To think keep buying books when you haven’t read the ones you’ve got is odd

The worst part of my last two moves has been having to downsize and lose so many books. I don't buy many these days, partly because my attention span has been wrecked by the combination of menopause and reading forums like this, partly because I have no room for more shelves.

Browsing charity and second hand book shops is my greatest pleasure.

Gerald Durrell described his brother, the novelist Lawrence Durrell as moving to Corfu with four trunks of books and a briefcase containing his clothes.
That’s me.
I love books, have done since I was very little. I have a library, a kindle and a library card to support my addiction, and none of the numbers mentioned so far touch that of my collections.
i too like the wine cellar analogy.

Books, and yarn, are life.
You are very wrong, op.
The mood has to choose the book, and so you need a library at all times.
I have no idea how many books I have, but every time I see my mum she brings books (and yarn!) for me and the dc, and we all are very happy. And well read. So it’s all good.
I love hardbacks, paperbacks, audio, kindle. Books are everything. If I could read all day every day I would.

This

DH and I have so many books between us and shelf space is becoming a problem now but I'll never stop buying them!I currently have 6 books waiting to be read,including one I really must finish ;I had to walk away from that one because I was so annoyed at the way the heroine was allowing herself to be treated by her family I had to start another book instead😆

I collect books from the Persephone series and will often ask for a book as a gift but not necessarily read them straightaway.

I also have a separate stash of what I call 'Comfort Books' that I revisit time and time again whenever I'm stressed or unwell.They just make me feel better because they're familiar,easy to read, bring a smile and feel like old friends.

Haha that sounds like a plan 🤣🤣 @YeahComeOnThen

She’s wrong, though. I can and do happily read books I bought ages ago. The first book I read this year was one I’ve had on my Kindle since 2013.

My Dad was obsessed with buying books, especially hardback autobioghies he had bookcases full of them, however, he never read a single one of them. I used to think it very strange, he died 5 years ago, it is now one of the things I really miss about him.
I didn't realise other people did the same.

100 books!
That's the contents of about two shelves in my bookcases.

But what if there's some kind of something and we can't leave our homes or get anything other than food deliveries?
What if I see a book in the charity shop that I've been wanting to read (I rarely buy new). If I don't buy it it might be gone when I need it.

What if books have feelings and get sad when we don't buy them?

What’s it got to do with you? Even if it was odd, so what? You need some joy in your life.

I buy loads of books and I don’t even think twice about how many I’ve already got that are unread. Why would I? They don’t somehow go off like a pint of milk if you don’t read them straight away, you know.

I also buy loads of perfume, makeup and skincare despite having plenty of all of them I haven’t used up yet. I don’t feel bad about that, either.

@Acapulco12

plan for an early retirement??

@Saymyname777

personally I'm a 'reader' being sidetracked by technology. Hence reading your thread, rather than a book.

I'mstruggling to read these days because I get more out of MN instantly, than a book.

I keep buying them because I like the sound of the book & because I hope if I find the right one it'll draw me back in to reading more than internetting!

why is it bothering you? Do you live with them? Is it a space/clutter issue??

I see it as prepping.

Tins of food, stash of water, vital medication, tonnes of books.

What if all the electric gets cut off, how will you entertain yourself?

This is actually very offensive to us book lovers 🙄 I think an apology is due 😂

My house is full of books - thousands of them. Some I have read, some I haven't; maybe 50/50. A lot of them are non-fiction or reference, so not the kind of thing you pick up and read once through, cover to cover.

I enjoy being able to browse my bookshelves and pick out something that I bought months or years ago, but only now is the right moment to read it. And I do buy more, as I love browsing in bookshops too, though these days I do also carry out regular culls and donate a few dozen at a time to charity shops.

I like Umberto Eco's view of unread books being important because they are full of the knowledge you want to have. https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/03/24/umberto-eco-antilibrary/

I've read some things on MN but this takes the biscuit. How dare you question book buying? There's some subjects you just don't touch OK?

I don’t need to be bullied on here 😂

my excuse is that I buy second hand so I have to get any I want when I see them.

The thought of not having the right sort of book that I might want to read at any point makes me quite anxious. A really good TBR (To Be Read) pile is essential. 100 is only, say, 10 books in 10 genres and that’s barely a capsule TBR pile really!

OP ain't coming back! She was obviously moaning about a friend or relative 😁

Never can have too many 📚😂.

Oh yes, so much yarn. No chance I'll ever get through it all but I can be sure I'll not be able to resist buying more!

Not odd at all. My TBR pile grows all the time. I get twitchy and anxious if I've got fewer than 5 that I've not read!

I was just wondering if that's said of books! I'm familiar with it being applied to yarn. 😄

I like to pick a book to match whatever specific mood I’m in. Also just the buying of the book itself is enjoyable, reading them is a bonus 😆