I’ve decided reluctantly that I’ll be ONLY buying new books henceforth, after many years of doing precisely the opposite. (The exception would be if the book is out of print / selling for some exhorbitant & unusual price.)
I’ve noticed over the past years as I got into used book shops, thrifting, ebay, thriftbooks, etc the bar for buying books is so unbelievably low ($1-5 each) that it’s turned into a borderline addiction. Maybe less than borderline.
I have the good fortune to have plenty of room for books – although, I suspect even if I didn’t, I’d still be buying them, swimming in them.
I also have the good fortune to be broadly interested. I like novels, both classic and near-contemporary (although I do prefer min 25yrs seasoning), I like stories, essays, I read history, philosophy, memoir… I pretty much only skip strict genre novels (romance/sci-fi/fantasy/mystery/thriller) – a niche that tends to bore me a bit.
So the TBR list gets ever-longer every day, and is now well into the thousands.
I always thought buying cheap was a good solution, it lowered the bar to many purchases. But I realize now, with hundreds of unread books sitting around – I need a \**higher*\* bar, not a lower one. The real constraint is time, not money (for me). And the pursuit of the bargain book became a thing unto itself – which overwhelmed me. Must be my wiring.
Anyway, we’ll see how it goes. Offering this post in case there are others feeling similarly.
EDIT – I can see the library coming up as an option. I really prefer to own my books not least because I write in them often, but I will be using the library as a way to “check out” books that I’m on the fence about and might have simply bought in the past for $4 or whatever.
So it’s a barbell now library + New books instead of all used books.
by For-All-The-Cowz
19 Comments
This is an interesting theory and I might try it with you.
Used bookstores are very much my happy place. I love to read and I also love to support local businesses so every time I step inside one, I feel like I have to leave with something. My TBR pile has gotten ridiculous.
I don’t get that same urge with new books.
I almost never buy books, I love the library and it’s much cheaper. plus ebooks in Libby via my local library system. The due date definitely encourages finishing the book in a timely fashion
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One is never safe. Now unless they’re in mint condition you’ll start buying upgraded copies of all your cheap books!
Interesting, I never hesitate to buy books that sound interesting or worth my while, even if I don’t read them for years. I firmly believe that my bookshelves should be full of books _I haven’t read yet_ else they’re kind of useless. I only keep the ones I know I’ll want to re-visit.
I sell most books I read as soon as I’m done reading them, and usually turn back around and spend the store credit right there and then.
All there is to say, I really don’t think about the purchase too much BUT they have to be compelling for me to consider buying them in the first place, and that’s the high bar. I have to have it recommended by people I trust, or mentioned by youtubers that have similar reading habits to mine. I _always_ go book shopping with a list, I don’t just browse. All the blurbs and summaries in the backs of books are designed to sell you the book, have you considered going for a different approach for curating your TBR? Maybe watch/read several reviews of a book before you decide you want to read it?
I only buy books that I’ve already read and have a personal 5-star rating on. Maybe you can try that. Borrow from the library and only buy what you really love. That way my personal library is a curated collection and one that I can say a lot about each book in it.
My goal is to cull the unread pile if I don’t read it in 3 years and / or the next move, whichever is sooner. Another option for you.
I need to use this idea. I’ve been meaning to start buying my books off of Bookshop.org instead of Amazon but haven’t fully converted because Amazon is cheaper. But. . . This convinced me to start buying off of there to curb my book buying. That and if I’m going to keep buying used, I’m going to keep it to buying from the used shelf at the library or a used book store that’s like 30 minutes away that i really like.
You might enjoy [this](https://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/135508305/the-sad-beautiful-fact-that-were-all-going-to-miss-almost-everything) brutal article, OP. The Sad And Beautiful Fact That We’re All Going To Miss Almost Everything. It’s from 2011 and I still think of it all the time.
Are you me from the future?
Downsizing and got rid of many books. It was freeing. There’s the library – mine has audiobooks and online books as well. Always have a long TBR list which I think is a good thing.
I used to have so many books I think it was about 50/50 used/new. I, like you, had the budget and the space, so I didn’t feel any desire to reduce my purchases.
What shifted for me was deciding to downsize and move to a new state as we are nearing retirement. I really took some time to reflect on my relationship with books and decided that collecting and reading are 2 different hobbies and I only wanted to read. So, I purged 95% of my books. I only packed 2 boxes, one was the books I needed for work, the other was all the books I though I’d read in the next 2 years.
I’m a big believer that we go through seasons in our lives and it’s a good idea to periodically prune our possessions to get rid of things that are no longer serving us to make room for what does.
It’s been nearly 4 years and I haven’t regretted a single book I let go of, I’m down to the last of the books I moved with me, have dramatically increased the amount of books I’m reading each year, and can’t even fill a whole book shelf with the books I currently own.
I’m not suggesting you do anything like this, but do think about what books mean to you, and ask yourself if you really plan to read every book you own. Just because you purchased it you aren’t obligated to keep it until it’s read. If being surrounded by books is your thing then embrace it, but if there is any negative emotions or thoughts about the quantity of books you own, take some time to decide what is really working for you and prune out what isn’t.
I started doing exactly that last year. My issue was that I would buy used books that seemed somewhat interesting, but ended up never actually reading them. I just bought books to let them collect dust.
I now buy only new books, but read all of them, and I finish almost all of them. I purchase a lot less books because of that, but I feel like my time reading has dramatically increased.
I’ve tried the library too, but it still doesn’t work well for me. I think one issue for me is the browsing… if I go to a used book store or a library, I just WANT to find something, anything. But if I buy a new book, I will read reviews about that book and the first chapter available on Kindle, etc. before committing to the price of a new book.
It’s money well spent to me.
I got put off buying second hand books after purchasing a copy of Tennyson’s complete works that had three very well pressed dead cockroaches sandwiched between its pages.
I mean I still buy them but not before a thorough flip through first. Though my last second hand buy cost 25NZD which is really not that much less than what a brand new book costs but it was a fancy second hand place in the centre of our capital city so I’m not sure what I expected.
There is a sub for us! r/tbrzero 🫡
I’m literally freaked out as I believe you just pulled this post from my brain. Like legitimately, I’m freaked, heh.
Like you, I enjoy owning my books. I use the library to read books and then buy a copy of the ones I want to keep (which, tbh, is a lot). Of course, there are authors I know I love and don’t need to vet their books before buying, but for unknowns or maybes, the library before buying route has worked well.
Are you on Library Thing? I find some of my most unexpected and wonderful books by looking at libraries that overlap mine (and I’m almost sure yours does.)
I have probably 20-30 books that I am reading or will read. I have purchased all of these books. I am currently trying to move continents early next year (Switzerland to the US), which is why the number isn’t 50+. If I lived back in the PNW I would be making biannual pilgrimages to Powell’s in addition to monthly trips to our local used book store. I honestly wouldn’t even care about the space each book takes up. I can always buy more shelving.
I mean if you have so many unread books lying around, rather than only buying new books maybe buy *no* books?
Counterpoint: buying new books is ecologically wasteful and you’re creating extra pollution by refusing to buy used books