Kicking the Book Buying Habit to the Curb

I have a confession to make. I am a book addict. There. I've said it. It's true. I've been a book addict since I was a little kid. I also have to admit, I've never seriously tried to kick the habit. I love books, and I don't think that is ever going to change. What may change is the method by which I procure my books.

When I was a kid, I borrowed most of my books from the local public library, and sometimes the school library. Scholastic Book Services kicked in at some point and I started to buy books. A love affair with the Hardy Boys led to more books. Over the years, I've bought 1000s of books and let go of many of them.

Last year, I spent about $500 on books, which isn't a ridiculous amount of money - $300 went to used books, and $100 each to new books and ebooks. I also borrowed a few books from the public library - like maybe one or two. I was very much on the instant gratification bandwagon. If I wanted to read a book... I wanted to read it now.

So far this year, I have spent $0 on books. I am however currently reading five books from the public library.

Yes, all at once. I skip from book to book depending on my mood. All of these books are non-fiction books - the topic du jour being minimalism and I suppose you could call it thriftiness. A few weeks ago, I let my fingers do the walking through the local library's online catalogue and requested holds on a variety of books. As they became available, I happily trotted down to the library to pick them up. I figure if I keep a steady stream of "holds" in the pipeline, I'll never be without something to read. I still have three books on hold. But it may be take a while before I get my hands on them - apparently there is a line-up for these particular books. But I can be patient. And as I come close to finishing the current crop of books, I'll just place holds on other ones.

All of this preamble is to say that one of my goals for this year is to read... oh, let's say... 60 books by the end of December. And spend not a single penny on them. Yup, I am going to feed my reading habit with library books. Can it be done? Can I resist the lure of Chapters and Amazon? I hope so.

If figure that if I find a book that I like in a bookstore or drugstore or grocery store, I will scan the barcode with my Goodreads App and add it to my "To Read" list. Then I'll request it from the library. Perfect. So far, I am right on track for making 2015 a book-ful year at a cost of $0.