Bookish Questions – Do you have book buying bans for yourself?
I may have used affiliate links for some of the items in this post. Using an affiliate link to purchase an item won't cost you any more money, but I may receive payment if you click on a link and make a purchase. For more information, visit the disclosures page.
Do you have book buying bans for yourself?
The closest I have ever come to a real book buying ban is my husband telling me that I have too many books. Of course, that’s probably because my massive bookshelf at home is overflowing.
I probably have close to 100 books sitting on my shelf that I need to read. And that doesn’t include the books I’ve read, or the books that I have multiple copies of. So, I do my best not to buy too many books, or at least not to spend too much money on them. Though, I do have to admit that I recently pre-ordered a copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, along with the illustrated edition of Chamber of Secrets.
Since DH retired, I have pretty much had to “ban” buying books. As you say, I have some I’ve never read, such as the last 3 years of Pepys’ Diary; I have all of Gutenberg to play with, and I have many old friends I seriously need to revisit. We used to go down to the coast to the used-book shop there but it got too expensive what with trainfare and meals and books, esp as I have no source of trade-ins anymore. Nowadays I only allow myself a few second-hand books from Amazon, and try to go for the ones that cost a few cents if possible. (Shut up about the 40 Euro hardback! LOL) That was a one-off–and it has to be.
I even took my old paleography textbook in to a second-hand historical bookshop and sold it. It’s out of print; even so I only got 12 Euros for it–the price of a second-hand paperback bestseller. But of course, he was buying and I was selling. That’s the difference.
I understand that problem. Neither of the local secondhand bookshops I know about do purchases or trade-ins. I’m sure if they did that they would never make any money. It’s funny you should mention Pepy’s Diary. I have a copy of it sitting on my shelf at the office. I saved it from the books our school library was giving away last year, though I haven’t begun to think about reading it yet. I’ve too many other books to read.
It probably won’t be the Latham-Matthews version, thought it might be and I hope it is. Start with 1666, where he writes about the Great Fire of London and the plague.