I made a mistake last night and looked at my recent purchase list on Amazon, trouble was it wasn’t the usual limited to the last 30 days list, oh no, it was the whole, what you have purchased in the last six months list….
Then I had a minor moment of horrific clarity (or small panic, phrase this how you wish) …….. I spend far, far too much money on books, and I need to cut down…… (this was compounded by the fact that having recently won the 2nd e-book in a series in an online give away I “had” to buy the 1st e-book ….. buying this online (albeit from a store I’d bought stuff from before) caused my bank to have sudden heart failure that fraudulent activity was going on…….at which point they automatically cancelled my one and only bank card! and only checked with me after the event, by which time it was too late…. When my bank queried what I was buying at the time the customer service person commented that from looking at my account I seemed to spend a lot on books *blush*)….. Oh, the books I won/bought (Lissa Kasey’s Inheritance and Reclamation) were really good!
The trouble is, I have lots of reading time in my day… and have a minimum of three books on the go at any one point – my downstairs/morning book which I read post dog walk before going to work (which I wasn’t meant to be doing during November because of the whole NaNo thing but, erm, yes well….) and of an evening if I am at home. Then there is my lunch time book.. because I solemnly swore to my boss that for a minimum of 30 minutes a day I would not stare at the computer screen… and apparently typing with my eyes closed doesn’t count (but according to my colleague makes it looks like I am sleep typing). Finally, is my bed time book …. because I can’t fall asleep easily I tend to read myself into sleep only stopping when my eyes really can’t focus on the words and I’ve read the last page at least three times and it still makes no sense…. or until one of the cats sits on the book, stares at me pointedly and refuses to get off because I am not paying them enough attention.
I have no objections to re-reading and around half the books I read fall into this category, but as much as I can happily re-read old favourites (and yes I do still read and enjoy children’s books) I like new stories...I like discovering new worlds, getting to know new characters….
Unfortunately, some, ok probably most if I’m honest, of the books I read aren’t the sort you can pick up in the supermarket (not that I mind the supermarkets selling books but their selection is extremely limited) … which means finding a book shop ….if you can! (I miss Borders, I miss stitch and bitch nights in Borders coffee shop, with books and yarn and friends… (these days it’s held in a horrible chain pub... no books!)… sorry got side tracked) or buying online – where it’s easy to forget how much I am paying…. bad habit of just pressing the “buy now” option and because I don’ physically hand over the money I don’t think too hard about it.
The other problem is the cost of the individual book… I really do object to paying over £10 for a paperback… ok, I know, some of these books are from small publishing houses, but still! Given the price of e-books compared to paper ones, and despite my own preference for “real” books, I have given in on the Kindle front… though won’t actually get this for a couple of months… I am actually rather concerned about how it will be far too easy for me to achieve instant gratification in book purchasing… and be able to con myself into the “it’s only £x” without thinking too hard about how much I am spending – but I’ll worry about that one later….
So until I get my Kindle (and more importantly a new bank card) I am going to have to go on a “new book diet”….. well, for a short while, I might manage until the end of next week.. possibly….
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