Anyone else addicted to buying books?

[ThumbTowers]

I love reading, always have. I prefer physical books to reading on kindle etc. I seem to have developed a book buying addiction. I buy way more books than I can read, to be added to my TBR pile. By 'pile', I mean bookcase(s).

Every now and then I try to get a handle on it. For example, I have started to reserve the psychological thriller type books that I am unlikely to ever read again from the library rather than buy them (although it's a pain, as they come in to the library in drips and drabs and my library has short opening hours, so i feel i'm constantly trying to work out when i can get to the library around my working hours and kids!). I also tend to buy second hand from Ebay, particularly when World of Books or similar are running a 4 for the price of 3 deal, or ask for books for birthday/Christmas presents so that I am not spending ridiculous amounts of money. But my dream is to have a huge floor to ceiling bookcase in every room of the house (will never happen) so I would love to own all the books I have ever read. I have been on holiday this week and made myself read 3 books from my TBR rather than buy anything new. Hurray! But, I have just undone my good work by spending my evening ordering a few new ones for Ebay and the library!

Anyone else have this addiction?

No, it sounds a bit mad, and as though there's a disconnect between your buying and your reading. I am a voracious reader, so obviously I buy and borrow a lot of books, and read a lot via online resources like Gutenberg and Archive.org or Faded Page, and I own vast numbers (we have a big house, and there are entire walls of book cases in several rooms, and two studies that are entirely booklined, and there are still boxes left to unpack from our last move), but my addiction is reading and rereading them.

I think if you're buying huge numbers of books and then not reading them, you're buying too indiscriminately. If you read a few pages of a book in a shop and don't immediately want to sink into a chair and keep going, then I'd put it back and keep walking.

Yep. Need more shelves! I do try to get rid of ones I haven't loved, and I use the library too. But I justify it that one day when I can't drive and I'm living alone I'm going to need them!
I stayed at an AirB&B this June and the living room had a huge floor -to-ceiling bookcase (with a step ladder!). It was all good quality stuff, obviously collected over generations, no trash - first editions, a huge range of classic novels, guide books. I re-discovered Guy de Maupassant's short stories and ordered three other books as soon as I got home because they looked so interesting. haven't looked at them yet.
I went to a fete on Monday and they had a big book stall. Some books were in the wrong place (Lessons In Chemistry was in the Reference pile!) so I was rearranging them. I also couldn't resist recommending books to all and sundry. Eventually the bloke on the stall wearily asked me to be on the stall next year 😂
I'm also in a book group, and get annoyed that I have to read someone else's choice that I don't want to, when I could be tackling my TBR pile. So I feel your pain, but it's not a vice or morally wrong, so feel no shame!

Yes. Obsessed. I grew up in a book filled house and we ourselves now have a house full of books.
I go through phases where I buy a lot in one go, then won't get any for a while. My TBR pile is generally between 30 and 50, but I also regularly re-read favourites so it never really lessens.
My biggest indulgence is buying hardbacks or special editions. I've just treated myself to The Forsaken Trilogy by RJ Barker in hardback, because I know they're books I wont want to part with.

Yup. I live in a place where everyone seems to be getting rid of their physical books, so everyone fete, fayre and boot sale is an absolute book heaven . I recently rearranged my bookshelves and found loads that I didn't know I possessed!

Can I ask, do others have several on the go at once? I usually have a hardback to read in bed, a paperback downstairs, a very tatty one for reading in the bath and one downloaded onto my phone for journeys!

No. At my age I am consciously trying not to leave masses of books for my daughter to clear when I've gone (like I had to do with my parents' books). I have already thinned out my shelves and mostly read my Kindle or library books. The occasional paper back I acquire I pass on to someone else now.

I'm addicted to buying books. I'm also addicted to reading but that seems to be a separate thing, because I definitely get a kick out of buying a new book and buy them faster than I read them. I have several hundred physical books that are unread, and several hundred kindle books. I try to buy from charity shops to keep the cost down and dispose of ones I am sure I won't want to read again, but still they mount up. At some point we will move house and the mountain will have to be tackled. On kindle I put books on my wishlist and buy them when they are 99p and sometimes the interest fades before I actually buy them. The good side is that when I finish a book and need something new to read it is really fun going to my bookshelves to select one, because they are pre-stocked with books exactly to my taste.
Then I do something like re-reading Dorothy Dunnett, which takes months, but I am loving maybe more than the first time around. Meanwhile the hundreds of new books sit unread.
I am absolutely loving having my book collection but I've given my kids permission to clear the lot to a charity shop when I'm gone. They don't have to keep them to remember me by, barring any they actually want of course.

I used to have multiple books on the go, but post menopause the brain fog has made it harder, so I now just read one at a time.

Yes, me. As I get older I find the concentration needed for reading is lacking! But I LOVE buying books. I have recognised that it's a bit of a waste so I mostly restrict myself to 99p novels on the Kindle and I ditched Audible as well. My TBR pile is probably about 130 at the moment. There is something on my Kindle for every mood, and I do read about 2 books a month. (Used to get through double that at least, even with little kids around.)

Well I must admit @Aubrielleit can be confusing. I've learned not to read more than one book with characters of the same name.

Every book I buy, I want to read. It would be "mad" to buy a book i didn't want to read.

I buy a lot of books as I’m a voracious reader, however, I only really buy from charity shops or eBay. Can’t remember the last time I bought a brand new full price book. Also, I very rarely keep books, when I’ve read them, I pass them on, or give back to charity. I have one bookcase full of my favourite or special books, anything else goes after it’s been read.

I did but I found that this year I started to feel quite overwhelmed by having too many to choose from. If I read library books, I felt guilty at not reading my books, if I read a book that I'd had sat for a while I was distracted by the new shiny ones I'd just added to the pile, if I read a new one I felt guilty about the older ones I was ignoring......it all just got a bit much! I also found that my reading tastes are changing and books I was really excited about I'm not so fussed about anymore.
So I joined the read what you own challenge with the aim of getting the pile down and it's been really helpful. Still have a way to go but I feel in control now and hopefully will have it down to one shelf by Christmas.

I have a terrible habit of buying three books and reading one before buying three more.

I think if it as accumulating a library for some future time when I urgently need a particular type of book, I want a few options to choose from, and I don't have time to go out and browse the bookshop.

I buy almost all my books from the Oxfam bookshop, so I can tell myself it's a charitable donation with a free book thrown in and I don't have to feel guilty about it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44981013.amp

its absolutely a thing!

tsundoku

Yes. I feel like we should have a Book-Buyers Anonymous group, i.e. "Hi, my name is X, and I'm addicted to buying books. This week, I've bought 46 and it's still only Wednesday..."

I have been obsessed with reading for as long as I can remember. Apparently, I was reading fluently at 3, and haven't stopped since!

My current TBR pile is approximately 100 books strong and threatening to topple over and smother me in the night. Most are second-hand, with a few glorious new ones in the mix! I intend to have a home library, complete with Chesterfield sofa, a library ladder and bankers lamps. Unfortunately, that room is currently full of packs of laminate flooring and DIY things...

The library is lovely, but I got out of the habit of going after I read most of the books in two previous local libraries in other areas. I found that I had a much more interesting selection, with new stock more often than the libraries. I have accounts with eBay, Amazon, AbeBooks, Book Bundle, World of Books, etc., and also browse books on tables in the supermarkets, charity shops and anywhere else where I may see books for sale!

Disclaimer: so far this week, I have only had four new ones arrive. Two of them came from America, so I have had to wait a while, but I am enjoying reading something new for a change!

Also, OP... one can never have too many books 😂Just think of it as extra insulation and sound-proofing, and it is multi-purpose, what with its entertainment value, too!

Umberto Eco had (has?) much to say on the subject of books, plus here's another of my favourite book quotes.

I do feel quite sad that I've worked out that the rate I read books and my likely rest of life span I probably won't get through all the books I have.

I get a little serotonin boost from buying books and often justify buying them because they are relatively inexpensive and seem like "good" things to reward myself with. Unlike, say, a big cake.

I'm another early starter; my book addiction began at 2 or 3 and it has been my greatest indulgence. I almost always buy new, unless something I desperately want is out of print. As a child/teen, if a relative gave me money I would go straight to the bookshop and that habit has never really changed. My hoarding of new books makes no sense to most, I know. My friends will charity shop for books, read and pass on, but somehow I can't make myself do that. Sadly, I no longer have access to a library since our council stopped running the mobile service, and there are no local independent bookshops nearby, so I'm reliant on internet book shopping these days.

Despite being low income for most of my life, the book obsession is non negotiable (along with the dog). I can (and do) quite happily forego holidays, meals out, alcohol and beauty treatments, but I need my books and my dog.

This months book total is shameful at 23, but I binge buy, so the coming weeks will be focused on reading rather than shopping (said with no conviction whatsoever...😬).

Hello. My name is TheeNotoriousPIG, and I am addicted to buying books. Today, four shiny brand-new ones arrived in the post, and we're only on Monday and it's the first day of the month, so who knows how many extra ones I'll have by October? I was very glad that I'd put dinner in the slow-cooker, so that I didn't have to waste time cooking (and worrying about it burning) when I could read instead. I haven't quite finished the five that I got last week, but that's OK, I'm just going to start a new pile of books, so that the last one doesn't topple over and kill me in the night...

I share your lack of conviction about just reading and not shopping, @Aubrielle! (Also, the lack of holidays and things, because books are non-negotiable, and my dogs would be put out if I left them at home while I swanned off on holiday without them)

Buying books and reading books are two separate hobbies!

I have a kindle, and it’s so easy to buy a 99p book on there.

Sort of interwoven; they come together and move apart in an endless cycle. It's much the same with knitting - the process of knitting and the hoarding of yarn are very different things.

Used to be like this. We have a lot of bookcases, but when they got filled and I was still buying more books and I was even spending more time buying books than sitting down to read them I realised how pointless and wasteful it was.

Downloaded the Libby app and have read far more (for free) from the library.

Can't cope with kindle or apps due to chronic migraine. I have to limit screen time and I really only use a laptop for mn and shopping. Has to be paper books for me.