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The "I-Must-Not-Buy-Any-More-Books" Thread
message 1101:
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Rebecca NJ
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Apr 16, 2009 04:01AM
I just saw this list and I had to laugh. Every month I promise to start reading the books I own and then the next thing I know, I have more books from the library. I have really cut down on my shopping the last few years and was amazed when I realized how much I was spending! But no matter what, I can't seem to tackle the ones on my shelf. I won't even mention how many unread books I own! I'll have to keep checking back to see how everyone is doing :) Good luck!
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Ugh, this is the thread for me ladies! I hear each and every one of you! I go to Barnes and Noble at least once a week, with good intentions of coffee and "just browsing" I might add. The buy 2, get 1 free books along with the bargain books are just so strategically placed for your browsing pleasure! And when the new releases come out, there are coupons, plus additional 10% off with your membership and who knows how long it will be til they go back to regular price, must grab them now!! Eek.
And I just got an online coupon for 15% off in my inbox this morning :(
My other way of innocently conning myself into buying more books is Amazon, there prices are great, and sometimes you just have to see if they are "in stock", then you find yourself filling your cart with a few more to get that free shipping!!!
Never ending cycle :)
Phew, I feel better.
I am doing the same thing. I have been at the library about 1 time a week to make sure that I don't buy.Although I did buy the Harry Potter books as I read them because I knew that I would want them.
Okay, so after splurging on 35 books at the library sale (amazing prices, though), I've decided to try to abstain from book shopping until at least November (which is the next library sale). Library's okay and so is paperbackswap. I have an 18 book lot coming from ebay which will (hopefully) be mailed this week. So, if you see me in the splurge thread next week, know that I didn't break my promise to myself. It's just a late/new addition.
I actually created 2 book shelves on this site.1-Books I currently own "to-read"
2-Books I need to purchase "to-read"
I will continue adding and buying. I don't care.
lol :P well you can see this thread hasn't gotten any action lately.We're on a reading website. NOT exactly the environment to help you succeed with a book ban :)
Fiona wrote: "Haha this thread has been revived!I failed at it. I acquired 3 books today, 3 books yesterday and 1 last week."
yeah, I'm kinda proud of you.
Do you remember the joke about the young lad at school saying "Dad is C of E and mum is AA"?, well us here should say GR. I found that typing in this thread that I planned to buy no more books has since made me so anxious that I have doubled the habit as a comfort. lol
I failed too.. acquired 2 books this weekend and I´m waiting for a BWB order and a local order lol
It doesn't help that Barnes and Noble is having a sale on their website. Selling books for only a $1.95. I bought 5. With shipping it was only $17. Now I have something to look forward to in the mail.
Felina, You hit the nail on the head!!! The anticipation of waiting for new books to arrive... I fall prey to this drug at least once a week. My family just shake their heads, admit their defeat and I am one happy woman. Plus side trips to B&N. Goodreads is an enabler!! I come on this web site and there are so many "me's" out there and then people send emails like The top 100 Notable Books for 2008(Thanks LuLu!) which I swore I would not sucumb to...Oh well I bought 2 out of 100 so faralready had 10 of them..it goes on and on
Why not get books from the library? It's inexpensive and they have a wide variety of books to choose from (usually).
I love to possess them. I share with my mom, sister and friends but they belong to me!!!
I try to get as many books from the library as I can, but that doesn't help my pile of TBRs sitting around. In addition, sometimes a book isn't available when I need it. I just ordered a book for another group from Amazon, and of course, while I was there I found another three or four that I couldn't resist.
Bhumi wrote: "Why not get books from the library? It's inexpensive and they have a wide variety of books to choose from (usually)."My town´s library doesn´t have a wide variety... mstly they have the classics (the school and the people), but they don´t have almost any book published after 2007. For a exemple, they don´t have a single copy of Twilight lol It´s like, THE HIT, and nothing.
Other problem is the book are in crappy conditions :(
Bhumi wrote: "Why not get books from the library? It's inexpensive and they have a wide variety of books to choose from (usually)."I don't like waiting for books to come in. If I want to read it now I'm going too and I also don't like feeling like I have a dead line for when I have to finish something. I like to read several books at once and I read on them depending on what I am in the mood for. So library due dates and fines are my bane.
I completely understand! I love checking books out from the library but I'm currently reading The Historian and it's due on the 30th so I'm costantly keeping track of how many pages I have to read each day to be finished on time.
Ha Ha. Thats funny cause I do that too and then I feel like its homework and school all over again. So I suddenly lose interest altogether.
I hadn't bought any in quite a while and I was trying to get rid of a lot that I didn't read or didn't like. I almost gave them away but then I found swaptree, bookmooch and paperbackswap. I've gotten rid of a lot of books but I've gained just as many. Oh dear! lol
the fun part is actually admitting to your friends that you've only read about 5 of the books on your oh-so-overcrowded shelves. A good way to get out of it is to say in reply, "Why would I have books I've already read?"
I love that reply, Jean Marie! (though I have to keep all the ones I read, as well!) It's funny reading through this thread again...I started a ban for myself awhile ago, but it only lasted a couple weeks at the most! My TBR pile continues to grow, but I LOVE it!!!
(-.-) Tsk, tsk, tsk...Dear you all : If this makes you feel better about yourselves, I'll confess to having over 400 books that I haven't read yet... At least 450 books, if not more than this... I know that this gives one a terrible feeling of guilt, so I have just accepted the facts that I love being surrounded by books AND that I buy many more books than I'll ever be able to read. Part of them I intend to leave to inheritors and another part will go to a library.
People who love to read tend to buy more books than they will ever be able to read. If I were you, I'd stop feeling guilty about it... (~_^)
I have quite a few now that I haven't read yet because I'm getting so many coming in from the previously mentioned sites. I can't keep up! :) The upshot is that in the winter when I pause my accounts (I'm not dragging my butt to the Post Office in a blizzard or -0 degree weather) I'll have plenty to read and I won't have to drive 30 miles to the nearest bookstore. Yes, It really is that far away.
I'm reading these posts backwards and only got to yours when I had to stop and say, Wow, you have me beat! I thought having 50 or so unread books in the house (not counting the 20 from the library) was a lot! I haven't bought a book in over a year ... but I really want to. I love new books -- but aren't I supposed to read the ones I have first? Naaaahhhhh.
Jessica wrote: "Well, I made it 13 days. Today I caved and bought two at the thrift store. They were 50 cents each and I couldn't resist. I got The Loop by Nicholas Evans, and another novel called The 19th Wife..."I've heard The 19th Wife is great. They spoke about it on Books on the Nightstand.
So who wants to swap or temporarily exchange books? I have my wish list and want to be more green by reusing.
I've made it 18 days without buying a book. Great progress. Granted, I've got some titles I'm really looking forward to reading, but I have a secret weapon. I'm reading one of my husband's 1,000 page omnibus in between the really good book. I'm using reading as a waiting tool, and going through my husband's collection for more material (He has the entire Hitchhiker's Guide collection!)
I finished Daniel Water's Kiss of Life before I started Dan Abnett's The Saint (347/1024), and the thought of reading Shiver once I finish this...makes me as excited as the day I bought it.
I haven't made the promise, but I will now, with a small alteration.
"I promise to abstain from purchasing new books until I have money for them. I will buy 2 bookcases before I further overcrowd my shelves!
"I will read strictly from my TBR shelf, and all of my buying urges will be directed to my Good Reads wishlist. I must read the books I already own!"
As for my addendum: my library needs major alteration. My YA books are double shelved, and it's difficult to keep my cats from damaging the slipcovers when the spines hang over the edge. My husband would also like to be able to fit his growing Black Library collection in the bedroom. I will give him this, his books pack a lot of content for their price point. $12 for a thousand pages? Not bad.
Hitchhiker's Guide is excellent! I highly recommend it if you haven't read it! :D
Thanks! I think I picked it up years ago, but I don't remember ever finishing it. I'm looking forward to it!
I made it one day. Does it count if I got new books for trading in old ones? I know it doesn't...Silly used bookstores, having out of print books I haven't seen for 10 years for affordable prices! *weakly shakes fist*
Yeah. I'm glad they had them. I just wish I'd had enough money to buy the entire collection, instead of just 4.
I really need to work on not buying books. This is my biggest problem. I am so addicted to reading and buying.
So I just spent almost $500 in textbooks... FOR THREE CLASSES. I still have one more to get. I think its time.
library, here I come. :)
grrr... must... stop.... Chapters is having an in-store sale- 41 classic novels (only one of which I own, about 4 of which I'd read) for 199.99, less irewards. shakes out to just under $5 a book.... I really shouldn't....
Maybe I'll get a bunch of people from work together to chip in for this...
My name is Diane, and I too am a book addict. I have about 700 unread books plus about 1000 cookbooks. Is there any help for me???? I have also a huge stack of have-reads that I need to swap out.
This thread is hilarious. I just moved out of my parent's house (well last year) and when I lived there I had no money and nowhere to store books. Now I am in a small house and all of my books are in boxes so I haven't bought many lately as they are not so much fun to move! I am looking at buying a new house and my only requirement is that I have an extra room to make into a library so that I can buy all the books I want! I am, however, always at the library picking up books (at least twice a week). I think I have over 100 books currently checked out with 80 more on hold. Though now that I have discoverd GR, I can use this as my TBR rather than having to immeadiately place on hold books I run across and want to read. This may not be a good thing though as my TBR shelf has grown to over 400 in just a couple of weeks from GR and this group!
I am lucky since our library does everything on line, and you can usually renew a book three times, which means you get to keep it for a total of 12 weeks. And I don't mind waiting for the books since I usually have at least 20 more that I can pick up. So - the library it is for me. I am really trying to stay away from book buying sites and book stores, although I still do the swap thing.
Rachel Lee wrote: "This thread is hilarious. I just moved out of my parent's house (well last year) and when I lived there I had no money and nowhere to store books. Now I am in a small house and all of my books ar..."At our library you can only put 3 books on hold at a time, can you imagine?? I'd be happy with at least a 10 book limit!
I agree this thread is great and makes me feel a bit better about my 'addiction'!!!
I love having books I haven't read because I often stick them away somewhere and stumble across them weeks or months later. It's like finding a $20 in your pocket when you're doing laundry.I have to curtail my book-buying for a little while because I just bought a Prada bag (that my husband doesn't know about) so I am temporarily sort of broke.
I don't even want to know how many more books I've gotten since first posting here. Though at the same time, I'm almost scared to post here, because that just makes my book ban so final.I think I'll do a book clean-out, and if my TBR list is still astronomical, really commit to not buying any more books..
Fiona you are weak of flesh, now me I only bought 40 new books since the beginning of the year. I have a will of iron. hahahahahaha, shoot I just tripped over my nose.
I have 10 coming this month sometime. I am impatiently waiting.. I have been harassing the used bookstore guy. His store is utter chaos. Not to mention a fire hazard.It is not a pleasant experience to go there. Such a waste too.
This lasted a long time... what? A few hours, Fiona? LOL I'm going to try not to buy any new books for a while either. I'm going to set myself a goal of no new book PURCHASES until July 14th - so two months. Coincidentally, July 14th is when I'm flying out to California for my brother's wedding, so I won't try to ban myself from buying a book for the flight if something strikes my fancy. :)
Here's to my mini-ban. :)
Jo wrote: "Let's see who breaks it first!"*cough*Fiona*cough*
I don't think you're supposed to set the goal as to who can break first, you're supposed to see who can last the longest! LOL
Can we place bets? Sorry Fiona, but I give you 48 hours...tops.
I laugh at you guys, until I realize I am exactly the same way with library books. I swear I won't request any more so I can read what I have. The next thing I know, there I am requesting more books. At least it's free. There is no way I could afford to buy the number of books that I borrow.
Sigh, my friends have threatened to put me through book buying anonymous. I was going so well then, then I found out there was a prequel to Jane Eyre, and I read "Anna Kareninia" and "Count of Monte Cristo" and well that has just set off another buying spree. There are just too many books out there!!!!!!!!!!
I caved. And here I was giving Fiona a hard time about not lasting a day, and then I don't either. Such a hypocrite... LOL Anyway... I bought:
What's a Ghoul to Do?
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Shoot the Moon
and Memory in Death (although this last one I bought for a friend, not myself. I think now that she's probably read it, so I'll be giving it away or swapping it maybe. :D )
Fiona wrote: "*points at self* haven't bought any books today."Yet.
Fiona wrote: "Becky, you hypocrite!"
*hangs head in shame*
Fiona wrote: "Good: A competition I'm quite competitive so we shall see how long we last lol. Becky as she has already failed can be the referee - well the person who monitors it all."
Sounds good to me. :)
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