This year I decided to go a book buying ban, I was only allowed to buy books that I needed (for book clubs or study). The idea was to reduce my TBR (To Be Read) and focus on the books that are on my shelves that I haven’t read. I have so many unread books that I have a whole bookshelf in my bedroom full of books to read next. I kept to this book buying ban till very recently and what I learnt was; there is no way to reduce your TBR!
As a book blogger, you soon discover there are a lot of ways to get books you want to read without having to pay for them. Granted this is not always the case and for the books you are dying to read, it is probably better to just buy the book. I think all serious readers know the different ways to get free books. I’m not talking illegal; I’m talking about making use to your library, ebook services, galleys, egalleys and so on. You can do pretty well for yourself as a book blogger and never have to buy a book.
For me, I’m not the type of reader that focuses just on new releases so galleys (or ARCs) and egalleys (while great) was not my main source of books this year. Most of the books I read this year were actually from the library and there wasn’t much from my shelf. I spend so much time on the library website looking for books that I had on one of my Goodreads TBR’s selves (I have two on Goodreads one for books on my shelf and one for the books I don’t own) and reserving them.
So what I learnt from this experiment is I like owning books and I’m glad to be out of this book buying ban. But the main lesson was that I need to use the library more, they are a great service and I need to take full advantage of it. There is one other thing I learnt from this book buying ban and that is, some books interest you at a point in time but you often lose interest before actually reading it. There is a heap of books I wanted to read but never got around to it and I’m glad I didn’t impulse buy the books. Buzz books are interesting but sometimes you need to understand what you like to read more than what is so exciting at the time.
Have you tried a book buying ban? If so, I would love to know why you tried it and did it help you achieve what you wanted to achieve. I don’t think I’ll go on a book buying ban again but I think I will approach reading differently. My TBR is so big and I’m not sure how to reduce it, maybe I have to force myself. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on book buying bans, I would love to hear them.
You did very well, though! My book buying bans last about 48 hours maximum. The always increasing TBR mountain is a problem, but if you switch in your mind to being a “book collector”, you can acquire as many books as you like! Heh.
That’s the best response. I do like the idea of being a book collector.
Haha, I love this post – I’ve been half considering going on a book buying ban for 2014 in an attempt to clear the TBR but you have succeeded in convincing me that it’d be a bad idea! I am going to try and cut back on book ‘hauls’ though, and really think about what comes into my house. I have no shelf space left & the overflow pile of books on the floor is perilously close to toppling.
book hauls are so much fun, just need to work out a way to store all those books.
I’ve never tried it but I am considering it. I keep buying more books even though I have piles of unread ones still on the shelf. But still, I don’t think I ever would have the restraint to stop myself getting new ones.
Restraint is so hard, I need to try so hard to restrain. I hope next year i’m not buying too many books and have developed a decent practise. I want to rely more on the library.
I think I just have to stay away from the bargain stores, like Half Price Books. If I go in there, it’s SUPER unlikely I’ll come out with anything less than five books. Next year I just need to focus on what I already have waiting to be read (several 2012–13 releases) and maybe allow myself only new books that I simply MUST read.
I learned the same lesson though this year from participating in (and failing) the Roof Beam Reader TBR Pile Challenge: that you can lose interest in a book after a while if you don’t read it right when you buy it. I think my failing the challenge is a sign I can/should let those unread books go back into the universe!
I really want to reduce my TBR, most of the books still sound good, but there are so many books that sound good.
[…] do much to reduce my TBR (To Be Read shelf) but it did get me to use the library more (see my post Book Buying Bans Don’t Work). Secondly there was the reading goal of 150 books (on Goodreads) which I did complete. I stated in […]