It's no secret, especially to the people who know me personally, that I love books. Last year I read over 60 books (I just looked it up, the average American, whatever that means, reads 12.6 books per year... I don't know what I thought the average would be, but that is pretty darn low). One thing that afflicts many heavy readers is the collection of books in our personal libraries that never get read. I am 100% guilty of a large TBR pile. This is the year I want to make a concerted effort to make this situation better.
Right now, my collection of books fits in my home office, which is great. I don't want my collection to expand beyond these confines. But that's the thing... my physical collection of books is fairly manageable... my digital collection, however, is a different story... don't check my Audible or Kindle lists...
Over the years, I have heard of people starting a no-buy or low-spend year for either particular areas of their lives or all areas of their lives. I love the idea of using what we have before getting a new thing, appreciating what we have, and paring down the belongings we own. I don't think I can ever be a true minimalist, but perhaps I can be a better minimalist when it comes to my personal collection of books.
The Mission: Forego buying any books (physical or digital) for the year of 2024!
Why do I want to go to the trouble of having a no-buy year for books?
- So I read more of the books I have that have been gathering physical or digital dust
- So I can save money and/or re-allocate money I would have spent on books somewhere else
- So I can declutter my belongings
- Reorganizing and Decluttering. This is mainly for my physical books. I went through all of the books in my office and took them off the shelves. First, I took out the books that I have read and don't want to keep in my office anymore. These books will go to my classroom. I think a number of them I took from my classroom library in the first place, so they're going home. Then, I sorted through the books that I have not read. All of those books have been relocated to one area. That way, I don't have to go on a hunt for the books that I haven't read. I'm taking the guesswork out of things. I have a small pile of physical library books from the public library and the school library and those now have a designated place in my office. In the photos on the right, all of the books in the top photo have not been read and in the bottom photo, the top shelf and most of the lower standing books are all candidates for me to read this year! This practice also helped me get rid of duplicates that had been taking up space on my shelves.
- Create a physical list of all the books I own and have not read. I did this in my bullet journal. There's a list of all of my physical books, eBooks, and audiobooks on separate lists. This was honestly so eye-opening for me because it made me realize the true extent of my book-hoarding issue. I have a good number of physical books that I haven't read, but they're quite contained. The danger for me lies in my digital books. Holy cow, I have acquired so many eBooks over the years and a vast number of audiobooks too. In all, across all modes but not including books I have in more than one medium, I have 279 books that I have not read yet. This helped me go back to the rules that I wrote and be more strict on the limits I put on myself. For example, I was going to allow myself to borrow books from the library freely-- I'm not spending money on those books, after all. But I have access to so many books. It will take me years to read through all of them. There's no reason for me to bring in a lot of new titles.
- Create smaller, monthly TBRs. This will help me prioritize what I own and allow me to keep these books at my fingertips-- I'm creating a path of least resistance. I think this will make the task of reading my books a little less overwhelming than staring at a wall of unfinished books constantly.
The Rules
One aspect of a No-Buy year is to create lists of things that are okay to buy, exceptions to this mission, and hard boundaries to achieve my goals in starting a book no-buy year in the first place.
Green Light: Book Purchases and Acquirements I Can Make
- Any books bought or pre-ordered prior to the start of 2024 are fair game (that being said, I did not treat this as permission to go wild).
Yellow Light: Limits and Exceptions for Book Purchases and Acquirements
- Presents for others, thoughtfully gifted (thrifted books as much as possible). The only occasions where this can happen are birthdays and Christmas. I want to avoid "just because" gifts of books.
- I can enter contests for books as long as I don't have to pay for them. The odds of me actually winning these drawings are very, very slim. I'm thinking particularly of GoodReads for this.
- I can buy a book if I need it for work or a class. First though, I must check the library to see if it's available within a week or two there. If it's not, I can opt for a digital copy. If a digital copy isn't available, then a hard copy can be acquired (secondhand as often as possible).
- Request books on NetGalley if I have immediate plans and desires to read that book. I don't want to create a new backlog just because I want to read brand new stories.
- I can use the library to find a mode of a book that I don't already own (for example, if I own a physical copy of a book but I'd rather listen to the audiobook).
Red Light: Hard Boundaries Around Book Purchases and Acquirements
- I won't repurchase any books I used to own but previously gave up-- nostalgia is not a good enough reason to acquire or re-acquire books
- Keep Audible account on pause so that I can keep listening to the books I already have but without acquiring more credits
- Sites like Chirp and BookBub can be used to inspire requests at the library and adding books to my GoodReads TBR, but I cannot take advantage of any of the steep discounts for the duration of 2024, including books that are free.
- No buying physical versions of digital books I fall in love with just to own a hard copy of that book.
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