Restraint
This past Christmas, I gave a slender paperback to a
half dozen reading friends. Here’s the note I wrote to accompany the gift:
**
As eager readers, you no doubt have (as I do) piles of
unread books. And maybe, like me, you forget about them and reach out to buy
the latest, shiny thing—the book recommended by the NYT or NPR or a friend.
For you, I recommend Susan Hill’s book, Howard’s End is on the Landing: A Year of
Reading from Home. I bought it (sorry!), intending to read it as a
corrective to my book buying habit (which it will be—or that’s my plan), but I
also found the book a marvelously literate, funny, and boundary-expanding
read. I hope you will enjoy it,
too, on all those levels.
I first learned about Susan Hill through my addiction
to her mystery series featuring the dishy British detective, Simon Serrallier.
Then, as I tend to do, thanks to Google, I learned more about her. I tried not
to be intimidated as I learned she’s written dozens of books (novels,
nonfiction, children’s books, plays) and started her own publishing
company. Anyway, she’s clearly and
wonderfully a book person, and her wandering memoir of sorts introduces us to
some of her favorites, as she makes the case for rediscovering what’s already
on our bookshelves.
Hope you enjoy the book as much as I have.
**
Clearly, I was trying to share my enthusiasm for this
book. Even more, I was stating my
intentions, publicly, to rein in book buying. Not that that’s a bad thing in
general. It’s just that for me, it had gotten out of hand. My monthly credit
card statements often showed I’d spent more on books than on gas and groceries.
I’ve long suffered under the delusion that book
purchases “didn’t count,” in terms of budget-busters. Book are a good thing,
right? And we certainly want to support the publishing industry, especially the
print version of books. And we want to support independent bookstores, yes?
Still, still. My income is less than it used to be, and I’m trying to be more
prudent. So, books seemed a reasonable target for fiscal restraint.
So, how am I doing? So far, five months into the new
year, it’s been an interesting experience. “Interesting” being polite code for
“embarrassing.” I’ve had to stop myself many, many times a week from the ease
of hitting “purchase now” on Amazon. One click, so seductive. And I’m training
myself to regard ambles through my wonderful independent bookshop as a
pleasurable experience only—looking at new titles, chatting with staff
friends—and not a prelude to buying several books. So far, awareness is the
thing. I’ve bought only four books this month—gifts for book-loving
grandchildren and a writing guide, which I justified as “professional expense.”
So, not a perfect record, but a beginning. I’m also loving the discovery of
books I’d completely forgotten about, so I do have a rich cache to turn to.
And libraries—oh, yes. My big splurge was paying $65
for an out-of-county card at the Chapel Hill library. I also peruse the stacks at the Chatham County Library, a lovely building and the friendliest staff I’ve
ever met.
4 comments:
I used to also think that spending money on books didn't count. Since then, I've cut my spending by a lot and discovered that Milwaukee County has such a good system. Living in Japan was a different story. The only books in English I could get at the library were romance novels and really outdated decorating books.
That's great that you can buy an out-of-county library card, by the way.
I am pretty certain I can cut my considerable expenditure on books by spending time reading Ex Libris NC. I've gotten more pleasure from these few paragraphs than from any number of books. Please keep the pages coming...
Aha!! There is a free pass for all of us who hit the "one-click" button on the amazon page too often. It alleviates all guilt and makes all purchases possible! It is a balm for the reader's soul.
Once a year, I collect paperback books from all who know me, and I take them to the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women here in Alabama. Boxes and boxes of them. You, kind reader, will be doing a great good deed when you divest yourself of the paperbacks you no longer wish to keep. All they ask is that the books not instruct prisoners in the criminal arts/crafts/sciences. Therefore I say unto you, go forth and purchase. Next April, take the tax deduction for your donations.
I read two ways--one way is for a living (I've been an editor for a shocking 50+ years); the other is for pleasure. About 12 years ago, I got the urge to keep track of the books I was reading for pleasure (I think I must have realized that I was gradually beginning to forget their details) and started a reading log. The older I get, the more I depend on keeping this record. It's startling to go back and see what I read when...and why. I wish I had done this my entire reading life. I'm trying to persuade my 7 year old granddaughter, a voracious reader, to start her own journal. I guess want to live vicariously!
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