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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

217 replies

Saymyname777 · 09/04/2024 22:18

Like having over 100 and keep buying how are you going to get through them

OP posts:
ThinWomansBrain · 09/04/2024 22:49

Buy & read a lot, some get read immediately, others not.
Weirdest person I ever met said she'd never read a novel, she couldn't see the point.

Youdontevengohere · 09/04/2024 22:49

I do this, I’d never really stopped to think about whether it was odd or not. I buy books whenever I see one I like the look of, or one is recommended to me. I have lots of books I haven’t read yet, as I don’t have time. But I will one day! So I’m just adding to the pile of ‘books I want to read, that I will read one day in the future’.

theduchessofspork · 09/04/2024 22:48

Marie Kondo says something about this doesn’t she? The moment to read something is when you buy it, if you don’t you probably never will. That’s why people keep buying new ones.

This is the total of my MK knowledge.

MrsKeats · 09/04/2024 22:48

I have about 1000 books.
I am building a retirement library so I buy new and second hand books when I see one that catches my eye.
So YABVU

RazzberryGem · 09/04/2024 22:46

I feel PERSONALLY attacked OP
How very dare you

YewandOak · 09/04/2024 22:46

Not odd at all. Perfectly normal in fact. I have 300+ books on my kindles plus another 300 or more on my bookshelves.

It's the possibility of reading them,you never know when you'll feel like reading/rereading a certain book.

AssassinsEyebrow · 09/04/2024 22:45

There's a trend tonight...
A few about how people shouldn't keep having babies "unless"

And now this.

user1471554720 · 09/04/2024 22:45

I buy and read in rotation. I read a book a week, usually. I alwaya have about 10 to 15 books waiting to be read, as I like to choose from a selection. Sometimes I don't buy for a while, and whittle down my unread collection to 6 or 8.

I give away books I have read.

Buying new releases etc is expensive. If I see a good book on offer, I buy it, provided my collection is at 15 or less.

PlasticOno · 09/04/2024 22:45

Hatty65 · 09/04/2024 22:22

You aren't a reader, are you OP?

Yeah. Tell me you’re not a reader without telling me you’re not a reader.

A book doesn’t equal a book, OP. It’s not like buying an egg sandwich. They don’t go off, plus you don’t always want to read the same thing. I have three French novels, a former student’s debut novel, and two collections of short stories on my bedside table, but today I bought a study of Victorian mourning, because that was suddenly what I wanted to read.

HollyGolightly4 · 09/04/2024 22:45

YABU!

Think of it like a wine cellar... different books for different occasions.

BelindaOkra · 09/04/2024 22:44

And yes 100 barely counts as ‘books’

BelindaOkra · 09/04/2024 22:44

HappyNewTaxYear · 09/04/2024 22:20

You don’t understand book buying.

it is in fact odd not to keep buying books.

Came here to say this.

Rebusmyfire · 09/04/2024 22:42

Er no.....

givebeesachance · 09/04/2024 22:41

I have found my people.

Except you, OP. You do not understand books, it would seem.

cariadlet · 09/04/2024 22:39

Saymyname777 · 09/04/2024 22:18

Like having over 100 and keep buying how are you going to get through them

You say over 100 as if that's a lot!
😂😂😂

I'm hoping to retire in a few years and am gradually getting rid of stuff because we're moving abroad and can't take everything with us. Sadly, that has to include some of my books.

I've taken well over 100 to charity shops so far and still have shelves full of books.

Allfur · 09/04/2024 22:36

I feel the same about shoes and handbags

DetOliviaBenson · 09/04/2024 22:35

Isn't that what everyone does? Confused

BertieBotts · 09/04/2024 22:34

Never running out of reading material is a feature, not a bug.

YABU.

Bluevelvetsofa · 09/04/2024 22:33

I buy yarn and cross stitch kits when I haven’t finished or used what I’ve got. It’s unlikely that I will ever finish what I’ve got!

BettyShagter · 09/04/2024 22:28

This reminds me of me.

I keep buying salad and never eating it.

But the fact I've bought it makes me feel healthy, so perhaps all the book buying makes them feel well read?

JayAlfredPrufrock · 09/04/2024 22:26

<stares hard at pile of unread books by bed>

yes if course it’s ridiculous

aSpanielintheworks · 09/04/2024 22:26

Just... no.
Not weird at all.

ilovepixie · 09/04/2024 22:25

Saymyname777 · 09/04/2024 22:18

Like having over 100 and keep buying how are you going to get through them

Perfectly normal behaviour.

Ponderingwindow · 09/04/2024 22:24

I don’t understand.

there is no limit to book acquisition.