases. So I'm constantly justifiying why I spend so much (it's not as bad now that i've discoved amazon).
Frankie wrote: "...(it's not as bad now that i've discovered amazon..."Have you tried the book depository? They ship for free worldwide and the prices are amazing. I'm in Canada and I was shocked to see the prices so much lower than amazon or Chapters. http://www.bookdepository.com
You all will find this a bit funny but I was shopping today and I absolutley LOVE Christmas books but to find one today by one of my favorite Authors was priceless so I put it in my husbands hands and said its for my stocking & now he is an accomplice to my habit. :D
Angie wrote: "Frankie wrote: "...(it's not as bad now that i've discovered amazon..."Have you tried the book depository? They ship for free worldwide and the prices are amazing. I'm in Canada and I was shock..."
Thank you
I'm going to check it out now.
Denial. I do not have a book obsession.
I look at it this way. I only really started building my collection in the last two years. Before that I didn't really buy a lot of books or read a lot of books. I am an English major in college and eventually I want to be a book editor so I look at the books I buy as an investment in my future. How am I ever going to be able to read a bunch of books for a job, if I can't do it on my own? haha My fiance thinks it's ridiculous but I enjoy books plus I don't watch that much t.v. so books are my entertainment. We don't go out that often and I don't have any other major expenses so I use my "mad money" for books. The only part that sucks is that I need to buy a new book shelf because mine is over flowing!!
BTW San's I love your wall-o-books!! That is my dream, to have a collection of books that spans an entire wall!!
Thank you, Sarah! I just need a bigger wall now. ^o^
You're very welcome! I showed the picture to my fiance and told him that was what I wanted one day and he looked at me like I was crazy. LMAO
