Monday, March 7, 2011

Dirty Little Hoarder

I have a tendency to horde the shinies.  There's a reason my OH bought me an ereader back when I was still a paper-snob, we had just moved house and he didn't want to go through the trauma of moving all of those books ever again.  I'm inclined to hoard other things as well, eyeliner, nail varnish, shoes, handbags, tarot cards, things that tend to be harmed by destructive toddlers, of which I have a few.  :) 

I thought ebooks might sort out my hoarding inclinations but so far, they've just encouraged me.  They take up no physical space, are cheap, easy to access, convenient in every way and I don't even feel like I'm accumulating them.  I'm scared to count how many I have but today I realised I might have gone too far. 

There's a book I've wanted for about a year, it sounds like it was written for me and it's always top of the list come book splurging time, but I've been skipping it because it's too expensive for a writer I haven't tried before.  Anyway, book went on sale, I scurried off to buy it . . . only to be told I already own it.   I checked out the non-Kindle ebooks I have and I've doubled up a good few times.  Seriously, Claire.

That's it now.  No more hoarding.  No more buying until I start getting through the books I already own.  I need to start keeping a spreadsheet of the books I buy. It's only taken a year but I think the one-click novelty might actually be wearing off.  Now I just have to start reading.  :)

I haven't been posting about books I've read because, well, I haven't been reading much. Recently I enjoyed Have Gun, Will Play and Life from Scratch and I think around Christmas or New Year I quite liked Vestal Virgin and Devil's Eye.  Most played song lately is from *surprise, surprise* Adele.


5 comments:

  1. I've been strict with buying books lately, all mine ended up in storage after I moved a second time and must've had about 200 sitting there I haven't read. I'm only allowing myself to buy if I've at least read a couple on the pile and in 90% of cases I can sample on the pad before I buy.

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  2. I've been so bad. When Borders went out of business here, we kind of went overboard and I don't think I've read one of the paperbacks I bought then - now I can't get rid of them. There's no point in me doing the same with ebooks if I can't even remember what I've bought. :)

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  3. Up until a few years ago I was pretty good at remembering them all, now I look at them and think "Did I read this one?"

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  4. My memory has gone to hell. Don't know how many times I've read the beginning of a book and realised I read it before.

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  5. I must confess. I am a book hoarder too. Take my wardrobe. Take my shoes. But don't make me part with my books! I can't say I've bought duplicates, but I definitely could start my own libary. (Chalk that up to being the daughter of an English teacher with wall to wall bookshelves in her home! My dad is just as bad.) Now that so many books are going digital, I can't say that I could replace a paper book for sure if I got rid of it. They're becoming collector's items, right? I just dread the day I have to move them all..

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