Is anyone else addicted to buying books?

Not anymore, I just can't afford to buy books unless I see something appealing in a supermarket or in a charity shop. I prefer reading non-fiction to fiction and the prices of non-fiction paperbacks have shot up hugely over the last 12 months so all in all I'm happy to support my local library and get books from there. I used to waste so much money buying books which mostly sat on my shelf for months while I lost interest in them as I wasn't reading quickly enough to get to them. Like a PP says, a library browse can be just as nice as browsing in a shop.

Most definitely me! I have to smuggle books into the house because my teenager says I have issues.

Nobody can just rewrite books. The owner of the literary estate of Roald Dahl chose to have them rewritten to increase their sales. The heirs of Roald Dahl previously chose to sell off their rights to the highest bidder. It’s capitalism. If other literary estates are owned by people less greedy, the books won’t be rewritten.

Oh god yes. I have stacks of unread books.

Mind you, I’m stocking up for a reason. The woke mob have finally got round to actually re-writing books. I knew they would. First it was Roald Dahl, then Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse. And they’re not going to stop there. Their ultimate goal, of course, is to re-write, and then destroy the literary canon itself. Harold Bloom was warning about this 40 years ago. Eventually, it will be illegal to own, or sell, anything the woke fascists dislike. I have started buying up the classics while I can. I’m stockpiling Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, etc, and I’d advise all book lovers to do the same. When you can actually re-write an author’s words, and get away with it, that’s the beginning of the end. Sooner or later they’ll start destroying books. Literally buying up old/‘uncorrected’ copies and burning them. Mark my words. They’re already ‘de-colonising’ the university libraries. If you think I’m exaggerating, wait and see.

Most of my books are from the library, which not only saves me a fortune, but also forces decisiveness upon me - a library book can't sit on my shelf half-read for years. It goes back sooner or later, read or unread. I have 18 out at the moment and will have to charge through determinedly as I have more on hold and can't exceed 20 out at a time.

Library sales, yes, I tend to go a bit wild. I especially like obsolete travel guides, which adds an interesting level of peril to trips. If you want to know what this hotel cost in francs in the distant past, I'm your woman.

Otherwise I'm relatively restrained, although books still somehow trickle in just a bit faster than I can keep up with, forever tantalizing me with their untasted delights.

Oh yes I do this. I can't walk past a charity shop or The Works without looking for books, although I have curbed the Amazon habit I developed during lockdown. I also borrow from the library but as soon as I get the books home they become less appealing somehow and then it takes me ages to read them and get them returned. My mumsnet addiction really eats into my reading time

Me! When I'm done reading a non-fiction book I pass it to a relative who reads it and passes it to friends. If it's fiction, I wait until I have a dozen or so and then put them on FreeCycle as a bundle.

I still have lots of books, though, as there are some I can't bear to part with.

Yes, but mine are mostly 99 p Kindle bargains. I have hundreds that will probably mostly remain unread, although I do want to read them all. I now won't allow myself to buy any unless it's something I really want to read, but still probably buy 2-3 a month.

But OP, if it makes you feel better, the Japanese have a word for this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-44981013

Yes, I can't resist a book. I rarely buy new, except as a special treat - usually it's from a charity shop or our local book exchange or similar. I was unreasonably excited to find that Vinted do books recently!

My OH is obsessed with buying books. Every time we're in Tesco or an airport, some more books have to be purchased. We have big book shelves in the dining room that are full with his books (I use a Kindle due to poor eyesight) and there's a big pile waiting to be accommodated.
I've suggested he goes to the library but it falls on deaf ears. We'll be snowed under by a book avalanche soon!

I buy books in charity shops and if there's something I particularly want, look for it secondhand on ebay. I have hundreds of books and am getting a bit cluttered at home but can't resist another interesting book. They might get read eventually!

Me!! Im addicted too!

*going not doing

Yes. It's an addiction.

I have bought over 30 in the last few weeks! I’ve just got over a reading slump and it’s made me excited so I started over buying books…
I’m stopping now though and just adding things to my wishlist. I won’t buy more until I’ve read a decent chunk.

I don’t see buying books as a bad thing (except for finding the space). I think it is worthwhile if you enjoy reading. I like doing through my bookshelf choosing what to read next. Books don’t expire either so if any of my kids are into reading when they’re older then there will be plenty of choice 😂

I have a good tip that I seen that might be useful to some of you, myself included. Add a penny per page for every book you finish to a ‘book fund’. So for example, if you finish a 300 page book add £3. This is all you can use to buy books, which will encourage you to read more!

Yes this is me. I have hundreds of unread books and yet I cannot resist looking in any bookshop I pass. I keep saying I need to stop buying books but I always manage to convince myself there’s a good reason to buy this particular book.

I have this tendency, especially in charity shops - I love looking for books for me and DC. I force myself to borrow at least half my books from the library to try and counter this!

Yes, I find it hard to walk past a charity shop without browsing the books, I buy 99p deals on Kindle all the time and use Borrowbox a lot too.

guilty

I have stopped buying books both to save money and because of lack of space. However, I am a Bookseller, and on a Friday, the publishers release their lists of advance reading copies which we can request. I have saved money but, unless I use my car as a mobile library, there is nowhere to store any more books, plus the postman hates me ...

Yes. I have thousands of books and no time to read them, but I can't resist a 'bargain'. I usually buy from discount book sellers.
I'm better at resisting than I used to be but I still buy too many every year.

I was going to say oh that’s not a bad habit but 45 books in a month when you don’t read very much seems a bit pointless. It’s just buying for the sake of buying really. I think because it’s books it’s seen as ‘worthy’ but really it’s no different than going out obsessively buying clothes or toys or cooking utensils when you don’t really use them.

My new year’s resolution a few years ago was to only read from the library (either online library or my local/uni libraries). I read a lot so it was a challenge but very helpful in terms of clutter and cash. I did end up buying a couple of books I couldn’t access through the library but nothing like what I usually do. Even now when my bookshelves are cluttered I have a clear out rather than just double stack. I only keep books if they have sentimental value or I think I will reread them.

Yes.

Am both horrified and delighted that the book depository has closed. Am not in the uk and English books are premium.

Might start tackling the piles of books next to my bed now...

Yes! I can’t walk past a charity shop without having a rummage through the books and 2 or 3 times a year I have a trip to a localish secondhand bookshop and rarely come back with less than 25 books. I have at least 250 physical books waiting to be read and I’ve just started buying kindle books too.