Saturday, 30 May 2020

Why I'm Going to Cut Back on Physical Books| Carenza Bramwell

As much as I love collecting books, it has reached a point where I have to acknowledge that I have more books than I have space for. Although it breaks my heart, I will have to part with some books and I will also have to cut back on the amount of physical books I buy. In this post, I will be sharing some of my thoughts on my book collection and the amount of books I buy.

A box of books I prepared to donate to my local community recently


My Shelf Space

I am in a very privileged position to still be able to live at home with my parents. I am in an even more privileged position to have my own little office/library space in our new home. For Christmas 2019, I got three Billy bookcases to fill one of the walls in my office. I now have a space to store all of my books. 

My Book Buying Habits

Back in 2016, when I first discovered there was a book community online, I went a bit crazy seeing all these people with all these amazing shelves online. I thought that to be a reader, my shelves had to look like that. So I bought a lot of books in 2016, mostly from charity shops. It's safe to say that my book buying habits have changed a lot since then. I am a much more picky reader and book buyer. I haven't bought a single book in May, I'm honestly amazed with myself. 

Why I'm Cutting Back?

To put it simply, I am cutting back on the amount of physical books I buy for two reasons- space and money. I am a student and being a student is very expensive, so I would like to save my money for books I really want to read. I also want my shelves to be filled with books I love and reflect me as a reader.

Recently, I've been reading a lot of three star books, which is an average for me. However, I very rarely feel attached to these books and have been making piles of books to donate when the shops reopen. I plan on buying myself a Kindle so I can start to read more eBooks, there by saving space on my shelves and saving me a penny or two on new purchases. I will still be an avid reader and book purchaser, I am just trying to be more selective with the books I add to my physical collection. 

Carenza :) x