Comments | readingthedark: the no books pact

readingthedark

the no books pact

Jul 11, 2011 19:54

On May 17th, I posted about this pact I've made with myself where I'm not going to buy books just because I want to. The good news is that I thought it was only a few weeks ago and it turns out it has been almost two months. The heart of the problem is that I buy more books than I will ever read because I like owning more books than I can ( Read more... )

nothing is going on, books, readercon, i love everyone, thinkiness, belfries, impending, babble

Comments 9

nihilistic_kid July 12 2011, 00:20:38 UTC

Hey, do literary journals count as books?

readingthedark July 12 2011, 00:37:55 UTC

No, they do not quite count. Why?

nihilistic_kid July 12 2011, 02:51:42 UTC

Just wonderin'

readingthedark July 12 2011, 02:56:44 UTC

There are at least six loopholes, including an "anything Nick writes" loophole. It's nice to spend more time reading and less time shopping.

kthanna July 12 2011, 00:28:13 UTC

I don't know how you manage to not buy books if you're around them. I would have to deliberately remove myself from their environment.

The only way I can keep my habit under control is not to go to bookshops, because if I do, there's a 90% chance I will purchase some. I've lost count of how many of the books in my collection I haven't got around to reading yet - but they're there for when I have time.

Granted I don't have to climb over books to get to bed... but is it bad that I'd almost like to?

And congrats, on the two month marker ♥

readingthedark July 12 2011, 00:42:15 UTC

I used to figure I would just pile up the books until I was evicted for having too many, but I realized that I want a stronger signal and less static. One of my loopholes was that I can buy books if I sell others and I've sold enough by now that I could, if I really wanted to, go pretty nutty in a bookstore--but I preordered the ones I knew I needed and it's really helping with the clutter. (I worked in a large bookstore for seven years and used to get a ton of free books from people promoting their books, so I have a ton more books than most people.)

Oh, another loophole, I am still on a few publisher's mailing lists for advance copies and such, so books are still entering the apartment, but nothing good has come in so far.

ciunas_alainn July 13 2011, 01:17:10 UTC

"but when this started I had to climb over a short bookshelf to get in an out of bed." -The stack next to my bed is not even a 'pfft' compared to that. You were quite serious when you told me about this "problem" a month or so ago. (Was it a month, or longer? I can't remember.)

readingthedark July 14 2011, 20:52:43 UTC

I'm in favor of bibliophilia, but a working definition of bibliomania is when the contents of the books stop mattering and the obsession is just with the objects (or, for example, wanting multiple copies of the same book just because it looks cool on the shelf). I was definitely drifting toward the latter.

(The comment has been removed)

readingthedark July 21 2011, 21:14:48 UTC

I buy ebooks too, though I read them on one of the various computers. I'm fairly certain my library is under 4,000 volumes again--but the apartment's fairly small, so while rearranging some other things, I put a low bookshelf at the foot of the bed. Then I tucked another bookshelf along the side and had to climb over. But that's fixed. My life is little more than pop culture detritus, yet I sift through and word tumble out. The apartment of five years ago was worse. The floor tilted so the books were just piled, in multiple layers, along one side. Books are the best thing ever. It's just that I have enough of them for a while.