I love buying books. I don’t mind where I buy them – from Dymocks, Big W, used book stores, or online from Bookworld/The Book Depository. There’s nothing better than adding a shiny new book to the TBR. But if you read my recent post about conquering your TBR, you’ll know that sometimes it gets…out of hand.
When you can make a book tower taller than you of unread books on your shelves, things start getting scary. Well, for me. I’ve seen some of you book hoarders out there. *squints at book hoarders*
And then I tell myself…”Emily, it’s time for a book-buying ban.”
This is a very tragic time in my life. But sometimes it really is necessary. I still have some birthday money left, and I will spend it eventually (on books) but not right now. Review books always come first, and I have a LOT of review books at the moment. My blog’s been growing very nicely and publishers have apparently decided that I am worthy of ALL the books.
(I love publishers very very much)
And there’s nothing I love more than getting review books in the mail. I get the most packages out of my family. It’s quite excellent. But that means the books I buy for myself get pushed to the back a little. And if I keep buying MORE books I will become buried under them very quickly.
Wow, Spongebob gifs are really good for this post.
So right now, I am on a self-imposed book-buying ban until I get through some of my TBR. I’m not setting an exact amount I get through, and really, my self-control is not strong. The Book Depository will probably welcome me back soon. And since it’s school holidays now…
…I will hopefully have more time for reading and powering through that TBR. In school holiday time I try to read about a book a day (give or take). Since I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo it might be less, though.
Of course, then I have to figure out a place to put all these books, because I’m rapidly running out of space.
But that’s a whole other post 🙂
Have you ever been on a book-buying ban? HOW DID YOU COPE?
The Loony Teen Writer 
Good luck with your book buying ban. I had some of those in the past, but I’m usually not very good at it. It’s nice to be able to read the books you buy though, so I can understand you want to keep your money for something special…
Thanks! I’m not very good at them either…new releases always tend to break me.
I can so relate to this post – I have so many books on my bookshelf which I have bought but not yet read, and still when I see all these lovely books at the shops something still says ‘buy me!’. With all the review copies and perhaps going to the library to see what else is out there, plus egalleys, it all adds up to one massive TBR! (but instead of that being a scary thing, at least I know I’ll always have something to read 🙂 ) I think it’s time I went on a book-buying ban myself…
So have I! I’ve got a few from more than a year ago that I still haven’t read…oops. But it’s nice to always have something to read. I remember I used to re-read everything in my bookshelves because I had nothing else to read!
When I’m on a book ban I force myself not to walk past the library book sales. Seeing all those books for 25 cents is hazardous for my wallet.
That’s definitely a good idea. Those library sales are a killer!
I’ve never really had a lot of money so I never go and buy lots of books. (I’ve bought like 2 brand-new this year, and then the others have been like 2nd hand from op-shops…there’s about 5 of them.) So I’ve never had to do this! But LIBRARY ban? YES. I should be on one right now…I, um…have over 10 library books and they’re swamping me. >-< But! *whispers* I finally borrowed out Butter, too. 😉
See, I’m in the lucky position where I have a job and very few commitments, so I CAN afford to buy a few books now and then 🙂 a library ban would probably be good for me as well. All those shiny free books…oooh, I’m interested to see what you think of Butter! I still haven’t read it…
I’m in a similar situation as Cait. I don’t often buy books, and when I do buy a book it’s usually a nonfiction book, such as a how-to or guide book, because I know that I’ll refer to it again and again. Sometimes I’ll buy a book at my library because there are always really good sales, but most of the time, I just don’t buy books. The library, however, is very tempting. There are so many books that just call out to me and I end up with a huge stack to narrow down. Luckily, my parents are there to ban me from taking out too many books, so I don’t get overwhelmed. Another lucky thing is that I go the library often.
Ugh. * I go TO the library often. Sorry. Typos annoy me.
Interesting that you buy non-fiction books more often! I don’t think I ever have, lol. But libraries are definitely tempting…so many books that I can have for free! And my school library is really good with new releases…thank goodness it’s school holidays so I can’t be tempted for more than two weeks 🙂
I try to have a book buying ban every now and then, but I always seem to fail! Good luck with it!
So do I – I suppose I’m just optimistic 🙂
You know what? I’ve never actually done a book-buying ban on myself before! While I do buy some books, that’s not really my problem, unless there’s a lot of newly released books that I’ve been wanting. Libraries are my problem (they are a problem in the best way a problem can be). I mean, you’ve seen some of my StS posts, and I can seriously go crazy when borrowing books! >.< I probably should impose some sort of borrowing-ban on myself, but I'm weak, lol. It'd never last. 😛
Spongebob gifs FTW. 😀
Libraries seem to be the problem AND the solution! I HAVE seen some of your Stacking the Shelves…my goodness, you need an intervention or something 😛 But I’m like you – these things don’t tend to last!
Fantastic post, Emily! Although I’ve thought about going on a book buying ban, I’ve yet to enforce one upon myself. However, if I feel like I’m buying too many books and think I need to cut back a bit, I usually limit my proximity to book stores/stores that sell books and also transfer the majority of my money into my account that’s not connected to my card…that made coping a LOT easier.
Thanks, Ebony 🙂 I only really buy books when I get birthday/Christmas money – otherwise, 99% of my money from work goes into the bank account to save up for…a rainy day, I suppose 🙂
Good luck with your buying ban! Apparently I’m the only weirdo out there who’s actually pretty good at restraining themselves and so doesn’t need to go on a book buying ban. Apparently I’m also the only weirdo out there who has, in fact, read all the physical books she owns. (Though that could also be because I don’t get physical review copies due to living in the Netherlands) 😛 Either way, good luck! Whenever you get the urge to buy something new, just look at your TBR pile and chant: “I will not buy new books… I will not buy new books…” Haha.
Yep, that sounds pretty weird to me. You don’t have a physical TBR at ALL? Crazy girl. Also, the Netherlands has got to get their crap together and send you some books 🙂 I like your chanting idea. I think that could work for me.
I’m currently on a book ban! Yet I managed to convince myself that comic books don’t count 😉 I have too many and it’s just making me even slower at reading the books I have to read
Haha, that’s definitely a way to get around it 😛
I could never go on a book-buying ban…though once my mother thought I read the Harry Potter series too much and banned me from those for a while… 😦
HHHHHHH!!! That sounds AWFUL. Imagine getting HP confiscated…that sounds like torture.
*shudders* It was. But then we bought all the books, so it was sort of hard to ban them… 😉
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This is such a fantastic idea lovely, I need to go on one myself but I can’t pass up a good deal. There’s so many review books to get through yet I still buy. Good luck with your ban!
I’m already struggling and it’s only been a few days, lol. I don’t think it will last!
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Am on a bit of a book buying ban myself, have to get through all the unread books I already have (as well as review books!) first. It is though, especially since there is a book shop at my bus stop for college. The temptation! Good luck 🙂
So do I – the mountain is steadily climbing. I am constantly faced with temptation. ‘Want to go to the book store?’ my dad asks me. MUST. NOT. BUY. BOOKS. It’s a real struggle, as you can see 🙂
I’m a bit of an odd duck, because I only read library books. I have an annual book buying budget of $20, to buy books that my library doesn’t have, but I rarely spend all of it. I’m just really cheap, lol.
Nothing wrong with that! That’s why libraries are the awesomest things in the world. FREE books, and LOTS of them, and places to read…they’re just really cool 🙂
I think I lasted a week, not even…. But this is honestly the worst time to do a book buying ban, because of all the end of financial year sales!!!!!!! I wish you good luck haha (and I wish I had enough time to be able to read one book a day)
I KNOW RIGHT??? I couldn’t resist Bookworld’s sale.
Also, the one book a day thing was probably unrealistic. Only if they’re short-ish books! Otherwise, what with work and writing I take a lot longer 😛
I go on book-buying bans and set up my cart with what I’m yearning for anyways and when I come off the ban, the exact DAY I come off it, I go purchase. The longest I’ve consciously gone was three weeks. It was hell. There were offers on, there were books I wanted and I couldn’t buy them. I told myself not to panic, offers are on all the time, I’ll get it again at 20% with free shipping and an extra 10% cashback… So, I bought about 6/7 books from Amazon the day the ban ended. Would I have bought more in those three weeks if I hadn’t been on a ban? Probably. But I did notice when I came off the ban I was more careful about what I bought. I’ve noticed that in general since blogging, I’ve seen reviews and heard snippets so I don’t just reach for a new book and think, “Oh, pretty” I have a (very long) list of books I want to read because I’ve seen or heard about them and think/know I’ll like them or I want to read them – Shatter Me trilogy, Mistborn series, The Lunar Chronicles etc. So, instead of a ban, I kind of have a deal with myself – I only buy books on great offers and I shop around (originally, I was meant to use library books more, but I like OWNING, so that hasn’t happened), I placed an order last night for 18 for ten books. New. 10 Books. I try not to purchase something unless it’s on my radar. This works pretty well. I try not to impulse buy because the list of books I know I want to read is pretty huge. And I don’t impose bans as such so I don’t go mad when they’re over, I just try to reduce purchasing in general. I still purchase at a greater rate than I read, but my choices are far more select, I’m getting the best price possible so I feel less guilt and the pace has slowed down. That’s the best I can do for now. 😀
That is such a great point. A book buying ban might just give me time to make a list of all the books I’ll buy when it’s over, haha! And that’s not good at all, because the whole point is that I want to get through some of my TBR (which is very extensive at this point). And there are always sales on Book Depository or in physical bookstores, so I keep that in mind. Impulse buying is another danger – most of the time I only buy books that are by authors I love, or even ones that I’ve read before, or ones that I’ve been wanting to read for AGES and can’t find in a library.
Yikes, good luck! I’ve tried book bans in the past and I always start of strong and determined but usually only last about three months before I cave and bring home a massive haul. It’s an awful and wonderful addiction that I need to kick because my tbr’s I actually own are nearing 200! :S I know I would feel better for having less of an impending tower but I fail epically at trying to lower it.
I’m worried that’s going to happen to me as well – this is my first official book-buying ban! The others have been pretty informal. Maybe I should write lists for myself, haha. But hey, books are awesome 🙂
I think blogging about your progress actually really helps, it means your more likely to stick to it! Maybe you should do update posts as you go along so you can physically see the progress you’re making. 🙂
I wish I could read a book a day! I have no time for that though. >< So many things to get through this holiday. Good luck with Nanowrimo! I'm kind of always on a book buying ban. It's kind of a mindset that I always try to keep up. I still buy books every now and then though and I don't mind. What I need to do though is have a "requesting review books" ban. I have way too many things to read!
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