Who can tell me...

[dolorous_ett]

... a way to stop buying books?

Books have long since overflowed out of my bookshelves and established colonies on the floor of my flat. While all the piles of books are neat and not particularly unsightly, I have done a quick count, and I currently have 7 piles, all well over a foot in height.

And yet this afternoon, while searching for a birthday present for a friend, I treated myself to two more new books. Despite the fact that I have several very nice books waiting to be read at home, plenty of other books that are well worth a read and two busy weeks of teaching before the end of term...

I can't carry on like this. It's not fair on me, it's not fair on my bank balance and it's not fair on the books - they deserve to be read and cherished, not stored in piles. But how can I stop? New books are nice, and temptation is everywhere. There are at least three second-hand bookshops withing five minutes' walk of my flat.

My F-list seem fantastic at helping answer questions, no matter how abstruse (see last entry). So I thought I'd try my luck again. It's getting crazy in here.

Any advice, up to and including the use of electrodes, gratefully received.

Comments

[catkind.livejournal.com]

Joining the local lending library helped me a little on that score - at least it cuts down on the "I wonder if I'll like that" type bookbuying. Obviously works best for mainstream, classic or new books. They also have the advantage of selling on books for a negligible price when they've finished with them. Or take up reading obscure philosophical texts from the university library?

Never mind, as vices go, it's a pretty cheap and convenient one :-)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

The library is really a very good idea. I must do taht.

They also have the advantage of selling on books for a negligible price when they've finished with them.

This isn't a point in their favour right now! Though I've benefited happily from library sales in the past, I've also tended to pick up books I liked very much when I read them in the library, to be sure of instant access at all times...

Never mind, as vices go, it's a pretty cheap and convenient one

There is that. And no-one has yet to suggest that books are carcinogenic...