dolorous_ett (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dolorous_ett) wrote2005-11-20 05:47 pm
dolorous_ett) wrote2005-11-20 05:47 pm
Who can tell me...
... 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.
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.
no subject
I AM A BOOKAHOLIC.
IF YOU ARE A DECENT PERSON,
YOU WILL NOT SELL ME ANY MORE BOOKS.
Then you could set up a transitional plan about carrying out two books for each one you bring in.
But I'd go with the shelves, on general principles. ;D
A few months ago I invited an antiquarian bookseller into my basement, and he took out several dozens of cases as a job lot. Part of it was finally admitting that if I hadn't yet read some of them, I likely would never do so. There's a lot to be said for sending them away to a good home where they'll be loved and looked after. And empty shelves can be a glorious sight. ;D
no subject
And I don't think most of my books are really of interest to an antiquarian bookseller - just second hand, not ancient.
The two-out-one-in strategy, however, is something I could do. And should.