Book Buying Ban

A couple of weeks ago, I instituted a book buying ban. Why on earth would I do such a thing? Because I have oodles and oodles of unread books on my bookshelves, collecting dust as I ignore them to purchase and read the latest and greatest bookstore offerings.

My intentions were noble and reasonable. Why spend more money on new books when I have several unread books just waiting to be enjoyed? It would be fiscally irresponsible to continue indulging my new book addiction.

Thus, I vowed to go without purchasing a new book until I finished ten that were already in my possession. I posted a picture of my TBR (to be read) stack and posted it to Twitter and Facebook for accountability, and began my #BookBuyingBan.

It lasted all of four days.

I know, I know, EPIC FAIL. In my defense, I was right in the middle of the Beautiful Creatures series, which was pretty much like setting myself up for failure. I HAD to know how the story ended!! But if I'm being honest with myself, there is a REASON why those ten books have remained unread, sitting lonely on my shelves for so long.

Hush is supposedly brilliantly written and deeply provoking, but it is also about incest, suicide, religion, and other tough topics. I don't know about you, but for me, I read to ESCAPE the pain, sadness, and general effed-upedness (yes… effed-upedness is a word!) of reality and life. While I am sure Hush is absolutely amazing (like the friend who suggested it keeps insisting), I can't bring myself to willingly invite that kind of emotional trauma when all I really want is a mental vacation.

Same thing with books like Crazy Love, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, and Velvet Elvis. These books are for serious introspection and reflection on one's faith journey. I don't want to deal with that messiness. I like my current avoidance of focusing on spirituality just fine, thank you very much! (ForTheLoveOfAllThingsSparkly, I hope I don't get zapped with lightening for saying that…)

As for the classics like The Count of Monte Cristo and Frankenstien, I just can't seem to get excited about them. They just seem to look and feel boring, and rather than trudge through a bunch of pages that I'm not even enjoying, I'd rather burn through the pages of the latest psychological thriller just released from Barnes & Noble.

I WILL read The Bloggess' book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened.  I'm actually super excited about that one! She is so irreverent, honest, inappropriate, and hysterical. I've been saving that one for when I'm having a really crappy day and need a funny pick me up.

So all in all, while I AM disappointed that I lacked the will power and self control needed to follow through on my book buying ban, I ultimately feel that caving to temptation was completely justified in this instance.

Life is too short for boring books!