Guys, I'm just going to throw this out there: sometimes I wonder if I'm more of a book collector than a reader. I mean, I have this compulsion to just buy ALL THE BOOKS and then I hardly ever read them because most of the time I feel guilt over the review books I still need to read.
As of this moment I have 264 unread physical copies on my shelves. That's a scary number. At least 3 books are making their way to me as we speak and I've pre-ordered another 25.
I think I might have a book buying problem.
And while the fact that I buy this many books doesn't bother me in the slightest, I am bothered by all these pretty books staying unread and knowing that even if I just read my own books for a year and not buy any new ones, I'd STILL not have read them all.
I'm very much aware this falls firmly into the first world problems category.
And I know that with 143 books read this year so far I can definitely call myself a reader and not just a collector, but sometimes even I wonder when I'll find the time to read them all.
So I'm going to challenge myself to read more of my own books, I mean, I bought them, I shouldn't feel all this guilt over reading them! I've dedicated a shelf on Goodreads towards my failure when it comes to reading the next book in a series and I REALLY want the number of unread sequels to go down from the embarassing 24 it's at now.
How about you guys? Ever feel like you're just collecting books instead of actually reading the ones you have? Feel guilt over reading your own books instead of review books? How big is your TBR pile at the moment?
My TBR consists of about 20-30 unread books and though that isn't that huge compared to others, I feel like it is a lot. I feel guilty about buying new books and really want to make a dent in my shelf. I get what you mean though, some people buy ridiculous loads of books but don't read nearly as much as they purchase. I personally don't know how some people do it. I feel guilty buying books and I don't even have that many compared to some but others I know, who have hundreds of books on their shelves, continue to buy, buy, buy and it doesn't look like they'll be stopping soon. I get it. Sometimes you want a new release or an oldie but a goodie or just a random read. But there comes to a point where you just need to stop, appreciate all the good books you already have and that need reading.
ReplyDeleteAwesome discussion!
The problem is that I never feel guilty buying the books, I just feel guilty when I see the number of unread books go up when I check into Goodreads... I really need to read more of my own books instead of just clicking that buy button ;)
DeleteWell, I don't have guilt over my own books vs review books because I don't take many review requests. But I do still have probably 400 books on my shelves that I haven't read - I tend to buy several books at once because I want to read them, and then maybe I read one of them and the rest get set aside because I then repeat the process, lol. Not to mention the occassional library book here and there.
ReplyDeleteThe way I look at it, I really do want to read all of my books someday, and I slowly chip away at them because I'm so busy now. I look forward to the day when I can quit my job and start reading stacks and stacks of my own books all day!
Lol, yeah, I do the same thing ;) I buy one book I'm DYING to read and then I buy these others too, because, well, why not? I think it's my saving grace we don't have an awesome library here or I'd be reading NONE of my own books.
DeleteI figure that in the future I can't be this random about spending my money anymore and I'd better enjoy it now, but I do need to read more of them instead of just putting them on the shelf.
I hadn't really thought about this until you mentioned it. I think I might fall into the collector category. I have way over 300 unread books. Way over. I cannot seem to stop buying books or asking for them. I want to believe that eventually I will read all of the books I own. At this point, it's getting more and more difficult to find fiction that I actually want to buy, so I may be almost done with my fiction collection and I can start making progress.
ReplyDeleteInthinkmanother part of my problem might stem from now I've actually got money and it's burning a hole in my pocket. Books aren't going to rot or not fit anymore, so I may as well buy books.
I really need to get control of myself. It's becoming a problem (if it's not already there).
That second paragraph should start "I think another" Damn smart phone!
DeleteYES! Books are not something you grow out of! It's not like they'll be any less amazing if you wait a year to read them! I think this is what's a deciding factor in deciding to just splurge in them for me as well!
DeleteI still get starry eyed over all the shiny new releases, so I'm nowhere near solving my problem that way...
Maybe we should start a support group ;)
I'd love to have 30 books in my TBR pile, it'll take me some time, but hopefully I'll get there some day... :)
ReplyDeleteBefore I started blogging, I was definitely more a reader than a collector, as you've so cleverly termed it. I used to buy books, read them and then go out and buy more. Now, unfortunately, my habits have changed - I tend to buy books based on recommendations, store them on my shelves... and read other books first.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
However, like you, I am TOTALLY aiming to remedy that. I'm actually sitting in my apartment right now cataloging all the books I have within reach in the apartment, and trying to figure out how to read them and in what order, lol.
I used to read all the books once I bought them... I also didn't use to buy so many books at the same time, 3 books felt like a major splurge back then...
DeleteGo you for cataloging and being organized! I always try to come up with a system for which ones I'll read first, but mostly I fail at it.. Let me know if you figure something out :)
I'm feeling that more and more lately, because I do set my own books aside to read review copies and they are starting to pill up.
ReplyDeleteAnd the number of Ebooks that I got... I don't even want to know how long that list is, though I got it tailed somewhere. And I still want to buy more and more, and then I think about all books I haven't read but that I really want to.
The weird thing is that blogging does take a lot of time away from reading and my writing has slowed down to a crawl because I spend so much time messing about with the blog.
So I'm going to try to read more of my books and I'm seriously not requesting anything new on NeTGalley until next year!! (It's only six weeks, lol, but I hope I can pull it off!!)
You'll be my hero if you can resist requesting anything there for six whole weeks! It doesn't sound all that long, but I don't know if I could do it...
DeleteI really don't want to think about all the ebooks, I don't even count those.
And yeah, blogging does take up a lot of time, but for me it's worth it. It's also what's made my TBR and book buying go so out of control ;)