Am I Really That Picky?

Musing-by-Moonlight

The Year That Buying Books Broke Me

I think forced into a year of mostly buying my books from the bargain bin and ebook sales because of a reduced income for my husband’s mental illness treatment has left me broken when it comes to being able to make a decision when purchasing new books.

Don’t get me wrong: I bought nearly one hundred books last year. That’s far too many for someone who reads about half that in any given year. Way too many.

And lots of them were ones I hadn’t heard about before but saw them on sale for $2 and thought, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ if I didn’t like it.

And then later, checking them on Goodreads, found they did not have particularly good reviews.

(Obviously they are in the bargain bin for a reason.)

My boss was exceedingly generous last year and gave me a Christmas bonus I wasn’t expecting, so of course I plan to spend that extra cash on books.

My problem is that every book I already have on my Book Depository wish list just doesn’t really excite me anymore.

Whether it’s a sequel to a book I haven’t read yet (so I’m not sure if I want to commit to buying a sequel), a book I added years ago that I’m no longer excited about, the second half of a series I want to hate-read but can borrow from my local library and not waste $$ on books I know are going to enrage me, or the rest of a series I want purely for their amazingly beautiful covers but can’t justify paying full price for a hardcover because of that…

And the only pre-release book I want doesn’t have its Australian cover available, and I need that particular one to keep my series matching.

ppp wizard angst

Well, I think I’m broken.

I’d rather buy nothing at all.

Which makes my husband think I’m broken, too.

Have you ever experienced a loss of enthusiasm for book buying? How did you overcome it?

Nemo
Nemo

About Nemo

A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.

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3 thoughts on “Am I Really That Picky?

  1. Rachana @ Addicted to YA

    I’m actually feeling pretty unenthusiastic about buying books right now. I’ve been trying to catch up on books released in 2015 (all those “best of 2015” lists did *not* help my tbr shrink) so I just feel so overwhelmed. There’s so much I haven’t read! And hence I probably won’t be buying anything for another month or two. Umm usually this ‘unenthusiasm’ passes when I get excited about a shiny new release (which I don’t always read right away…but that’s another story :).By the way, I get bored with books on my wishlist pretty fast if I don’t read/buy/borrow them in the following weeks.

    1. Nemo

      The ‘best of 2015’ lists can go suck a dick. They’re bad for me because I feel bad I missed so many. I wish I got bored with my wishlist! I recently culled it and dropped off less than 100 out of 500. I’m still excited to read everything.

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