In about a week, I'll have done a month of my year long book buying ban, and this is honestly the longest I've ever been without buying books - it's starting to take its' toll. I was actually walking around Waterstones yesterday holding a pile of books, and kept going to grab my fiance and show him all the books I'm going to buy in eleven months and a week. He had to physically prise the books out of my hands and drag me out of there. It's quite pathetic really...
I have to say that I've allowed myself a loophole in this whole thing, which is I'm allowed to swap one book per month. So this month I have acquired:
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
- Apple Bough by Noel Streatfeild (swapped in Jan but didn't arrive till early Feb)
And I've read: 3 books I borrowed from my family, eleven books I borrowed from the library, one book I won from Goodreads, one from Readitswapit, and 3 from my TBR pile. Total = 18 books. Not bad, for the shortest month of the year!
I've started reading The Three Musketeers for the readalong I'm participating in. It's quite engrossing, but I'm not getting too far with it, as I've also started The Age of Innocence, which I'm loving, and have Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, and an Esther Freud (who I totally love!) book, The Wild, that I haven't read yet staring at me! I also have to start Affinity at some point, for that readalong, and went a bit nuts at the library, meaning I now have to read Binu and the Great Wall for my Canongate Myth Challenge, and Bill Bryson's Shakespeare, as well as listening to Terry Pratchett's Night Watch, read by the ever amazing Tony Robinson, with my fiance. And all before they are due back...
And thus, March begins!
I've also finally put up my Booklovers Project List!! Yay!
Do you have 2nd-hand book shops or general thrift stores that sell books?
ReplyDeleteI almost never buy brand new books. Too costly, but I love supporting indie stores and 2nd-hand dealers.
Even Amazon marketplace.
At the moment I'm all about the free online works.
Good on you for holding out so long!
Three Musketeers is one of those I abandoned. Love the story (swashbuckling and such goings on) but reading it didn't capture me.
ink + chai
(any chance on allowing name/url option?)
Oh, thought I could comment on your list page.
ReplyDeleteHenry James is creepy!!?? lol
Oh, sorry you hate Eliot, verbose yes, but she's a genius of nuance and psychological motivation.
Look forward to sharing our experience with this list.
hi yeah i know the comment system is all messed up on here! I will change it but am somewhat limited by only getting an hour a day on the internet at the library, which totally limits what I can do as I have to use the time to proofread essays too...
ReplyDeleteAnd henry james per se isn't creepy, just The Turn of the Screw. In a good way, obviously.
Regarding Eliot, I appreciate why people like her, I just really really can't. I've read a few of her books but just cant get into it really!
hey, i'm writing something on something...this is a completely unrealted comment :P
ReplyDeleteLol thanks Esther! It works again!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first visit to your blog (thanks for commenting at mine, by the way!) and i love the idea of a book buying ban. i tend to buy and buy and buy, and i can never catch up and read all the books i've bought. this should be easier since i'm living abroad now - and it is, but i still pick books up for my kindle sometimes. When I go back to the States, though, I think I'll follow your example and try to save money by sticking to libraries, my friends' books, and my own collection.
ReplyDeleteof course, this is probably easier said than done...i'm kind of amazed that you've made it a whole month without buying a book!
-- ellen
Ellen. I'm totally amazed at myself too, even my fiance didnt think i'd last more than about a week! If I actually make it a year, i'll be going on the biggest book shopping trip EVER! But yes, like you say, I have bought so many books i've not had a chance to catch up with my reading until now, so i'm seeing it as definitely a positive experience. Also, in my area, and the area I used to live in,there's a lot of libraries under threat so I thought i'd do my bit to support them!
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