'No More Buying Books Until I've Read the Ones I've Already Bought' Thread

catkins

I love reading and am always buying books. I buy from Amazon, The Works, charity shops, boot fairs etc.

I actually work for a well known book shop and we get a good discount so am always using most of my wages! We are lucky as well as if a book gets damaged and can't be sold staff can take it. It does result in a free for all every time books are placed in the staffroom but I do usually manage to bring home a book or six!

I have books everywhere in my house and have one room which has shelves all round absolutely full of books. I have tons of cookery books as I love cooking. I also like books about travel (England or abroad) and have loads of books on that subject - some stories from people who have travelled and some with pictures and information about places. I read a lot of biographies from people like Dickens, Henry VIII to Jo Brand, Frank Skinner etc.

I don't read that much fiction but love Tess of the Durbervilles (have read it at least 3 times), Rebecca, Time Travellers Wife. Have read a couple of Linwood Barclay books and enjoyed those. I want to read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as people at work have raved about it but am trying not to buy any more books at the moment - maybe a damaged one will come along!!!

My OH does read but not as much as me. He grew up in a house with no books and was never read to but started to read when he met me. I remember once his mum said to me "he never read until he met you" in such an accusing voice you would think she was talking about him taking drugs!

I rarely lend out my books as I am another one who does not break the spine and would never dream of turning over the corner of a page! I tend to buy hardbacks if I am buying new books as I prefer the look of them and will never get rid of them! I will occasionally get rid of a book I have got from a charity shop but I find it very difficult parting with them!

Not sure how many unread books I have but it is well over 100.

One last thing before I end this rambling post - I have friends who live in an actual castle - a really pretty fairy tale looking one with an actual moat and a drawbridge which they pull up every night (honestly I am not joking). I am not at all jealous of the fact that they live in a castle BUT I am extremely jealous of the fact that they have a large library with all handmade wooden bookshelves AND one of those wooden ladders attached to the top of the shelves which slides along the shelves!!!!!! I am green with envy!

InaPickle

catkins wrote: »

One last thing before I end this rambling post - I have friends who live in an actual castle - a really pretty fairy tale looking one with an actual moat and a drawbridge which they pull up every night (honestly I am not joking). I am not at all jealous of the fact that they live in a castle BUT I am extremely jealous of the fact that they have a large library with all handmade wooden bookshelves AND one of those wooden ladders attached to the top of the shelves which slides along the shelves!!!!!! I am green with envy!

OMG, I would be as well! I would just like a room dedicated to books with a comfy chair in, but if I could get one of those...*Pickle's brain starts whirring at 1000mph*. And I sympathise at working in the bookshop: it's a like someone with a sweet tooth working on a chocolate production line. I worked in a deisgner clothes shop a year or so ago, and got a whopping discount on the clothes, so I used to go mad...I now have a three wardrobes full of beautiful clothes and more stunning shoes than you can shake a stick at, but if I hadn't left when I had, I would be in SERIOUS trouble!

In more book-related news, I went to bed a bit early last night and am now about halfway through my book. It's not a hard read, so hopefully I will be finished soon. Also, I got an e-mail from the library yesterday about a book I had requested a while back: The Money Diet, by some random guy called Martin Lewis. Anyone heard of him? Is it any good? :rotfl:

Vixstar

I dream of having a book lined room eventually when I own somewhere with enough rooms. My friends just can't understand it or why I linger so long in the libraries of stately homes.

belfastgirl23

solventsoon wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation, procrastinator, will look that one up. Always on the lookout for new authors/books and not heard of that one:)

Don't get excited, the person who wrote it only wrote one book then died. Her niece (I think) completed it for her. It is a lovely book though and well worth reading.

Tete_en_l'Air

procrastinator wrote: »

Latest read was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I loved this book, can't recomend it highly enough.

I'm glad you said this, it's on my to read pile. Might read it as an 'easy' read when I finally finish His Dark Materials!

catkins wrote: »

they have a large library with all handmade wooden bookshelves AND one of those wooden ladders attached to the top of the shelves which slides along the shelves!!!!!! I am green with envy!

This is my total dream, especially the ladder part! But like someone else said, at the moment I aspire to having a comfy chair in the corner of a quiet room to sit in. Perhaps with a lamp behind it... *sigh*

My RiSi bok arrived on Friday (Left Bank, Kate Muir) so my to read pile has increased! :eek: Going to get an early night tonight though so hopefully can crack on...

setmefree2

What a fantastic thread:j. Thank you InaPickle. I would love to join you all as it's one of my resolutions this year to clear my pile of books.

I have just finished Hank Paulson's "On the Brink" and I am just starting to read "The Lord of the Flies". I've never read "Lord of the Flies" before. I bought it for one of my sons.

My goal is to read my pile of books and pass them on to Oxfam and clear me some space!

I will use this thread as somewhere to "confess" to my book buying and hopefully this will stop me buying any more.

kissjenn

Brilliant thread. Books are my downfall, they're everywhere here. I hate the idea of parting with them.

And the dream, a castle with a "Henry Higgins" library: mezzanine floor, library sliding ladders, spiral stair up from study, Chesterfields, leather topped desk and blazing fire - not that I've thought about it too much

Oh oh oh - did you know that a library is now the most sought after luxury in a house over gym, pool, sauna, etc. It would be money saving to build one

boddy

Oh I love this thread, lots of people just like me. I adore books and have read from a very early age. I was able to escape into books. I like thrillers and crime for light reading. The only genre Im not keen on is Sci fi. I keep all my books on metaphysics and alternative therapies. My library books are just for light reading. Ive realised Im not as bad as I thought for unread books. Just two shelf fulls. I have two very large bookcases and one in the spare room.

I used to hang on to loads of books but tend to take them to the charity shop or hospital now. At the moment I have two on the go. One upstairs which is light reading an author called Martyn Waite and downstairs a book called Why is God Laughing a spiritual book.

InaPickle

setmefree2 wrote: »

I have just finished Hank Paulson's "On the Brink" and I am just starting to read "The Lord of the Flies". I've never read "Lord of the Flies" before. I bought it for one of my sons.

Oooh, once you've read Lord of the Flies, I doubt it will be going anywhere! It's fabulous, and I haven't read it since I was 16, doing my GCSE.

uzubairu

mrlevity wrote: »

Ah, I sympathise, there is nothing worse than forgetting your book. I am very very fortunate to have a (quite old now) Palm PDA, with over 200 books on it, so I am never without a good read. It also plays audio books, so gets a lot of use to and from work. I am dreading the day that it packs up as an equivalent model is way out of my budget.

I have 16 unread paperbacks (a few 2 for £7 and 3 for 2), that I have usually bought just before a holiday.

I too have a Palm PDA (TX) with about 125 books on it (10 unread).
Last month I acquired a 32GB iPod Touch and have been able to transfer the books across to this new device which is so much nicer and easier to use, as I take it everywhere with me (I still have my TX as a back up).

Whilst on holiday last month, I took 3 paperbacks and the iPod Touch and ended up reading 1 paperback and 2 novels on the Touch.
I like knowing that I can travel light and still have access to a good read.

My OH doesn't read that much, but on our last holiday, he took 2 autobiographies with him and he read both of them (previous to this holiday, he had taken the same fiction novel with him on our last 3 holidays and still not got to the middle page).
I gave him a gold star. :T

I will definitely be joining in this challenge.