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

[Saymyname777]

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

I read at random pockets of the day - after eating, evening, in the bath, morning, bed time.

I find once I start a book if I am drawn to it I will want to keep picking it up. I think you need to pick a book off the shelf you will enjoy and allocate 15 minutes to it tonight. See if it suck's you in.

I only buy favourite books. I use a library mostly, which is good as it's a time limit to read them.

I'm also in two book clubs so have those to read every month

I'm a total convert to my kindle, which means reading a paper book feels odd to me now and I also read a lot in bed so its better for that too.

I have about 1000 unread books, all of which have been 99 p offers as I only allow myself to buy them when the books I want get to that price.

But I do also have a bookcase full of non fiction, coffee table books, travel guides etc and another bookcase in the kitchen full of cookbooks.

And I spent a happy hour browsing Waterstones the other day where I could have added many more books to my wishlist, but I just bought a hiking guide I wanted.

My pile of books keeps on growing thankfully

Someone described our house as having 'second hand bookshop vibes'. It was probably meant as an insult. I was flattered 🤣
I can't walk past a charity shop or a second hand bookshop without having to go in and have a nose at their books.

It depends. I have probably over 1000 books and I've read most of them, but I have some I've bought for reference or to read to the children when they're older. If I saw a good book at a reasonable price then I certainly wouldn't let the fact I've got some books I haven't read put me off buying it!

I've found my people!

I always read all the books I buy but don't always finish them. I feel guilty keeping the ones I haven't enjoyed and have given up on as it makes my shelves look like I am more well read than I am. I just gave up on Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children yesterday for example (anyone read it? I just couldn't...).

OMG these responses have made me feel so normal! 🤣 (looks at pile of half-read books on bedside table)

thanks!

Did my husband write this ?! 🤣 seriously , it's two separate things. I see books I know I will read at some point but once I'm finished with the book I'm on I won't necessarily fancy that particular book I've just bought. We are moving soon and I've bought a huge bookcase to make myself a mini library in the new house and I cannot wait to have this little book nook with all these books at my disposal ready for me to pick and choose from. Would be pretty boring if it only contained ones I'd read and an extra one ready for me to read. I also have a kindle which I like to read shorter easier books on occasionally. And if I book is really good on the kindle I buy the hard copy! It's a hobby op , we are book lovers ♥️

Well she's blethering rubbish - I started a book on Sunday that's been sitting on my bedside table for 3 years!

I have 2 other physical books sitting there that I'll get to at some point, (I also have Mr Large in Charge sitting there because DGS thinks that's where his books go too), a box of them under my bed & god only knows how many on my kindle.

Your advice is spot on - thanks! Funnily enough, I started to read a book last night after feeling inspired by this thread, and definitely feel it’s sucked me in.

This!!!

You are not a book person then OP? Sounds perfectly normal to me.

I have a special dedicated TBR bookcase.

Reading Involves picking the right book at the right time. I definitely have moods where I want certain specific genres - crime, history, literary fiction, trashy fiction.
I have a huge Amazon wish list and snap up books when they’re heavily discounted rather than wait until I’m in the mood to read that specific book.

I love books, I love buying books. I love reading books. I have loads of unread books, I will not stop!

Marie Kondo doesn’t strike me as a vociferous reader

I opened this thread expecting to see loads of people agreeing with the OP only to find the complete opposite - thank you Mumsnet! Book buying and reading are absolutely two separate hobbies. I love finding independent book shops, great finds in charity shops, waiting for special editions of my favourites etc. My DC both also love reading and have tons of books (although I do try to use the library more for them!)
My dream is to have a home library (in the style of the one in Beauty and the Beast) but at the moment my shelves will have to suffice!

UNREASONABLE.

Well I'm amazed this is so common. I am absolutely a book person, I read loads and always have a book on the go. I read one then buy another though unless I'm reading a series. Apart from anything else it's expensive to keep buying them! My daughter's a book worm too and I can't afford to buy us both 100s of books.

My mum is next level book worm and she doesn't buy books and not read them either. She always has two books on the go and has had to turn one room into a library (with books spilling out all over the rest of the house too) but she has genuinely read them all.

I'm a bit perplexed by the slightly patronising 'you don't like to read do you?' comments to the op from people who by their own admission are buying books but not reading them!!

True dat 🤣

I'll never live long enough to read all my books. DH has jokingly promised to bury me with my Kindle and charger.

A home isn't complete without a decent stack of books. Every if you never get around to reading them, they look lovely as home decor.

Totally normal! I’ve just counted and I have a shelf of 57 books ready to be read. I read an average of about one a week. I buy most from charity shops, so if I see ones in series I like, or just ones that look good I buy them ready whenever I see them. I read a variety of genres so it also means I have a selection to choose from depending what I fancy.

100 isn’t too bad!

I'm a bit perplexed by the slightly patronising 'you don't like to read do you?' comments to the op from people who by their own admission are buying books but not reading them

Of course we read. I've read 10 books so far this year and am really trying to read more after a couple of years of reading very little.

It's just that if you read 50 books a year, but buy 100, your TBR pile grows more quickly than it gets read.