Book Buying Bans

**A note on my notes: These are my opinions only.**

I'm currently on a book-buying ban, and I hate it. But I also think it's necessary, and here's why.

Recently, I cleaned out my bookshelves. Mainly because I was running out of room and I had a whole pile of books on my desk that just didn't fit on my shelves, but also because I felt a bit overwhelmed. I had so many books that I hadn't read and the thought of having to get through them all made me feel pretty stressed. So I decided to clean them out and I now have one and a half completely blank shelves.

In total, I got rid of over sixty books. A lot of them I had read, but if I didn't love it or didn't think I'd read it again, I decided to get rid of it. A lot of the books, however, were books that I haven't read and now probably never will. In saying that though, I still have over thirty books that I haven't read. Thirty+ books probably doesn't even seem like that much to a lot of you, and I know so many book fanatics have wayyyyyyyy more books on their TBR pile, but I'm still placing myself on a book buying ban.

The reason is, I don't want to ever have to feel stressed about all the books that I haven't read yet. I don't want it to overwhelm me and I don't want it to get so far where I'm put off reading. The ultimate goal here is to read every single book I currently own so that eventually, the only books I haven't read will be the ones that I just bought from the bookstore that very day.

Obviously, that's going to take some time; it's taken me nine months of this year to get through 38 books. And my TBR list is going to continue to grow, because I'm not banning book buying completely. If I was to do that, I would fail and feel terrible about it. So my goal is to read three books from the list of books that I already own before I buy a new one. This list only includes books that I kept from when I cleaned out my bookshelves, so if I buy a new book and read it instantly, that book doesn't count towards the three I have to read. This way, my TBR list hopefully won't grow much larger than it currently is and I can slowly get through it.

If you're thinking you need to restrict yourself with a book-buying ban, then I have some tips for you:

1. Go through your books and get rid of the ones you don't want to read any more. 
2. Write an actual list of all the books you have to read and put it somewhere where you can see it easily to encourage you to actually read the books on it.
3. Don't completely ban yourself unless you have a will of steel (which you probably don't, because otherwise you wouldn't be in this situation). 
4. Get a library card and when you feel like buying a book, go there instead of the bookstore. 
5. If you buy a book, who cares! Just read it. 

Happy Reading!!

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