Another Way to Phrase a Book Buying Ban...

The other day I posted a picture on Instagram with a bit about how it had led me to a revolutionary resolution. Here are the details of said revolution. It is not a book buying ban but a new way of looking at my books.

As I mentioned on Instagram, having filled this jar to the top and still having over ten shelves of adult fiction and two or three of kids fiction to add to it made me really stop and think about the amount of books I have. I said something to Rhys along the lines of 'if someone had 300 pies they'd not eaten everyone would think that was obscene and disgusting' and he looked at me like I was crazy. The (badly made) point is that while books obviously don't have the same kind of potential for going bad that pies do, I don't know what I'm stockpiling them for. Yes, I'm always going to want to read more books; it's in the nature of being a reader and I wouldn't want to change that. I love discovering new titles and getting excited about them. I love the smell of new books (and old books, come to think of it) and I really love the thrill of coming home laden down with bags of books, but when I'm asked what the point of owning so many books that I couldn't read them in a year, or probably even two even if all I did was read I don't really have an answer.

For years my answer has been 'well what if I only had a few books and finished one and didn't feel like reading any of the ones I had? I'm providing for that eventuality.' Obviously the answer to this is that I go to the library or borrow a book from a friend, but instead I've been using it as an excuse to buy more and more books. This is fine and I'm absolutely not judging people for acquiring large numbers of books, but in the spirit of my One Little Word project this year I'm trying to be more grateful for the things that I already have and think less about things that I might acquire at some point in the future. I'm also attempting to express my gratitude by not buying things unnecessarily and while that doesn't always work, here is a place where I can at least try.

Now at this point I know the sceptical among you (or just the long time readers of this blog) are remembering all the other times I've put myself on book buying bans, or pledged to cut back but I'm determined that this is going to be different. Firstly, I'm not viewing it as a ban because I know that as soon as I tell myself I can't do something, that's all I want to do, so instead I'm not thinking about not being able to buy books but focusing on all the amazing books I already own that I'm excited to read, and secondly I'm motivating myself extra by putting a charitable slant on it. Every time I finish a book that I don't love so much I must keep it and pass it on to everyone I know immediately, I will put it up for auction on eBay, starting at 20p (plus postage). ALL of the money from any books I sell there will go to Beanstalk, an awesome charity which helps kids to be better at reading, plus I will donate £1 to them for every book I sell in this way. Over the course of the year I may also do extra book related fundraising for them (24 hour readathon, some kind of sponsored Banned Books Week event. I don't know), and obviously if you feel like helping to spur me on with my insane resolution you can just donate through my JustGiving page at any time and make me feel like my not buying books is making a difference to someone!

I'm planning to do this until the end of 2015 and because I know I have no staying power I've decided to introduce a forfeit. For every time I buy books, I have to donate £25 to the charity. This should be a good deterrent because I have no extra money! Hold me to this, blogging friends. I'm determined!

Death of the ban! (or, how I came to buy a lot of books...)

Back in February, after some epic failures to fit all, or even any, of my books into the available space, and realising that it's not o.k to come home with a sackful of books every single time I go past a bookshop, I decided to put myself on a Year Long Book Buying Ban. All capitals, all seriousness, and I was determined. I made it to exactly three months and fifteen days... I know that many of you will appreciate how long this is! And why is it that it feels so much longer? I actually feel like I didn't buy any books for an entire year, and when I was counting back, I couldn't believe that I hadn't (at the very least) reached the six month mark!

So anyway, three months and fifteen days... and then, this happened:

 

It really isn't as bad (good??) as it looks, and here's why. The reason that I absolutely had to break my ban, was that we went to Whitstable at the weekend, which has two of the most awesomely awesome bookshops that I have ever come across in my life, and I've been in a lot! The first is Harbour Books, and oh my goodness this place is AMAZING. They stock all new books, and it's in a gorgeous little shop with lots of narrow awkward stairways and twisting turns and secret corners, but here's the great bit; a huge majority of their brand new books are only £2.99! And as if that wasn't enough, piled around the top of the staircase, and on all the shelves lining the walls, are all their sale books, most of which are only 50p each! Seriously, how on earth could anybody expect a person such as myself to be in a place such as this and not buy anything?! No I haven't been paid to plug them, but seriously, if you are (or ever find yourself) in my sunny little corner of Britain, go to Whiststable, go visit Harbour Books, and then make me a cake to say thanks :-)

Ok so, on to the second bookshop. I had to google the name of it, as I was too in awe at the time to notice, but it's called Oxford Street Books, and their website is almost as gorgeous and well laid out as their shop. It's a second hand and antiquarian bookshop, and I was totally thrilled to find it, as lately the fiance and I have been lamenting the horribly disorganised state of both of our local second hand bookshops. You know when bookshops have that slightly damp, musty smell? Our locals are like that, and as far as anyone can tell, the books aren't organised into any kind of system or categories either. Totally overwhelming. Anyway, this place was the exact opposite of that. It is beautiful. Outside, on tables, they have a load of 95p paperbacks, organised in genres by table, and then inside it's literally floor to ceiling books, organised by subject, and then by format. The guy that was in there when we were was amazingly knowledgeable. As we went around a corner we caught a glimpse of his basement storage area, which was literally just piles and piles of books as far as the eye could see, and we had a bit of a joke with him about it. As we were going to leave, my fiance asked him, just on the off chance, if he knew if he had any Noel Streatfeild books in. He told us he thought he had a couple in the basement. I feared for his life (I think he did, too!), but he returned literally minutes later, and apparently unharmed by the gathering hordes of the storage room, with a gorgeous Persephone copy of Saplings, which I'd been after for ages! I was so happy I was pretty much jumping for joy - I spontaneously smiled at two random strangers in the street and asked them how their day was, I think I totally petrified them!

There's my story, and although I'm annoyed with myself for not making it all the way, I'm still very proud of my three months and fifteen days - it's approximately three months and ten days longer than I've ever gone before without buying books! 

Now the story's out of the way, here's a list of the books in the above (not so great) photo:

* The Brer Rabbit Book by Enid Blyton - big childhood favourite of mine, and now we've moved away from my mum, I really felt I needed my own copy to indulge in nostalgic moments. My sister's favourite was always Brer Rabbit and the Butter. We still tease her about it :-)

* Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - after my recent cry for creative nonfiction, Sonia  recommended this, and I'm excited to start it! Doesn't really count as a buy, as I swapped for it, but I included it because during the ban I'd limited myself to one swap a month; a number I've currently gone over by about five...

* Peter Pan & Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M Barrie - bought because I've never read Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and because the copy is beautiful!

* Confessions of an Eco - Shopper by Kate Lock was in the 50p sale section at Harbour Books, and as I love books about thrift, shopping, and the environment, I just had to. 

* Gossip Girl: Love the One You're With by Cecily von Ziegesar - fiance actually bought this for me, again for 50p, as both my sister (not the Brer Rabbit lover, different sister) and I are big Gossip Girl fans. It has to be my biggest guilty pleasure.

* Exit Music by Ian Rankin - got for me by my future parents - in -law but included in the pile as I wanted to showcase what I've got recently, and because I've not read a lot of detective fiction for a long time, but lots of people have recommended Rankin to me.

* Resurrection Man by Ian Rankin - see above :-)

* Saplings by Noel Streatfeild - because it's Streatfeild, I was running out of her books for my challenge, it was only £4, and seriously, have you seen how gorgeous it is??

* The Complete Lewis Carroll - beautiful beautiful collected set of his work, including both Alice books, plus a load of other stuff I'd never read. £3, and I'm excited to read it!

aaaaaand finally!

* The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith - hardback, brand new, £2.99. I love McCall Smith, so does my mum, and she doesn't get bought a lot of books, so I thought I'd read it (very carefully), and then give it to her as a gift next time I see her! 

So that's it, I'm a total failure, and I totally don't care! I got paid today, and the book acquisition fever is baaaaaaaaaack! :-)

My Year (or week...) of Not Buying Books..

So I've decided to be brave, and attempt to not buy any more books for an entire year, until the beginning of February 2012.... I really don't know if this is going to work, but I'm giving it a go! Especially since I looked through my TBR, and have switched my challenge reading lists around a bit, and it turns out that I can accomodate most of the challenges I've signed up for in stuff I've already bought, or stuff that my amazing library can get for me!

I'll admit I'm absolutely terrified at the idea of not buying books at all. This is an incomprehensible idea to me - I've always bought books! I counted, and at the moment, my TBR stands at around 190 books. And we just moved house, and I gave a load that I thought I'd never get round to reading to the charity shop. I dread to think what it would have been before... I think this will be good for me....

In other news, I'm very annoyed with my lack of access to the internet. Currently we don't have it in our house, so I'm using my (amazing) phone, as a kind of mini computer, but unfortunately, while it allows me to make changes to some things on my blog, it doesn't let me put up new posts or anything quite that sophisticated. So for that I have to come to the library, which I can only do on days I'm not working, and then only for an hour a day... so it's difficult to slot regular posts in, which is very frustrating, as I'm now getting really behind on reviews I've posted compared to what I've actually read!

Things I read in January (with links to reviews):

• Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith (for my myth challenge)
• Freaky Friday by Mary Rogers (Gilmore Girls challenge)
• Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger 
• Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (for the Graphic Novels Challenge)
• The Love Verb by Jane Green
• The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory  (for the Historical Fiction challenge)
• V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (for the Graphic Novels Challenge)
• The Growing Summer by Noel Streatfeild (for my Noel Streatfeild challenge - haven't posted the review yet!)

Good reading month, February's set to be even better, I'm excited!(also, I've just finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, because I was reading so many awesome reviews of it, and I literally read it in two hours, I couldn't put it down! Thanks for the reviews, everyone!)