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

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

I resolved - partially - the problem of not exactly books, but photocopies of different scientific stuff, photocopies which overflow even more than proper books do. I got myself a scanner and although it takes longer (but you can do something else at the same time) I put them down in the electronic version. Saves lots of space.
And I don't mind too much reading from the screen.

Local library: your best friend (spurious remark, I know).

Bottom line: don't go anywhere near booksops, as Nineveh said. But stay also away from Amazon and Ebay. Stick to L_J :)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Scanners are good for photos too. I've resisted so far because I like the act of looking at photos, but friends swear like it.

Curiously, I've never been particularly tempted by Amazon or Ebay. One thing I can feel good about, anyway!