Breaking Free from the Book-Buying Abyss 🙅♀️
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- Опубліковано 7 кві 2024
- Are you torn between the love of reading books and the hobby of collecting them? Join me in exploring the balance between these two passions and how to manage overconsumption of unread books. Subscribe for tips on how to enjoy your book collection without feeling overwhelmed by unread titles!
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#bookhaul #bookunhaul #littlefreelibrary #bookrecommendations
I recently felt the same way yo do and here's my tips on how I've managed it.
Tip 1. Whenever I feel the urge to buy books I go to the library. It's a very similar experience to the bookshop, I even take my iced coffee with me and listen to music while I browse. Then you can take a bunch of books home for free!! And if I don't read them I just take them back and no harm done!
Tip 2. If I'm already at the bookshop and feel the urge to buy something, I go on a photo shopping spree. I take photos of every book I'd like to buy and save them in a folder. I promise it feels so similar to buying the books and you can look back at the photos to identify those that are still tickling your brain and actually go buy them.
I totally get this struggle 😅 my rule for book buying is I have to have read the book already and I have to love that book.
I’m trying to make my bookshelf a curation of everything that has really impacted me as opposed to a testament of my impulsive spending 😅
I’ve got plenty of other hobbies for that…
I think we all fall under the assumption, "this could be my next greatest book I've ever read!" when we see them on sale. FOMO is real, my friend, especially when we see everyone talking about them. This challenge has helped open my eyes a lot. If I don't scroll on IG or watch UA-cam, I don't get enabled, then I don't buy the books to collect dust. But I want to connect with the community, so it's always a struggle and as a content creator, you can't check out as easily as I can. My solution is patience, since I'm not supposed to be buying books anyways, I have a page in my journal for books I'm excited for and then I take notes on what people are saying. I've already crossed off 3 books of my "must-have" list because they are covers buys or just 3-stars. I don't have time or shelf space for mediocrity. I would love to see more channels about backlist titles or library hauls, then brand new releases that many of them get from publishers anyways.
Availability is also bittersweet. We don't have any bookstores here and Target and Walmart just don't carry what I'm interested in. Our library is getting better but it's horror selection is mostly stuff I've read. They have limited resources and have never bought something I've requested, I'm tired of asking. 😂 So at least you have what sounds like an amazing library.
Your self-awareness is high and you know your pitfalls and you can adjust. Don't go to the bookstore or avoid that aisle at the store. Set up your own shelves like a store, make yourself a coffee, then "shop." Set a goal, for everyone 10 books off your shelf, you get to buy ONE, and then you have to read it in the month. My family pick books and then put them in Amazon packaging so I can have an endorphin rush over what's in the box. 😂 And get supporters behind you to cheer you on. Read What You Own has been a very difficult challenge for me (20 books to go!!!), as you can see all the junk I've had to do to slow myself down, but I'm getting there and learning things. Sorry so long!
When I first started reading again, I would purchase _every single book_ I wanted to read as if it was the only way I could get my hands on them. I lucked out with some awesome books, but there are plenty on my shelf that could go. Your idea of only keeping books you love and want to read again is perfect. That's what I want for my shelves too.
Also, there's a comment around here about FOMO. That's so true in some cases. There are some new releases I'm desperate to read, and I'm constantly feeling myself slip down that slope.
Ah, you and I relate so much on this, we love our libraries 😊 I definitely enjoy buying crisp new books, but it's likely because I use the library so much and those books tend to get a little beat up from being read from so many people (which is actually kind of cool to think about). There is no worse bookish-feeling than buying a book and ending up hating it, such a waste of money.. A trick I do is just fill my online 'cart' with the books I want to buy and the steep price deters me from proceeding 😅😅
Hobbie collecting is a slippery slope cause you don't want to be a hoarder and enough is never enough its like a psychological game with your brain
The book buying rabbit hole is the real deal, my friend!!
I love this discussion so much! I def think there is a fine balance between the two! I LOVE my library! I’m the same way as you, I love to read from there first and then I keep a list of books I want to buy and when I see those sales or go into a bookstore, or shop second hand I look for those as opposed to buying the new and shiny!
I do think it’s fun to allow yourself to enjoy the book shopping experience every once in a while though! Whether that’s when a new book from your favorite author comes out, or a special occasion, or even setting a yearly budget for book shopping at the book store! That way you are having the best of both worlds but also being mindful!
I definitely have a book collecting problem. I get anxious if I can't buy any. I definitely spend way to much.😊
We definitely have that in common! I have been getting better about this but I definitely have to talk myself out of buying still quite often! 😅
I totally understand where you're coming from. I dislike the overconsumption in the book community, people feel the need to over line their shelves with books that will never be touched, or read at such a pace to check things off a list and not remember the contents, the joy of reading is taken to a weird place. I can understand the need to want to buy and buy. I like to dl a sample of the book on my kindle and to see if it's worth purchasing, or placing a hold at the library. I gave myself a rule, only buy in excess of my monthly reads. So if my reading pace is 10 books a month, I only allow myself to have an excess of 10 unread books on the shelf. I am trying to cut back and buy on my kindle but then I feel guilty buying from Amazon, we can't win!
A couple of bootube channels I follow take part in what is known as "The read what you own challenge." They include Michael K. Vaughn and Criminolly. It's when we challenge ourselves to read a certain number of books on our own bookshelves before buying any new ones, usually in increments of 25, but each individual can adjust the amount to their liking.
Same girl!! For me it used to be shoes, then makeup, and now books. I have the same feelings and goals about what I want my shelves to be as well.
YES I relate so much! Makeup was a huge one for me, as well as clothes! Its so hard to get out of just wanting to buy all the time!
I totally get you, I feel the same way. I have so many books I’ve been collecting and still haven’t read. Before this hobby I was really into makeup 😫 I still can’t seem to finish my makeup 😩😩😩
YES makeup!!!!!! That is a HUGE one for me that I STILL to this day go in and out of wanting to buy every new palette (Ive found I have to just unsubscribe from marketing emails or I get too tempted😅)
@@mikalareads omg I did the same thing too I had even unsubscribed from my make up influencers. I still have a lot of palettes from pat mcgrath and Charlotte tilbury 😫lol
I definitely feel this - I had read down my books a bit more and then recently bought a bunch more and my owned TBR is way more than I want it to be right now. I’m aiming to finish some of my current library reads and then take a pause for a bit on library reads or possibly just add them to my rotation (I tend to now like to read 2-3 books at a time so I can easily mood read). I think it’s definitely tricky to find that balance and new releases can be especially tempting. I recently bought Diavola and while I’m super pumped about it and it wasn’t available yet at my library I definitely didn’t need to buy it right that moment I just wanted to.
I feel the same way as you. I went through like a book breakdown back in the beginning of the year of how many books I bought for the sake of buying and have no interest in reading. I took a deep look at my shelves and did a huge unhaul. It honestly felt like cleansing, it felt so good to rid my shelves and create space and leave room for the books I have read and loved.
I’m also *trying* not to buy books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I try to check Pango if I really want a book and get it secondhand.
I feel like that unhaul has really helped with my relationship with reading
Your hair is BEAUTIFUL!!! Im obsessed!! And I love the top you have on. You’re just GORGEOUS!😍😍
I struggle with this myself as well, especially if I want to upload a book haul. I love promoting reading, but promoting buying and owning that many books…? Difficult. I try to limit my buying as well. Great video!
I was getting into a real problem with buying all the special editions, even of books I didn't know if I'd like. My new "rule" is that I only buy new books from authors I love, or books that I have already read and want on my shelves. That means I have 6 beautiful special editions of Dracula 😂, but that's what I collect. I also started DNF'ing and unhauling ruthlessly.
This is tough! Broadly speaking, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an adult owning whatever she wants. I also don’t necessarily think it’s always a waste of money to buy books, read them, and unhaul them. I don’t even think we need to be consistent about what books we keep - I’ve kept books I disliked because I like the cover art. But as for the overall message…as I’ve drifted back over to litfic and the slower pace of that genre (in both publishing and reading speed) I’ve realized that I’m not really collecting anymore. It’s a good month in litfic if there are two or three interesting releases.
One thing I’ve noticed is that booktubers never really use their kindles, even for things like thrillers that they know will be unhauled. The impulse to hold up a physical book on camera overpowers the lower cost and footprint of an ebook and I think a good first step is to be aware of when we fall into that pattern.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
First, hurray for you acknowledging the difference between book reading and book collecting. That's a very important distinction. Some people collect unicorns, blue glass, china cups, etc. There's no rule that says we can't collect things. Our deal just happens to be that we like to collect books. The difference is that books actually have a function and a specific use and we might feel guilty if we're not exercising that use. But I don't believe that guilt is necessary. I think it's ok to collect just for the sake of collecting. We just happen to collect something that is useful.
Overconsumption is a completely different matter, and I'm right there with you! There was a period of time when I had to abstain from going to bookstores because I could not leave them without spending a fast $200. I no longer have that particular struggle and I can go to bookstores once again and leave without spending ANY money.
The biggest turning point for me was regarding clutter. When my mom died, my husband and I moved into the family home to take care of my dad. I started going through the house attempting to de-clutter. My goodness, what a struggle! I was really in anguish over getting rid of things. Of course I would sell or donate, nothing was being wasted. But it was a matter of, "this was my mom's, there's no way I can get rid of it!" Even though most of the stuff meant nothing to me or anyone else in my family, I knew it meant something to her and that was SUCH an issue when it came to decluttering. That was when I realized that I never want to leave those who come after me with the burden of that struggle. I know you've read up on Swedish Death Cleaning and you get it. But I had that inclination even before I'd ever heard about Swedish Death Cleaning. It was such an emotional burden sorting through that stuff. I hated the clutter, but I felt I was betraying my mom, even though those things obviously don't matter to her anymore.
Which brings me to your point of whether or not these things bring you any kind of joy. For me, the answer is usually no, so I've been gradually getting rid of things. Books aren't as much of an issue for me as paper-crafting supplies. I'm an avid scrapbooker and card maker, which brings its own world of gadgets and supplies. But I had so much that I no longer even knew what I had and it all just made me uncomfortable in my own home. I wasn't crafting because I couldn't find anything, and I was out of space.
I'm still decluttering a few categories of things from the home, but I'm trying to use the simple rule of one in/one out. It's a struggle, but I'm working through it.
Good luck!
I now only buy books that are all time favourites. I use my library and inter loans from other libraries a lot. Also super important to support libraries and wish this was shown more on booktube.
I am also a big audio listener and a few years back unhauled a bunch of books that I knew I would actually listen to rather than read physically (checked they were available on audio). I do have a big pile of unread books from charity sales that will be donated to free little libraries once read. I also seasonally go through my shelves and remove some when taste or interest has changed
I used to keep every book but I want to look at my shelves and feel the love for the books there not see a bunch of ok reads. Books here are also super $$$$ so I can't justify spending that money on a one time read especially if I don't enjoy it. I have a list of special books ive read that I now want to own that im very slowly getting. So definitely a book collector but much more curated collection than when I was younger.
I’m tellin ya, I have bookcases full of books that I still need to read!!!!! There are several amazing used bookstores here and I’ve gone bonkers buying books at each and every one. So my goal for YEARS has been to read them all. I better get busy!!!!!😅❤
I am in the SAME boat, thats my biggest issue with collecting books is I collect them faster than I can read them because I go to so many library sales and can get like BAGS full for such a good price! But then I get so overwhelmed later because I feel like I can never read everything I buy AHH! I am working on finding that balance! 🙌💗💯📚
I got to Little Free Libraries, but I never allow myself to take more than I leave. So deciding to go to a LFL means I have to browse my shelves for books I don't want to keep any more. I think of it as trading up, and it lets me upgrade my library to have more of what I want to read and/or own.
If owning unread books stresses you out, you should definitely try to clear the TBR as planned. Think of it as putting those books you unhaul in the "I can read this later when I want, and I won't have it stressing me now".
Thank you so much for your comment, I LOVE this to use LFL to help clear through the books you no longer want to read! I have been really getting so much joy out of going to little free libraries and decluttering books, I actually JUST cracked the 50 mark of less than 50 unread books on my shelves! 😅🙌📚💯
I just enjoy having a lot of books to choose from at any time.
I know a lot of people feel this way as well which I think is great!!! I wish my brain could see my bookshelves this way but it tends to get me feeling quite overwhelmed😅
Totally with on this! 100% I'm currently thinking about how I want to tackle my over consumption that's going to work for the way I actually read not because of the effect of scarcity mindset. Another great video Lovely human!
Thank you SO much my friend, and I totally empathize because that scarcity mindset is something I deal with big time! Im slowly getting better at collecting just the amount I will be able to read in a lifetime hahah! 🤣🙌📚👏
@@mikalareads progress not perfection 😂 we’ve got this! 🙌🏻
I mostly only buy unread books from authors I already know I love or books I’ve read and given high 4 of 5 stars so I only have about 20 books on my tbr
I LOVE that, I think thats a really great way to collect and prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed by a large TBR!
i hope you watch the cuckoo trailer i reakky want you to watch the trailer its 2 minutes
AHHH Im sorry I am just seeing this!!! I just watched the trailer for Cuckoo and I think it looks SO ominous and creepy in the best way! I feel like I need to see the whole movie now, and my bday is in May after the release date so that may be the perfect excuse to get to go out to see it!!! 👏🤣💯💖
what zodiac sign are you?
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@@mikalareads does reading a book on a computer screen as opposed to a page any less valid? some people seem to think it is. imo reading is reading
Absolutely it is valid! For me, I read primarily through "audio" format, and I hate when people say audiobooks arent "real reading"!!! For some people this is just how they can absorb information the easiest!
@@mikalareads it sounds to me like yer real issue is compulsive shopping. whether it's books or clothes or jewelery or wudever the product is is irrelevant. i had a friend who got herself into over 100 g's in credit card debt and her thang wasn't books but as she described her issue her words were very similar to yers.
Compulsive buying-shopping disorder is classified by ICD-11 among "other specified impulse control disorders".[5] Several authors have considered compulsive shopping rather as a variety of dependence disorder.[6]