Three Months of a Book No Buy - What Worked, What Didn't

Brief Recap:

I decided not to buy books for the first three months of 2020. I talked about it a bit here, in January’s Best Books To Read Now post.

Why? I bought a lot of books in December and one day, I was scrolling through the hundreds of other unread books in my Kindle and thought, “I really want to read some of these things in here. They look really good. But I keep getting distracted by the new shiny books that I keep one-clicking.”

Temporary solution: Pause book buying for 3 months so I could re-discover my TBR pile.

We’re almost at the end of the quarter so let’s see what happened…

What I’ve Bought:

You didn’t think it would be ZERO, did you??

Well, I’ll admit, I REALLY thought I could stick to it. But I didn’t.

I’ve bought four books since December 31, 2019. I will say, they were all on sale. Two were backlist books that rarely go on sale; September by Rosamunde Pilcher and Paradise by Judith McNaught. These are two books that I’ve read many times, that I own the paperbacks of and the paperbacks are falling apart. They shouldn’t even count as new book purchases, TBH. Think of it as updating my bookshelf with new technology.

Then I bought one of the books in Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness series. I’m trying to acquire them all, so when one goes on sale, I pinch it. And then I bought another Rhys Bowen book, because (1) it was on sale and (2) I’m a sucker for WWI stories.

Still. Four books in 3 months, four purchases that were (mostly) well-thought out, not that impulsive? Is a pretty good success for me.

What I’ve Read (aka How did that TBR pile work out for you?)

So how many books have I finished from the TBR pile?

One.

How many have I started and DNF’d (Did Not Finish) from that TBR pile?

Three.

How many free books have I finished from the library/ review copies from NetGalley?

Uh… a lot.

What the heck, Lindsay?

Here’s what I’m thinking.

My Kindle is essentially a compilation of three piles: Books I’ve Read, Books That Were on Sale, and Books I Probably Should Read (Because someone said so/ asked me to / recommended it). But that doesn’t mean that the Book I WANT To Read At This Moment is in any of those three categories. So. That’s a problem.

Also, in the past three months, I have to recognize that the Thrill of a New Book is a great high, whether it comes from the library or a publisher. It’s that same dopamine hit that feels so good when we shop online at 11:30 pm. Finding something new at the library is so fun and cheaper than the bookstore but it’s still not helping my bookshelf issues.

Also, I declared this the Year of Hell Yes.

In 2020 I’m trying to apply the maxim, “If it’s not a Hell Yes, it’s a No.” And it’s come up a lot when I’m scrolling through my Kindle, looking for something to read.

Hard truth time: If books are still sitting in my TBR pile… they were a “NO” at some point.

OUCH, right?

Still, I have this stubborn belief in The Myth of an Undiscovered Favorite Book. That one day I’ll decide to open up Yadda Yadda Yadda and it will be the best thing I’ve ever read and OMG where has this been my whole life. It does happen. I still believe. Also…

Will I continue the no (low) buy for Q2?

Yes. Surprised?

I’ve enjoyed a more thoughtful approach to my reading in the past three months. The combination of Hell Yes and No Buy has resulted in me being picky, but in the best ways. I do think there are still treasures buried deep in my bookshelves, virtual and real, which I really want to discover. And if this also means I’m frequenting the library more (and the library app while I’m self-isolating), I have no complaint about that.

So stay tuned for three more months of book discovery! I’ll still post my Best Books blog posts here and go into the blind details of my DNFs in the secret posts of my Inner Circle Newsletter. Get on the list if you haven’t yet!