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

Completely normal I have shelves of books to read….but always see a new one. One hobby is collecting them another hobby is reading them.

Terry Pratchett: 'I don't trust anyone who has enough bookshelf space.'

My TBR pile is down to 2 (which I am keeping for a good long train journey), the lowest since Covid (was very grateful for a large TBR pile in lockdown then reread things stored in the loft). I do however have a pile of library books and just haven't seen much in the local charity shops recently. If it get more than 10 or so I start getting anxious - am worried about ending up like a hoarding relative so do occasional culls of thing that won't get reread.

Yes! 😀

Not odd at all. You buy lots of books and then you have a choice of what to read whenever you like.

I have a superking bed, underneath this bed is full shallow boxes full of books, this is my to read pile. I’m guessing well over 300 books are in it. I’ve just order 5 more.
oops!

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.

@Momstermunch So, what do you do if you finish a book at, say, 4pm on a Sunday and the shops are all shut and you don't have any unread books in the house? What do you read? Do you reread a book you've previously read until you can get to a bookshop or the library? Or are you happy to not read anything until you can get to a bookshop and buy the next book? Or do you have a small TBR pile of <10 books to avoid ever getting in that situation and it's just people saying they have hundreds of TBR books that you object to?

You have said your Mum is a big reader too. So do you not buy books as presents for each other? Because e.g. this year I've bought two books for myself so far. But I also received 16 books for my birthday and Christmas. I've read 14 books so far this year, so I still have a TBR purely because of gifts (looking at what I've read it's actually about 50:50 books I've been gifted and books I've bought previously). In fact a large chunk of my TBR pile is made up of gifts, some of which will definitely be read very soon, others which will be read in the next 6 months to 10 years or longer (e.g. War and Peace was bought when I was in my 20s and read in my 40s, a far better age to read it), and others (mostly presents) which will possibly never be read.

As a percentage of all the books in the house the TBR shelf is <10 %, the majority of the books in the house have been read by a resident of this house.

I think we must have well over 2000 books in our house. And I still sold/gave away about 20 boxes before our last move.

There are:

• books I haven't yet read. I read across a range of genres, some are long and some short, some paperback and some hardback, depending on what I'm in the mood for and the size of my bag at the time.
• books I have read. Some I may need to refer to, some I may want to read again, some I want to be able to lend to other people, many I want my children to be able to read or use for their studies if they need to.

I thought this was perfectly normal 🫣

Oh, I only have 7 in my TBR pile, I thought this was a lot! This thread has done the complete opposite of what the OP intended, it's permitted me to add more!

I'm particularly looking forward to A Gentleman in Moscow, Shuggie Bain and Burial Rites.

@Saymyname777

I joined a book club at my libarey a few months so that's made me extra adventureous about reading a more wide range of eclectic books too.
than used to do.

Which has been quite intriguingly..

Just booked another book club on eventbrite to attend the feminist book club in nearest city where i am,

Just curious 🤔 this book club will be anu good too...

I think OP is a friend's EX. She wanted him to get rid of his (1000s) of books and buy a bigger telly.

Reader, it was not the books he binned.

Reasons to buy more books:
Replace a worn out copy of an old favourite
Spot a book that will fill a gap in a series, so you can then read all in sequence
A book comes out that you've been waiting ages for (Jasper Fforde's Red Side Story had to be brought on sight yesterday, as I've been waiting for it since 2009)
Brought at an author event
Recommended in person or online
The cover looks pretty (this often turns out to be a bad reason)
Paperback edition, when I want to keep my hardback copy in good condition
My daughter made puppy dog eyes at me
Because I want to.

All excellent reasons.

I read the first book in a series. My Mum bought what she thought was the next one but it turned out to be the 4th.
Obviously, I had no choice but to buy the 2nd and 3rd.

I'll also add another reason: finding a book that you know someone would love for their birthday or for Christmas; getting home and really wishing you could read it first because it looks so interesting; feeling guilty at the thought of reading it because then it would be like giving something 2nd hand for a present; having to go back out to buy your own copy.

do you keep buying food even though you haven't eaten everything you could possibly eat in your house?

why are you buying pasta? you still have breakfast cereal and marmite!!!

although actually breakfast cereal and marmite sounds pretty good as a pasta alternative... should have said sardines and rice pudding

Such a waste of money! Try visiting the local library ;-)

95% of my books come from charity shops, so not a waste of money at all - benefiting a good cause. If I don't think I'll want to read the book again, I donate it back to another charity shop.

Most of mine are from charity shops too.
The new ones are mostly presents from people

The thing is some books are just waiting for the right time to be read.

Just this!

No not odd at all. There are books in my house I have never read but I still buy new books if I see something I want

Oops wrong one!

I don't actually object to people buying books they don't read. I object to the idea that people who don't do that must not be keen on reading.

To answer your question, it's pretty easy to see a book is about to finish and line up your next one. I also have a kindle so I can download a book immediately.

There's no way I'd attempt to buy my mum a book. She reads so much and so widely that I'd struggle to figure out what she'd love and hasn't already read. My husband is the same with me, he doesn't know what I've read as lots were library books or stored on my kindle.

The thought of a hundred books waiting to be read actually gives me the heebie jeebies. I'd feel pressured and like my love of reading had become a chore. If it brings others pleasure and they have the money and space for it then fair enough. I am amazed so many people want and are able to do this though.

100%. I don't want to read something I have hugely looked forward to, e.g. on the train, or late at night when I am nodding off, I will save it for something like a rainy Sunday afternoon when I have nothing else to distract me and can really settle down with it.

I know....thought I'd get through my TBR pile during lockdown. But doomscrolling got even worse 😭