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So this week, I am curious about those gigantic TBR piles which readers tend to accumulate. Please share with us your habits, tendencies or obsessions when it comes to hoarding behavior.Now that’s good timing. Last weekend, I stocked up at the Bookfest. This weekend, WG is asking about TBR piles! My newly-replenished store looks like this:Don’t let these questions restrict you ... tell us all about your hoarding issues, if only to make the rest of us feel better!
- Post a photo (or two or three) of your books to-be-read
- Share your buying or book accumulating habits - how bad of a problem do YOU have?!?!?
- Do you keep all the books you’ve read, or do you give them away or sell them?
- Can you walk past a bookstore and not go in? If you go in, do you impulsively purchase?
Which proves both that I’m happy to act like a pack mule in the service of my addiction, and that webcams weren’t designed for still photography. Note also that that pile does not include the books I’ve already read but plan to re-read soon. If I’d added those, and managed to get them all into a single stack, Mount TBR would be nearly as tall as me. (Not that that’s difficult to achieve....)
Okay, so that’s nowhere near as mammoth an accumulation as a lot of people have. Books are expensive here ($24.95 for a skinny little Georgette Heyer? Are you kidding me?) and I have a parsimonious streak strong enough to outweigh my love of books. Hence it’s second-hand and borrowed for me. And I can’t really see the point in being massively overburdened with more books than I could read in the near future (strange, I know). Besides which, I have nowhere to keep a TBR Everest.
Because, yes, I keep the books that I buy after I’ve read them, unless they’re truly horrendous. If it gets a grade above a D+, it stays. One day soon, though, I will have to do a cull; there are more books in the house now than can be accommodated by the shelves, and precious little room for yet another set of shelves. I’m sure I could find room if I put my mind to it, but there are books in my collection I know I’ll never read again and many of them are in good enough condition to trade in at a second-hand bookstore I know. (If I can bring myself to do it....)
Given the expense of books, I am definitely capable of resisting bookshops and their siren calls. Not so capable, however, of resisting the lure of the sales tables out the front of QBD....
Oh my goodness. That is quite a pile of books there.
ReplyDeleteKeeping the piles of books under control is a constant process. I recently lost most of my personal library due to a flood and was very sad to see some cherished titles go.
But, I am determined to see this as a blessing in disguise. It's a fresh start! If I had been a more diligent weeder, there wouldn't have been a need for a storage area, which is the spot that flooded. Right now, I'm determined to thin down to one (just one!) large bookcase.
My donated books are mostly going to local libraries and thrift stores.
I know the expense of books is a universal cry for book lovers all over...
ReplyDeleteOne of the reaosns I went ebooks...
I love that you are a re-reader as well - I love me a comfort read and knowing where all the good stuff is, is half the battle..
E.H>
I just posted about how expensive books are here!
ReplyDeleteI really couldn't post my TBR piles. If I did then I would realise exactly how bad my problem really is.
It's impossible for me to walk past a bookstore without going in for "just a quick peek." My TBR piles are a compilation of library books, ARCs, and books I've bought b/c I want to read them I just have other books I need to read first. :) Fun questions! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog a few days ago, and absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteHaving just gone through the "I have too many books and need to do something about it" phase myself, I narrowed my TBR pile to one large shelf. But I still kept a large book case of all my favorites I can't stand to part with!
Keisha
http://ksbooks.wordpress.com/
Books are expensive here, too, but that doesn't seem to stop me buying them ... love your very tidy pile! :D
ReplyDeleteMadigan: Oh, how terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that, but I'm glad you're able to look on the bright side. Good luck with the thinning-down; getting to a single bookcase sounds like quite a challenge.
ReplyDelete(And that reminds me - I must enter all those new books into LibraryThing, where I list all my books in case the roof succumbs to a storm.)
Erotic Horizon: I'm a paper-and-ink diehard, which is one of the reasons I switched to charity sales :-)
Marg: Love the denial! That's a good incentive for me to keep my TBR books stacked as closely as possible; it looks much less overwhelming that way.
Samantha: I love quick peeks ... after all, a girl's got to keep herself informed....
Keisha: Congratulations! Every time I think about reducing my collection, I discover that almost all my books are ones I can't bear to part with!
Maree: A true addict can find a way around anything.
Totally understand your hesitancy to do away with a book. I have some I know I'll never read again, and while I'm willing to loan them out, I just can't say goodbye :)
ReplyDelete