During my daily blog hopping I came across this post by Ames over at Thrifty Reader who reports her TBR (that's To Be Read) pile is now at 247 books.
I've got one word for her: Amateur.
I discovered while moving that I have too many books. Now I know many of you (also book lovers) will scoff and say, "There is no such thing." Uh, yeah there is. Trust me. I don't even have a real bookshelf. I mean, the majority of my TBR is packed in Rubbermaid totes, so even though I didn't have to pack too many books (they already were), I still came to the conclusion that I have a serious problem.
This makes little sense to me. I mean, I'm a librarian for cripes sake. I can literally get any book my little heart desires at any given moment (frankly, so can you non-librarians - that's why God invented Interlibrary Loan). So why do I shell out money to buy these books, only to have them lying around for years, unread?
Good question. If someone has a theory I'd be interested to hear it.
I figure everyone is entitled to one guilty pleasure. Mine is novels (specifically romance novels), and since my addiction has 1) Not kept me from paying the bills on time 2) kept me from buying groceries or 3) kept me from living a normal, productive life - then I figure I'm not hurting anybody.
But damn I got a lot of books.
As for a count? I don't have one. Frankly the last time I counted (a couple of years ago now) I was around the 400 mark - and I know I have more books now. Ames' 247? Seriously, that's probably my Harlequin stash alone.
12 comments:
My theory is that we as librarians know we can get the books we want at the library, but while we can get them does not mean we can keep them forever. I hate having to return an unread book because I've been too busy and that is why I buy books either new or used. I know I can go at my own speed and my TBR pile can get as high as I want it to be without the pressure of impending due dates ;)
OMG! You are only around 400? I so have a problem. Oh well... hee
LMAO!! Hey man, my addiction only started, truly started anyway, SIX years ago. hehe
Oh look at that...Sybil has more books than you.
Sybil-please count your books!! :P
Sybil:
I had a little over 400.....like 3 years ago!!! I have way more than that now, but do not have a definite number. Frankly, I'm too scared to count.
I have two book cases dedicated to my TBR books! And now they are stacking up like airplanes upstairs too. Like you, I'm too scared to count! I don't know how many but I thought too 247? She's a rookie *g*. And hear hear! Who does this addiction hurt? Not me!
I don't remember who exactly said it, but an author compared to having a lot of books to having a harem. Obviously you can't use them all at once, and you might not ever use them all, but the knowledge that they belong to you and you can call upon them whenever you want is its own pleasure, separate from the actual act of using them.
I always liked that, I know I'll never read all the books I own, but just looking at them and knowing I have my own personal book harem at my beck and call, anytime, day or night, makes me very, very happy.
Cripes I thought the 247 was Ames TBR. Yeah I'm sticking with NOT counting my books. Too scary to realize how much $$$ that could be used as kindling is sitting on my shelves.
I finally got to the point where I said "if I haven't read it by now, obviously I'm not going to. It's out of here." =(
I finally gave up and started getting rid of almost all my books--it was sort of a hoarding compulsion to me, and finally something snapped and i had to let go. I am keepng very few books, pretty much only things I read in childhood that I really loved and it would be hard to get again, or something that I am using as reference. Anything else goes to a thrift, Half price Books, Ebay or Half.com. And yeah, I'm a librarian too.
Jessica:
I love that analogy! From now on it's My Book Harem and not my TBR.
Amie and Kerry: the sad thing is that I have weeded down the Book Harem several times. Then I just go out and buy more books to replace the ones I got rid of. Sort of counterproductive......
I've weeded my book harem many times too. And it's still many hundreds of books. I really don't want to count. It's too depressing.
OMG!
The Book Harem!!!
I am soooooooo stealing that.
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