2019 Book Buying Ban

At the end of 2018 I realized I had amassed a collection of unread books that took up nearly an entire bookshelf.  My book buying had gotten a bit out of hand.  Looking back, I can see that while I was able to give up emotional eating (great! I lost 35 pounds in doing so!) I had simply replaced it with emotional book buying (perhaps an improvement, but still not perfect).

My goal for 2019 was to give up both emotional eating and emotional book buying, replacing them with healthier and cheaper behaviors like exercising, organizing, cleaning and journaling.  And so my Book Buying Ban was born.

I have survived Month One of my Book Buying Ban, and I will be honest, the first three weeks were super easy.  It wasn't until the last week of January that I really started to want to buy books.  Lucky for me, there is one exception to my rule, and that is Book of the Month club.  I am still allowed to order my books each month there.  And those are ready to order the last day of the month.

There is a limited supply to choose from, and you can only choose up to three books, so I can't go crazy.  Plus the prices are really good.  The great thing, too, is that a lot of books that Book of the Month has are on my "Want To Read" list, so I'm only buying books that I already want to read.

My emotional book buying really got out of control this year when Logan's seizures continued to go uncontrolled despite multiple medication changes, and Wyatt's asthma refused to be tamed no matter what we tried.  Every time Logan would have a seizure or Wyatt would suffer asthma, I would find myself craving comfort or happiness, and buying books was a really easy way to get that comfort.

So at the start of this year, I counted up all my books, and I had 101 unread books.  (It started at 100, but then I wanted to read one of the kids' books, The One and Only Ivan, so my number got bumped up to 101.)  I set a goal of reading 52 books, one per week, for the year,  in hopes of cutting my unread books in half.  Fingers crossed, I can stick to that goal and I will end the year with far less unread books in my living room!

Honestly, facing the year knowing I can't buy anymore books is kind of freeing.  I am so excited to finally read these books that have been on my shelf for so long.  In January alone I read four that were on it: How to Walk Away; Where The Crawdads Sing; Girl, Wash Your Face and As Bright As Heaven.  Each one was so good!

In February I am planning to read: All The Ugly and Wonderful Things; The One And Only Ivan; Reading People; Maid; The Poisonwood Bible; and Fahrenheit 451.

What is on your Unread Shelf? How does not buying books make you feel? What is one book you wish you could buy today? (Mine would be The Dreamers or The Water Cure. They both look SO good!)  I'll be honest, I was a little tempted to call my Book Buying Ban quits after one month... but Josh said he didn't think I could make it one year.  And I am not one to back down from a challenge.  So it's GAME ON, BABY!!!

***