Let’s Talk Bookish: Buying Too Many Books

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

This was the prompt for last week, but as I didn’t do it then and, although very interesting, I struggled with the prompt for this week, I thought I’d jump back and do this one. Short answer: no! But let’s expand, shall we?

Let’s Talk Bookish December 20th:
Is There Such a Thing as Buying Too Many Books?
(Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Is there such a thing as buying too many books? Do you limit the number of books you buy? Do you only buy certain types of books, or books from certain authors? Are there any books you’re hoping to get over the holidays?

So as noted above, the short answer is no, however like most things, it’s really dependent on the person, personal preference and, well, living situation. I love buying books, but I acknowledge that sometimes I have to just not add another book that’s going to sit there for ages before I actually get to read it. I have so many books, and I’ve built up a really good collection over the years. There have been times where I’ve not had anything new to read and have ended up reading an old favourite, or maybe checking out a book that’s been sitting there that I haven’t really been interested in, so I definitely have…perhaps overcompensated and made sure I now have lots and lots of books, and a wide variety of books, so I’ll always have something I’m in the mood for.

I do try and limit the number of books I buy now – as mentioned above, I have quite a lot! Of books I’ve purchased, arcs, and gifts. Purchased and arcs are on my Kindle, too, but it’s largely the physical books I restrict myself with, as they do take up a lot of space, and admittedly I need a good sort through to get rid of some. I do try and keep it restricted in what books I buy, too – I ‘allow’ myself to purchase if it’s at an event or a friend’s book, because I want to support them. And I’ll occasionally indulge and pre-order debut books that catch my eye, or books by an author I already know I love. Also if I can afford it, if there’s ‘social media drama’ that brings a book to my attention, I’ll likely pre-order as a way to support the author (for example, if someone is receiving bigoted reviews or seems to be the target of a review bombing campaign, etc).

As for books I’m hoping to get…honestly, I’m happy with getting any books! I don’t tend to have specific ones in mind I want as gifts, because I really do like to be surprised. I do have wish lists of books though and I tend to nudge my partner towards specific ones when there’s something coming up he might be getting me a present for. The rest of my family tend to tell me I already have too many books, so I never expect books from them!

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on ‘buying too many books’. Do you have a self-imposed book ban, and how often do you (like me) break it?