Read More Than You Buy Challenge

This is a challenge I'm setting for 2012. The goal is to buy fewer books than the number of books I read in the same calendar year. My TBR Tower is at risk of tipping over and crushing villages and I keep adding to it at an alarming rate.

So I'm going to keep track of the number of books I read this year, and I know I will never be able to go through a year not buying any books at all, so I will also track the number of books I buy. I've started a spreadsheet on Google that I'd be glad to share if anyone's interested. It will list the books I've read, the source of the books (library, my TBR Tower, borrowed from friends, given to me), the books I've purchased, and as an added twist, I'm also adding a column of books I wanted to buy but desisted, and how much those books would have cost, had I purchased them. At the end of the year, I will total the value of the unpurchased books and donate that to Room To Read : www.roomtoread.org/

wish me luck everyone.

Anyone and everyone's invited to join me on this Challenge .. with or without participating in the donation portion of the challenge.

Caro - I am in as promised. 2012 is 2 hours old here and I have bought nothing so far.
Your charity will get a quarter of my donation this year.

I'm in too, my TBR pile is swallowing the rest of my possessions. In addition to that, half of the books I read are from the library so this is a neverending problem.

The donation is a great idea, I didn't know about Room To Read, thanks!

Joaquin nice to see you here I did say that the first four on the thread got to nominate a literacy charity and I would split my donation four ways ( considering the number of books I was buying the sum will not be small!). That makes Caro, You, I and 1 more.

I'm definitely in. I think I've finished my book buying frenzy, after buying an untold number of books from Amazon, Strand Book Store (the physical store and the web site), and Alibris, and subscribing to the NYRB Book Club (12 NYRB classics in 2012).

I'll also tally the books I've read, the ones from my TBR pile (using avaland's definition of a book I've owned for at least 6 months), and the books I've purchased. I'll also figure out how many books have come into my home, including ones I'll review for Belletrista and the LT Early Reviewer program, the number I've given away, sold or discarded (e.g., No More Mr. Nice Guy by Howard Jacobson, which is too vile to be released back to the general public), and ones I'll receive as gifts, purchase using a gift card, or borrow from a friend. I'll certainly buy a significant number of books in 2012, mainly for literary prizes (Booker Prize, Orange Prize, Wellcome Trust Book Prize, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award), and selected other "must read now" books, such as Hilary Mantel's sequel to Wolf Hall that will be published this summer, but I want to read at least 75 TBR books in 2012, and read more TBR than non-TBR books overall. In 2011 I read 127 new books, and 39 TBR books, so this will be quite a challenge...but I'm ready for it!

Darryl - quite appropriately you are the fourth. Let me know your charity mate.

Paul, my charity of choice is ProLiteracy.

Noted mate and I will put it into my spreadsheet along with those Caro and Joaquin (when he nominates one) and update you on it periodically.

Whoppeee..... I'm not alone. I can't wait to see what 4 charities we can come up with to benefit from our reading habits.

Paul, it's almost 3am in KL and you're still posting!

I was thinking of setting tickertapes for each Challenger but realized that you can't edit someone else's post, so you'd not be able to access my thread started to edit each of your tickertapes. Hmmm.... ideas anyone?

Caro I'm making up for two lost days!

Well, I'm ready to sign aboard! I've been realizing how many books I supposedly share with other people's libraries are actually ones from my TBR list - so it's definitely time to get busy. Trouble is, with a son newly off to college, my book budget is shrinking before my eyes. This will almost certainly help keep me on track. I'm off to add a second ticker to my 2012 thread. Thanks for organizing this!

I think I'm in on this one. Judging by this past year, I did read more than I purchased, but it's a very slim margin. Hmmm. I'll get back to guys on this soon, since I need all of the help I can get!

This is a great challenge Caro! :) Being a stay at home mom, I really can't afford to go nuts at the bookstore this year either so I may have to join you on this one to keep myself accountable!
I'm considering that for my twist of this challenge that I will donate the equal value of the total amount I spend on books to my charity of choice. That way I don't feel so guilty about just spending on myself!

Hello everyone!

I choose The Book Bus :) Hope you like it.

Happy New Year!!

I'm in. My charity remains The Salvation Army.

Absolutely in for this. I'm compulsive, impulsive, and obsessive about books, so need some group support to help me keep this under control. I want to keep better track of books that I move on in some way, usually through bookmooch or RL giveaways.

Caro, could you p.m. on the spreadsheet idea?

I definitely read more in 2011 than I bought, so I hope that trend can continue in 2012. Count me in too, Caro!

I would like a copy of your spreadsheet too, Caro, when you get a chance to send it my way.

Joaquin noted and thanks! Mine is http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/

So therefore my donations this year will be split evenly between
www.roomtoread.org/ (caro)
http://www.thebookbus.org/ (joaquin)
http://www.proliteracy.org/ (darryl)

and mine above.

Will check back to the groundrules we set late last year but I know that my 837 books last year cost me around $8,000 so we will probably be looking at well over a grand a charity from me, given my known weaknesses!

What an innovative and generous donation idea!
In the past 2 years I've gotten much better about buying fewer books (and I was down to 3 new books this past year), but with used books and ARCs from my bookstore job I'm still bringing in more than are going out, which I hope to reverse for the first time this year.

I made a year end donation to ProLiteracy last night, and I'll donate to this organization in the spirit of Paul and Caroline at the end of this year.

Whoopeee... I love that there are more people who want to participate .. I know I'm going to be using this thread as my support group because it's going to be really hard for me not to keep buying books, especially after reading many of the reviews that are posted in LT and other review sites I visit.

Gail : I sent you a PM.

Stas : My Google doc was sent to your email address. If you like it, you can make a copy and save it as your own, so you are then the owner of your own spreadsheet.

Let me revisit what I wrote about this challenge in 2011 and I'll post the basic ground rules shortly

Thanks, Caro! I will scurry off and see if I received the spreadsheet. . .

ETA: I did get it.

Very inspiring

I'll have to consider this challenge.... right after I spend my gift card at Amazon.

Rules for Read More Buy Less 2012:

1. Books read can be from your own TBR pile(s), library books, books given to you, borrowed from someone, ARCs, ERs, book exchanges (unless it falls under Rule #3).

2. Books bought through the use of gift cards (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc) get a pass, and do not fall into the category of 'purchased' books.

3. Books are considered purchased if you had to make a payment for it, even if it's only $0.01

4. Books are also considered purchased if you and a friend are at a bookstore and decide to buy a book for each other while you're there (ahem, Darryl!) ....so I'm closing the loophole on this potential attempt at circumventing the purchase rule ..... (If you're doing this challenge, you know you'll start to get desperate sooner or later and try to think of ways to justify forking money over for a book or 22)

I'm wondering - for those of us who are members of paperbackswap or bookmooch, if you wanted to make this more difficult for yourselves, should a book received through one of these exchanges be considered as purchased? After all, in order to be entitled to a book, you need to exchange a credit for the book, and the only way to gain a credit is to first send a book to someone else wherein you'd have had to pay postage. What sayeth the jury?

This challenge is not to prevent anyone from buying books this year, but to make us more aware of how many books we buy compared with how many we read from sources currently available to us that doesn't require us spending any money.

Are there any other rules that should be added?

When I challenged myself to buy only 10 last year, Caro, I did not put PBS on my prohibited list.

One thing we might consider among the participants is perhaps swapping books amongst ourselves? If someone reads a book that we would love but do not have access to, perhaps we can exchange books (for a reasonable time period, of course) with another participant, if they are willing. Exchanging would help cut down on purchasing, I would think.

I'd just like to applaud you guys - I'm utterly broke so will be on free download + library loans this year anyway. But I'd still like to say that I think it's a brilliant plan and if I can join in future years I will. Good luck everyone.

Absolutely, Stas ... book exchanges count. I've added that to the Rule #1 grouping ...with a caveat. ;-)

Thanks for the support Bekka. You're more than welcome to join us on this quest at any time this year or the next

This sounds very interesting. I'll contact you for a copy of the spreadsheet.

Another site worth looking at is one recommended to me by a fellow LTer--BetterWorldBooks.com Sales go to support various literacy projects and you can donate your used books to them as well.

#24 Well, I had hoped to be able to use my Paperback Swap books to meet this challenge. On the other hand, I am at zero credits at the moment, having just received the last of this term's course-required reading (all found on PBS - yayy!). You do have a point about the shipping costs, cameling; on the other hand, I tend to veer toward the side of flexibility, rather than rigidity, in the matter of rules. (Rigidity is meant here in the comparative sense, rather than any negative sense - sorry, but I couldn't think of a more appropriate word.) I'm happy to abide by whatever the group decides :o)

Books are also considered purchased if you and a friend are at a bookstore and decide to buy a book for each other while you're there (ahem, Darryl!)

Who, me??? That was Suz's idea.

BTW, what do you consider to be a TBR book? One that was purchased prior to 12/31/11, or before then? What about books that were purchased in 2011, but weren't received until 2012 (e.g., the books I ordered from Alibris and strandbooks.com last week, and the books I'll receive as part of my already paid for Archipelago and NYRB Book Club memberships?). Personally, I'll define a TBR book as one that I purchased at least six months before I started reading it, so I won't count the books I acquired last week as TBRs, including my current novel.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 1 OF 366

BOOKS READ 0 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read.

Excuse me a second while I recover from my faint! Paul went to a bookstore and *gasp* didn't buy a book!!!!! *faints again*

What a wonderful idea! This is a supposed to be a year of saving money for me -- and I definitely did purchase more than I read in 2011, by a significant margin -- so I might need to get on the bandwagon here.

My friends and I purchase books for local charities (this year we donated to St. Vincent's home for children) during our Christmas party at the end of each year (have done for several years) so the price of any unbought books can be added to that fund.

That is assuming that I have the willpower to leave said books unbought. Oh dear. I feel the withdrawal panic rising already. But I shall try.

#28: Thanks for the rec, Janet. I'll have to take a peek at it. I'm always on the look out for organizations that help promote literacy and who accept book donations in addition to $$.

#29 : I'm leaning more towards not counting books received through bookmooch and paperbackswap as purchases myself, Marilyn. Especially since I've given away more books than I've actually received in exchange through these 2 organizations. And if we consider these sites as book exchange sites, then they'd fall under Rule #1. :-)

#30 :I would consider a TBR book one that was purchased before the stroke of midnight on Jan 1, 2012. So books purchased at any time in 2011 or before all count as TBR books, even if you haven't received them in your mailbox yet. After all, the money had already been paid, so the books are already considered purchased, even if they're still in their plastic/paper bags/totes or slated for delivery in 2012.

How would you categorize the Archipelago subscription books though, Darryl? I looked at the next lot of translations and I think I will renew my subscription when this one is up, even though I've been disappointed with this year's lot.

#31 : Paul ... I think buying books for your kids don't count under these rules because we certainly don't want to curb your kids' enthusiasm to read. So we're only going to put beady eyes on your own purchases. :-)

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to the support group. The more the merrier and the more support we'll be able to give each other because I have absolutely no doubt we will all, at some point, cave in to a purchase or 15 through the year. I don't think I've ever gone 60 days without buying a book much less 365!

Just think how good we'll all feel at the end of the year when we've helped each other successfully beat this challenge.

I'd like to join but feel I have zero chance of managing this challenge. Good luck, y'all!

I really need to join this challenge, but there is no way I'd be able to succeed. 2012 is only 13 hours old and I've already purchased seven books! At least I've managed to read half of one?

Good luck everyone!

How would you categorize the Archipelago subscription books though, Darryl? I looked at the next lot of translations and I think I will renew my subscription when this one is up, even though I've been disappointed with this year's lot.

(I think I understand your question; let me know if I've gotten it wrong.) I'm not planning to renew my Archipelago subscription when the time comes, presumably after we've received our 10th book since last January. I paid for the current subscription in November or December of 2010, so I'm good. If you were to renew your subscription this year, I would count any books you receive this year as purchased ones, and figure the cost as being 1/10th of the total subscription cost, assuming that the new subscription will be for 10 books as well.

I think I'll adopt your definition of what constitutes a TBR book for my challenges as well, although I'll probably include a column in my spreadsheet for books that were purchased at least six months before I read them.

Oh man... I really need this challenge. The past few years I've made lists of my purchased books and crossed them off as I read them, but my ration got so pathetic about two-thirds of the way through 2011 that I simply stopped listing my purchases. When you get ashamed of your own list-making, you know you have a problem!!!

I don't think my husband will complain about this challenge either. My office currently has only a 3x4 piece of floor space available to stand in, since I tried to clean the house for Christmas... and needed somewhere to put all the unshelved books (that were previously piled on counters, tables, sections of floor, etc...)!!!

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 2 OF 366

BOOKS READ 0 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 0
BALANCE +/- 0
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read.

Amen! Thus far in 2012, I've read three books that I did not buy in 2012.

Behind You by Jacqueline Woodson
The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson..to be returned to Stasia who sent it to me last year.
Ex Libris given to be as a holiday gift from Pat.

I confess that before 2012 I placed an order from Bookscloseouts.com. The total amount of the order was $43.65. Even though I ordered the books in 2011, I haven't rec'd. them, thus, I'm counting them as part of my donation for 2012. A check in the amount will be given to the Salvation Army as soon as I receive the books.

If anyone would like to receive the copies of Behind You and or Ex Libris, please post a message on my lt home page.

Good going Paul, on Day 2!

I'm going to have to have a more severe challenge, too, after looking more closely at my numbers from last year.

63 books read (I know--sad); 63 books purchased (Yay! It balanced!!!!)

BUT

I added 127 total to LT. The library books and borrowed books aren't a problem--they go away. Another handful were books that I had not added previously to LT but have been hanging around the house for years (I hate to tell you how many of these there are).

For me, all the ER, gifts and swaps really added up. 5 years on LT; 60 extra books unread per year--no wonder I have over 300 extra books in my TBR pile since I started here. Haven't figured out yet how I'm going to manage my challenge, but the first step is identifying the problem, right?

Hello, my name is Janet and I'm a biblioholic.

Lissa, we're all still allowed to purchase books this year ... i don't think any one of us will accept a challenge on a total book buying ban for an entire year because we'd all fail with a giant F. :-)

So don't let this deter you if you'd like to see if you can keep your book purchasing to a minimum this year and to read more books in total over the number that you do end up buying within the year.

#43: I think I had better set a number for myself as far as the buying less books than I read thing as I typically read around 500 a year. That will change this year as I am going to school, but I will still likely read into the hundreds. If I buy that many, I will certainly be bankrupt by the end of the year!

#38: Yup, I'm in agreement with you, Darryl, regarding the Archipelago subscription. If I renew, I'll just pro-rate the books and add them to my purchase list each time I receive one. That makes sense. I can't remember when my subscription is up, but I think they still owe me about 4 more books.

Stas : Books bought for school don't count towards your purchase list. :-)

Haven't bought a book yet, but will be buying one tonight for my RL bookclub. I read about 110 books a year; I'd like to read 5 for each one bought this year. So that would be 22 books. Real picking and choosing will have to go on if I'm to succeed at this...I'm a terrible impulse buyer.

Glad for the support and empathy here.

That's a great goal, Gail. I'm a major impulse buyer myself. I've often gone into a bookstore with some of the books on my wishlist on it ...and come out with maybe a few that were on the list and a lot more that weren't. And often I come out with way more than I had planned to buy. *sigh*

So what are you reading for the bookclub?

#45: I am relieved that books bought for school do not count. I am concerned more about books not bought for school since I typically read a ton more than I buy anyway.

I've never really counted how many books I buy in a year, but I do know I buy a lot more than I'm able to read in a year since I'm a relatively slow reader .... a veritable disabled tortoise compared to you, Stas. ;-)

Well... I already caved and bought a book today. No will power here.

Jenn

#50: Oh well, Jennifer, you have the entire rest of the year to reform!

Quick, Jennuifer ... read 3 books before you buy another one. :-)

Off to the book corner to read.

Jenn

Stasia, we're going to read The Book Thief, which I read several years ago, lent to someone, and never got it back. All library copies are out, so I thought I'd buy it, read it, and pass it on. Still counts as a purchase, though. After my rather alarming spree of last year...not breaking our bank, but that's not the point at all...I knew I had to do something. Finally sorted it out to read 5, buy 1.

Gail

The Book Thief is incredible!!!

I second that -- I love The Book Thief.

But I also love this idea of reading five books for every one you buy. That might be an easy way for me to keep down my purchasing. If I buy a book, I have to read five before I can buy another. Hmmm... I wonder how long my willpower would last on that?

Five to one seems a good ratio. Thanks for that suggestion, Gail.

#42 Janet nice to see you here. 63/63 not a bad balance to be fair. Last year I read 119 books and bought 837.
The idea, at least on my part, is two fold. Firstly to get some semblance of control of my purchasing especially as my adorable wife is running out of patience and space. Secondly to reallocate some of the money. The second idea germinated from dear Caro and I think it is the best way to ensure magpies such as myself are held in check a little bit!

#46 I would never be able to keep to a five to one ratio (not unless I could read as fast as Stasia anyway!). In my case it would be akin to trying to give a crack-cocaine addict jelly beans to wean him off the stuff!

I third the recommendation - I loved The Book Thief.

I'm reading 1Q84 now and really liking this so far. I started it this morning and am 264 pages into the book. If it goes on in this fashion, it will tie for top spot with Kafka on the Shore as my Murakami favorites.

I will join this challenge. I definitely spent WAY too much money on books in 2011. I am exactly 1:1 this year so far. I think I will try for the 5:1 ratio as well, although I don't know if that isn't overly optimistic. I may dial it down to 3:1 later in the year if I am feeling weak.

Welcome, Marcia. It's lovely having a growing support group.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 3 OF 366

BOOKS READ 0 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 0
BALANCE +/- 0
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read.

Um, so I know we are only 4 days into the new year, but I already bought some books. *hangs head in shame*

In my own defense, no actual money exchanged hands; the four books I bought were paid for with a credit from 1) the return of two duplicate Christmas gifts and 2) a bag of used books that I took to the store to sell (I actually came home with fewer books than I left with -- it was so weird). And I have credit left-over! (Don't ask me how -- I have no idea.)

So, does that count? Or can we just call that a break-even?

I feel like I'm confessing to my Bookaholics Anonymous sponsor here. :)

If anyone would like to receive the book Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman, please send a message on my LT home page, noting your address and name and I'll send it out right away.

I'm in. In fact, I've already set up tickers on my thread to keep track. It's not the money - it's the real estate! So I have four tickers to keep track of - books read, books given away or tossed or burned or whatever I do with them, books bought, and ebooks acquired (no real estate involved).

As of now, I have 576 books in the 'to read' section. I'd like to bring that down by at least 50 this year.

Regarding PBS and Bookmooch, I have some credits there, and will consider books pre-paid until I run out of credits. Then the postage counts as a prospective purchase, if I can keep track of that arithmetic!

Hmmm.... Sarah, I think the books you exchanged because they were duplicates of what you already had, don't count because they were gifts.

And I think the ones that you brought to the store to sell, which you then earned credits for to exchange for other books also don't count. It's like the online book exchange programs in my opinion.

So I think you are safe. :-) But if anyone disagrees, let them speak now or forever hold their peace ...and remember that should they then be in a similar situation, we shall judge them by their same standard. heh heh heh.

Bookaholics Anonymous sponsor
LOL

Linda : That was a wonderful book, even if it took me quite a while to get through the whole thing. More so, I think, because at the time I was reading it, I was distracted by other books.

Whooop whooop... Welcome Judy! The more the merrier. Oh I like your suggestion on counting credits on PBS and Bookmooch. I think I'll adopt this same method of counting credits too. It makes sense to me. Darn... I've only got 2 credits left on PBS. But I've got quite a few on Bookmooch.

Oh, man, guys, this is hard. The Kindle Daily Deal today is three Dava Sobel books for $0.99 cents each... I am literally shaking with the effort not to buy them.

There are no book-aholic sponsors available here, I don't think. To be a sponsor you should be able to demonstrate some success at abstinence; and who lives a life style exemplifying the desired state of sobriety (being able to not buy more books than you read, I guess). Are there any here willing to volunteer to be a Sponsor? Anyone? Hello?

*deafening silence ensues*

#68: I know I could do it, Karen, based on last year, but I do not want to!

Actually, one of them is $1.99; the other two are $.99. I did get the two for $.99, but I skipped the pricier one because it was the one which interested me least of the three.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 4 OF 366

BOOKS READ 1 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 0
BALANCE +/- 0
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

>70 thornton37814:, Ooh, I think that makes me feel slightly better. Also, they are all available from my library so... I think I will just have to somehow keep myself away from the Kindle Store until I have read 5 books and am allowed to buy one, otherwise the Kindle Daily Deals will get me eventually.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 5 OF 366

BOOKS READ 2 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 1
BALANCE +/- +1
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

At the rate Paul's going, I think he might be a good sponsor. Either he's not going out or walking past bookstores with a blindfold on so he can't be tempted to walk in because I don't think I've ever seen him go so long without buying at least 5 books.

Karen : You are absolutely right ... I know I would be on shaky ground myself and although I haven't yet succumbed, (I came soooooo close tonight when I was at Barnes & Noble buying books for a friend's birthday present), I know I will.

Lori : I applaud your restraint in not getting all three.

Marcia : Well done for finding them at the library ... those Sobel books are really good. Thankfully, I've read all three of them. I loved Galileo's Daughter and have kept it on my re-read shelf.

Caro hahaha I think 5 days is one of my longest book-free spells! It is Friday lunch time which is normally Friday crunch time for me. I have reached an entitlement to 1 book but I think I will fight the urge a while yet.

Hahahaha, I am totally out of my natural tribe here! I have acquired 10 new books between Christmas presents, and my weak will power. I love every one of them. And so far, since New Year's Day, I have read 1 book! Hehehehehe

Of course, I have read parts of my new cook book and made one Zentangle design based on one of my new Zentangle books!

hehehe

*slinks off cackling....*

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 6 OF 366

BOOKS READ 2 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 1
BALANCE +/- +1
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Had a full hour in Times bookstore doing some fantasy book buying. Bought 45 modern lit titles, 15 classics, 15 history/politics/economics and 10 biographies. Chose them all hypothetically and left all of em on the shelves. The shop assistant looked flabbergasted when I only purchased a magazine!

Very impressive, Paul! I wouldn't have even dared to enter the book shop (says she who bought 10 books last night....).

So I had to pop into Barnes and Noble this morning for a last minute present. I found 2 books for my friend's present and lo and behold, I managed to pick 2 from the 'Buy 2, get the 3rd for free' table. So I got to pick the 3rd book, and the price on the book was less than the prices on the 2 books I was intending to buy for my friend's present. So I got that book free. Since I paid no money for it, does it count as a purchase? And yes, I am intending to keep this 3rd book for myself.

The challenge is to Read More Than You Buy so I don't think it should count.

But I'm not participating, so who am I to say ;-)

I like the way you think, Katie. ;-)

I bought another book. I am hopeless.

I agree with Katie, Caro. If you pay no money for it, the book cannot be a purchase.

Hey! Caro you formed the group, you fix the rules! No spending of money, PLUS. Enlargement of TBR, MINUS!

Katie is a dark horse by the way. I got "plaudits" for my 837 books last year but I seem to recall she beat me hands down!

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 7 OF 366

BOOKS READ 3 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 1
BALANCE +/- +1
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

Ahhh.. but Paul, I finished 1Q84, therefore, I've now removed another book from my TBR Tower. And I start another one tomorrow enroute to Tokyo. So far, I'm doing better than I had expected ...but then again, it's only January. I'm usually very good at keeping to resolutions in the first month of the year. I only start foaming at the mouth after the 1st quarter

I know Linda has offered to send people books she's finished with, and as I am trying to reduce the books on my shelves and am no longer doing BookMooch (was bringing in too many new books in return) I thought I would offer you guys a few of these before I donate them to the library. If you want me to send you one, just give me a PM with your address. :)

Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
Conquest of the Useless by Warner Herzog

Definitely going to join in with this - unfortunately, I'm already into a negative ratio, having read 4, bought 13. However, I so rarely have the cash to buy books that this is a exceptional occasion, and I should soon alter that statistic.

Saying that, it will be a good way of making me THINK about my book purchases instead of squandering a 'buy' on something I don't absolutely truly want, or won't get round to reading soonish.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 9 OF 366

BOOKS READ 3 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 1
BALANCE +/- +1
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

Skipped a day but no change anyway!

#87: I sent you a PM, Marcia.

Whoopeee... finished my 4th book today and still no purchase made.

Send you a PM too, Marcia. ;-)

Does getting rid of books at the used book stores help? Can I buy one for every one I escort out the door? No, that doesn't really help reduce the TBR piles does it. Dang.

91: same here :) but I have received 3 books for present. So my TBR pile is only one down...

I so tried to do this last year....
You sir are the awesome and I wish you the best of luck.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 11 OF 366

BOOKS READ 3 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 1
BALANCE +/- +1
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

I think this is the longest I have ever gone without buying a book! Tomorrow is Friday and likely to break my duck to be honest as I think I am in need of treating myself. Should finish Wolf Hall tomorrow which will allow 2 books.

Caro - well done....what are the book shops in Japan like by the way?

Bookshops in Japan are relatively small and sell almost all Japanese books only. For books in foreign language, only bookstores in the area where most of the ex-pats live carry a meagre selection of non-Japanese books. Most folks here order books online if they want books in other languages.

I've just been introduced to a new manga series here in Japan ...now all I need is to find the English translated version when I get home .... and suggest it to the hubster for my birthday present. haha

So far I'm holding the line on buying books, although I've received 14 books in the mail from a variety of sources: previously placed orders from Alibris and the Strand; two LT Early Reviewer books; the first book in my NYRB Book Club subscription; and a gift book from an LT friend. I've also acquired two Kindle e-books, one that I preordered at the end of last year which wasn't released until this year, The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq, and a free e-book, The Lepers of Molokai by Charles Warren Stoddard.

Oh, wait a minute...checking credit card statement online...actually I was billed for The Map and the Territory on Jan 3, once it was released, so that does count as a book purchase for this year. Rats. I'll adjust my ticker accordingly.

I've read six books this year so far and have already bought over thirty. I have definitely failed.

No one has failed, yet. It's a long way to December 31; plenty of time to read up and avoid bookshops/The Internet Pit of Doom.

That said:

Books bought: 1
Books read: 3
Books not bought but smuggled into house by nefarious means: 3.
Books shipped off: 3

Hmmm...I've two goals: read more than I buy, and move some of the volumes out of the house. Succeeding (gee! for 15 days!) with the first, nearly even on the second.

I came close to buying a book while I was in the Sydney airport, but didn't. *preening with self-satisfaction*

....ok, so the truth of the matter is, I didn't buy it because I couldn't bear to pay A$38 for a paperback! So I'm going to add this to my obese wish list, and try to find it on bookmooch, and if not, I'll buy this later from Amazon or the Book Depository... somewhere else where the cost is not going to be A$38. But I'm adding this to my spreadsheet as a book I didn't buy, so the value goes towards my donation fund.

Oh and what book was this that so tempted me? The Architect of Kokoda : Bert Kienzle by Robyn Kienzle (no touchstone), which is a book about a man who played a vital role in Australia's WWII history.

#99 : Lissa .. I second Gail's comments .... no failure as yet. The year's only just begun ... we've all got a long way to go yet.

*ahem*... so what did you buy? ;-)

Er... so, I've read 4 books this year, and bought three. But... they were on sale! *whimpers* And I needed to fill the gaps in my series! *whimper again*

My husband doesn't have much faith in me. I told him about this challenge and he laughed in my face, which, although it sounds cruel, is more likely accurate than anything else... of course now I feel more motivated than ever. (Watch this last until the first discount sale in my area... ack, must be strong!!!)

Well, I confess to acquiring 4 new books, but I didn't pay for them, so technically they don't count. I also gave away 19 books (at least, I will as soon as I get to the post office), and am eying a few more to donate to a local thrift shop. (that word 'eying' looks so odd to me!)

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 16 OF 366

BOOKS READ 4 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 2
BALANCE +/- +2
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

I am very interested in this challenge, but might need to make up my own rules, so probably won't participate "officially." I'm all for reading more books than I buy in 2012, and I think I can do it, though it will require more restraint than I managed in 2011 (which was--none).

However, I'm only concerned about real dead-tree books and am not counting Kindle books or audiobooks in my book purchases--these just don't present a space problem for me and I don't really care how many 99 cent Kindle books I buy.

I'm also thinking it would be good if most of my book purchases were discounted or second-hand books, as opposed to brand spanking new just-published hardcover editions--which I'll admit to having a weakness for.

I also like the idea of contributing to literacy charities, but I would probably base a donation on how much money I end up spending on books this year as opposed to trying to calculate which books I resisted buying.

So far, I haven't allowed any new books into the house in 2012, and I've read two books from my own bookshelves. (and 3 library books).

I have purchased 2 books, but as of today have read 12, so better than the 5:1 ratio.

Faith : My husband, on the other hand, has been less than supportive .. in the sense that he tries to come up with reasons why it would be ok for me to buy books! I tell him I'm trying to be strong and stick to my guns, and that he really shouldn't be encouraging me to make any purchases. He says he's going to stick a mirror up in front of me the next time we're in a book store and i have to put books back on the shelf, and then I'd see just how woeful I look. haha

Paul : I continue to be amazed at your self-restraint !

Judy : I'm due to be donating some books when I eventually come home again. Being away for 3 weeks is awfully long.

Anne : There aren't any real hard and fast rules so make up what is right for you, and what you are likely to be more able to stick to. :-) As long as the goal is the same .. and that is, to read more off your TBR piles or books you don't have to purchase.

Way to go, Stas!

>108 cameling:: I think they just know us too well!!! Know what mine did yesterday? Showed me a "$30 of books for $15" GroupOn deal for BookCloseouts.ca. HE'S EVIL. And, I confess... we bought one. He said "well, you fell off the wagon pretty quick", to which I replied, "the coupon is good for a few months, I have time to read MORE before I buy!!!" ...sigh...

ah, my wish list is growing so fast. And someone suggested reading the free sample of one book, on my Kindle, and then....

I am trying to be strong. I am saving money for a trip to Disneyland with the kids. And you know, one can only go to Disneyland when they are all just the right ages. Let's see: 11, 6, and 4 years of ages. Seems just right, eh? And hopefully the Auntie can join Mom, Dad, and the Great Auntie. Four adults with three kids should be just right.

So, I've got good motivation in place. Now I just have to remember why I am saving my money, and not be distracted by good books. Tough.

Just read my fourth book of the year -- once I get to five I can buy a book, right?

Or is that perhaps not the way I should be thinking about this? :)

I'm more-or-less on track.

Three books finished. Three new books. One ordered in 2011--the other two for specific group reads/RL book club. I knew I'd be buying those books (2/month) since I really like having my own copy for clubs and not having to worry about library due dates, etc.

I was all set to sell some more books. And got hit by a snow storm. Been cabin bound, reading, and playing in my stuff, for days.......

I am traveling, and when traveling always make it a point to visit local independent bookstores, you know, TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES, but sadly, as a result have fallen off the wagon. I bought 3 books on Tues, and I am planning on going to at least one more store today, so I will probably do even more damage. But my Thingaversary was last week (6 years on LT!) and I didn't do anything, so these could all be belated Thingaversary presents to myself lol.

I read 5 books, and only bought one so far this year!

Not bad...

I have to admit that these past 2 weeks have been a little easier for me to resist buying books because when I was in Japan, the bookstores I peeked into only sold Japanese books. When I was in Australia the prices of books were enough to make my very straight hair curl. And now I'm in Singapore .. hmmm.....we'll have to see because I haven't as yet made it to a bookstore since I only arrived last night.

I might end up buying books I can't get back in the US ... that's justification enough to fall off the wagon for a bit, right?

OH shoot - I forgot that I purchased 2 books that haven't arrived yet.

So I have read 5 off my selves and bought 3.

#117 : Did you buy them in 2011 or 2012? If in 2011, it doesn't count. ;-)

Oh no, I ordered them at a weak point in 2012. Was getting a book for my daughter (which I am not counting) and accidentally added two for me. :)

119 accidentally :) Those books are very crafty aren't they?

>119 alphaorder:: Oh, bother... don't you just hate it when they jump into your cart that way? ;)

Oh dear. This challenge was made for me, but I just can't do it. I read only off my shelves because I have so many going at once that I'd never get them back to the library in time and because I love owning books. I might manage to read 1 for every 5 I get, but I don't think that's the ratio, is it? On the other hand, for several years, I've donated an equal amount to that spent on books to The Medical Benevolence Foundation (a Presbyterian aid to third world hospitals) every month. I haven't counted my PBS acquisitions unless I paid for the credits. (I think that's cheating, but never mind.)
So I cheer you on and watch with some regret but no envy!

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 20 OF 366

BOOKS READ 5 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 0
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 2
BALANCE +/- +2
MONEY SPENT $0

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $8,000

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $2,000
ROOM TO READ $2,000
THE BOOK BUS $2,000
PROLITERACY $2,000

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can't really believe that three weeks in I haven't bought any books. Holiday weekend so I'll be amazed if I don't change the figures somewhat.

...urp... 3 more added yesterday after a terrible movie (Haywire)... I left before the end because I couldn't take it anymore (even though the trailers made it look AMAZING, turns out it was the most boring film I've ever seen) and crossed the street to Wal-Mart, where I browsed the book section until my husband came to get me... I handed him three books... he bought them for me without another word, as penance for making me sit through that piece of crap film... does it count as "my" purchase if he paid for it? ...even if he used a credit card that's connected to a shared account, which I would have used if I'd paid for it...? LOL!!!!!!!!

Don't you just love all the inventive justification we're all coming up with for trying to assuage guilt for buying books? LOL

*wondering if an alien being has taken over Paul's body because this must be the longest he's gone without buying a book or 12*

Paul, have you even stepped into a bookstore this year?

I weakened and bought 2 books from bookcloseouts.com, but it's OK because I've already read 10 books this year, including 5 from my own shelves.

Paul, I can't believe you're still holding out--why do I have a feeling that when you finally succumb it will be in a massive way?

Paul, our public library prints a note on our due date slip that tells how much we have saved on that day and for the year to date. With the books I checked out today, I have now saved $240 by using my public library. That's not even counting the books I've checked out of the academic library where I work or ordered via ILL. It's kind of nice to know that you are still reading to your heart's desire and saving money.

>127 thornton37814:: Wow, that's a really unique idea! I've never heard of a library doing that before. But I imagine it would be quite the incentive for some people... maybe not for me though, since anytime I borrow books I have a little issue with "returning them on time" (or at all) and typically it ends up that it would have been a better idea for me to just purchase them in the first place... needless to say, I'm excited that our local library is now lending eBooks, since when I connect that to my reader, I won't have to worry about fines...

Yaay.. good for you, Anne ... you're at least still way ahead of the number of books purchased.

Lori - Ditto what Faith said ... that's a great idea. I may suggest this to my library when I get home.

So far I've read 6 books, bought 0, and gotten rid of 7. I know this won't last forever, but I feel pretty great about it right now :-)

Wow, that's really great progress, Nora.


I was in a little independent bookstore this afternoon called The Tango Mango Bookstore and the only reason why I didn't buy any books was because I was already laden with very heavy bags and if I'd even added a pigeon's feather to my load, I think my fingers would have snapped off.

What a great idea!

...I, um... am currently failing... but I'll be back on the horse soon! Truly! I plan to read like a fiend tomorrow (it's my birthday and El Husbando has forbidden me from working... since I work from home, this isn't as outrageous as it might otherwise seem) to try and atone for my purchasing sins. Or at least, catch the ratio back up a little bit. ;)

I confess to buying two Kindle titles, one recommended by Jim, the other because I couldn't get it yet in paperback and took the opportunity to try to change my reading patterns.

But I haven't been reading books lately - newspapers, magazines, but not books. Oh, I did read The Castle of Otranto with SqueakyChu, but it was only .99 on Kindle. And, it takes up no space, so I'm inclined not to count it for this challenge.

I have stayed out of the bookstores. Oh, but I did find one more book in the laundry room, a Coetzee that I'd never heard of. Very clean edition, practically new, and free. Except for the real estate it will take up, of course. Sigh.

I think it's time to get my Martha Grimes books out of the apartment. That will go a long way on this challenge - I have most of them.

I went on bookcloseouts.com last night, put $200 worth of books in my cart, and then DID NOT BUY THEM. Not one. Not even the ones that I really wanted.

I feel this act of willpower deserves a reward.

Which would normally be a book.

...I see the flaw in my self-rewarding system. :)

I'm finally venturing in here, with some trepidation, with January gone. I did read more than I bought last year, 170 to 131 books, but my purchases were fueled in large part by a combination of Borders going out of business in stages, plus their weekly 40% off coupons. So I expect to buy fewer books this year. Of the 131, 20 were from PaperBackSwap (PBS), 5 were ER books, and 3 were gifts. So I paid money for 103 books in 2011.

January stats: 10 books read.

7 books acquired, 5 through PBS, 4 of those paperbacks to replace hardbacks I traded away, the two I paid money for were for Kindle and the only one I paid more than a dollar for was all Caro's fault, because it was 1Q84, stimulated by her review.

AND
18 books traded away through PBS and BookMooch (BM) as a result of my big bookshelf project.

I also gave 139 professional books and 3 shopping bags full of journals away to the local School Psychology Student Association at SDSU. And I have a bunch more culled-out books that I haven't listed on PBS and BM yet, trying to space out my postage costs.

Awk! I am not doing so well. January = 7 books read, 14 books bought or received as gifts

Oh dear. I'm so glad to see we're in a large boat together. Had to laugh out loud at Peggy's comment about "read one, buy five". Sounds about right, doesn't it?

January
Books read: 6
BOMBS: 4
Library Books: 2
Books Bought: 1

So I'm just a tiny bit behind, one more BOMB and I'll be caught up. I don't think this is going to last, but anything is possible, however improbable.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 33 OF 366

BOOKS READ 7 (3 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 4
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 3
BALANCE +/- -2
MONEY SPENT $44

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $7,956
add for 1 excess book @ $22
STANDING BALANCE $7,978

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $1,994.50
ROOM TO READ $1,994.50
THE BOOK BUS $1,994.50
PROLITERACY $1,994.50

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

Oops. I had nearly read as many books as I had bought so far, and then I had to order a memory card from Amazon, and so added a couple of books to the order......it was too tempting not to!

Now I'm 13/14 on read/purchased. *Sigh*

Hm ... does buying a book count if you're buying a replacement copy for a favorite book that's fallen apart and needs to be tossed?

If so, I bought one book in January, and read 12.

A good start!

I think I've been able to hold off on the book purchasing more easily of late because I've been traveling for the last 4 weeks! Yes, 4 weeks in countries where books cost more than some of my shoes!

Shauna, buying a replacement copy shouldn't count because you're not adding to your TBR pile... IMO. ;-)

So 3 days home and I've already succumbed and bought The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

I'm still well within my goals for the year though and have read 13 books thus far from my TBR Tower and only bought 2 books this year so far

Well, I've bought a real (i.e. not electronic) book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, principally because the book store in which our reading group meets is so nice, and is 2 blocks from the Brooklyn Heights Barnes and Noble, and should be supported.

*sigh* I caved .. it's all Mark's fault. I had to buy Nothing to Envy today for my Kindle.

But that makes it only 3 books that I've purchased so far this year.

PAUL'S DAILY UPDATE;

END OF SHOP CLOSING, KUALA LUMPUR DAY 39 OF 366

BOOKS READ 9 (1 ONGOING)
BOOKS BOUGHT 8
BOOKS ALLOWED TO DATE 4
BALANCE +/- -4
MONEY SPENT $96

MONEY SPENT IN 2011 $8,000

SAVING AVAILABLE AFTER PURCHASE OF BOOKS $7,904
add for 4 excess book @ $88
STANDING BALANCE $7,988

PRESENT BALANCES
LITERACY TRUST $1,997.00
ROOM TO READ $1,997.00
THE BOOK BUS $1,997.00
PROLITERACY $1,997.00

*Scheme is plan to read 150 books this year, so can buy 75 books. With an average cost of $15 that will be $1,125 on books. The saving from last year (in the example $6,875) will then be passed to charity nominated and split into four equal parts from the first four posters to the challenge. If I read more than the 2 to one ratio this hurts my wallet not the charities as I will donate double the value of all the excess books. Hope it is clear. This generally follows the rules set up by Caro but with more severity for me because of my magpie tendencies and my joy of helping my kids read

tsk tsk .. Paul ..... Oh well, it could have been a bigger fall, I suppose. Still, given your previously usual wild purchase sprees, I am still very impressed with your restraint.

*stands in corner with guilty expression*

*backs into the shadows*

#148

Come on. 'Fess up. How bad is it ;)

I thought this challenge would be easy. Last year I read 151 books and added 94 to my collection.

However, it's not turning out like that. I've read 16 books so far, and added 24! In my own defence, most of the books brought into the house are ex-library booksale that cost 10p/30p a time. I have bought 6 books from Amazon, mostly second-hand, but, once you add the postage.... Also I have recently discovered some lovely second-hand bookshops and, thanks mostly to LT, my reading tastes are now a lot broader, so I can actually find books I want to read.

The two main problems here are that my TBR pile is assuming monstrous proportions and I have probably reached capacity for book storage at home. So I really, really need to get some more of the TBR pile read and then the books I don't need to keep sent back to the library or a charity-shop for re-sale.

So early February results ----- Read 16.... Bought 24....Discarded 0

>149 lunacat:: It's not terrible. I just got 3 more... which now puts me at a total of 25 purchased, 18 read. But they were "Buy 2, Get 1 Free"!!! And I didn't even hesitate. That's what makes me feel the most guilty...

Plus I got a coupon for $5 off my next purchase. And I am going to use it. I can't NOT.

...this challenge is more challenging than I anticipated... I am a terrible example for others!!!

Though I DID return to my library after over a year of not stepping foot inside of it. So, I guess it could be worse...???

#150 : I know what you mean, Athabasca ... the peeps here on LT have introduced many more authors and titles to my obese wish list and TBR Tower, which is why I decided to challenge myself this year with reading more off my shelves or from the library, than continuing to add to my ominously sagging bookshelves.

It's a tough challenge for me as well. I hate going into bookstores and not coming out with an armload of new friends.
But we are all here to support one another and hey, it's only February. We still have another 10 months to go, so maybe you'll be able to ease back on your book buying sprees as the year progresses.

#151 : See? There is an upside .. you've rediscovered your library, Faith! ;-) I haven't yet registered myself with my library's e-book lending facility. I'm in 2 minds about this. It'd be more convenient, but then that would mean I wouldn't have any human interaction with the wonderful librarians who work there. It would save me time though. hmmm....

And as I said to Athabasca, it's only February ... don't be so hard on yourself. Perhaps the numbers will move in the opposite direction as the months roll on.

I fell to temptation and bought Leonardo and the Mona Lisa Story by Donald Sassoon today ...but it was on sale for $5!

Doing OK so far. I've read six books - four were checked out from the library where I work, one was from PaperBack Swap, one was a free library discard. For a net loss, I'm sending one out today via PaperBack Swap. Have to confess that I did buy four books from Amazon but they're going back in today's mail. One was for a class (I'd lost the copy I received via PaperBack Swap but I finally found it so I can send the new one back, yayy!) and the other three didn't look as interesting in person as they did on the computer.

OK It's the end of February and how am I doing?
So far this year, I've read 20 books, added 27 to my catalogue and discarded 2.
I make that a running total of read vs acquired of -5. Not too bad.

As of today, 16 books read, 11 from shelves, 4 from library, 1 new; books bought: 4. I think. Failing...

End of February summary for the year-to-date!

I've read 27 books and acquired 14 books. Of the 14, 7 were through PaperBackSwap and so free, 1 was a library sale for $1, and the others cost $64.53 total. Three of my always buy authors released new books this month, so that was a big hit.

BUT, I've sent out 23 books through BookMooch and PaperBackSwap and have 6 more here on order to send out tomorrow.

Well I almost made it 2 months without buying a book. I've been wanting to read Under the Dome though, and then I saw it on the sale book table at work today. For $4.93 with my discount, I couldn't resist. Still - that's one bought and 20 read, so not bad so far!

I caved and bought 2 books this week.

I have no willpower.

Jenn

I have kept track of "buying" 14 books and I've finished reading 11. Not too bad. What I have not kept track of - all the books I've sold to my used book stores. There have been a bunch. So the net increase of books on shelves in my house is less than it was last year. Progress. Not perfection! Progress.

It's so great to see everyone making progress in this challenge.

I've read 29 books so far, and bought 3, gave away 4. So I'm quite pleased with myself too. I'm feeling quite optimistic that I may actually succeed with this challenge this year.

Summary time? I've read 32 books, acquired 15, of which 7 cost money and 7 have been read (not the same 7), and disposed of 30 books via PaperBackSwap and BookMooch.

Oh, dear, summary time. I guess I'm going to bring down the success rate.

I've read 15 books.
Purchased 11 books.
Acquired 9 books for free (this number is approximate, since I don't always keep track of those sent by publishers, etc.)

So, while the number of books I have read exceeds the number of books I have bought with real money, my overall ratio, at least 20 books acquired to 15 read, is not so great.

Never the less, I shall carry on! :)

I'm still doing quite well, I think ...

Read 27 books.
Purchased 7 books.
Acquired 12 books for free through Bookmooch and my brother
Disposed of 9 books via Bookmooch and friends

I've lost track because of the Kindle, but acquisitions are still quite low. Oh, I did buy a couple of professional books yesterday. Expensive, but the tax man will take pity on me next year for the $95.

A local charity is having a book sale today. I should stay away, but I would not want to be seen as unsuportive.

Jenn

I've finally tallied and corrected my totals for the year, which I'll post at the top of my new threads:

Books read (as of 26 March): 29
TBR books read (books that I've owned for at least 6 months): 10
Books purchased: 5
Cost of books purchased: $46.66
Books acquired: 37
Books given away or discarded: 0

I donated 2 books Absolution by Patrick Flanery and The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson to the library at the hotel I was staying in in Beijing.

First quarter stats:

Books read: 42
TBR books read: 5
Books purchased: 7
Cost of books purchased: $81.51
Books acquired: 18 (includes the 7 purchased, the others were physical books that were free (PaperBackSwap, BookMooch, Early Reviewers))
Books traded away: 30

I don't count free Kindle books--I pick them up on spec in great numbers, but they don't take up space so no harm done.

I've lost track of my stats this year, but I've been deaccessioning a number of books through Bookmooch this week. Of course, I've added one or two as well, but only when I have to read them for a f2f group. Otherwise, I try to keep my reading to books off the shelf or off the library shelf. A hard discipline.

I don't count free Kindle books either, for the same reasons as yours. No cost, no real estate.

Is "deaccessioning" = getting rid of

??

>171 maggie1944: Yes, but it sounds nicer ;-)

Love your progress, Roni. I'm picking up lots of free Kindle books too, and am not counting them since as you said, they take up no room. We're having a book sale at the office next Monday so I'm going to go through all my shelves to pick out books I will not mind donating to the sale. The proceeds from the sale go to a local high school to kit out their library which had suffered major water damage during the winter rains.

I was doing so well ..... and then someone gave me a $50 Amazon gift card.. and thereupon did I fall off my wagon and purchased the following books:

An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro
Beware of Pity - Stefan Zweig
Bad Intentions - Karin Fossum
A Cold Treachery - Charles Todd
The Blind Contessa's New Machine - Carey Wallace
How to Read the Air - Dinaw Mengestu
An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris - Georges Perec
The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson - Frances Brent
Dancing After Hours - Andre Dubus
Part of the Furniture - Mary Wesley
Pomfret Towers - Angela Thirkell
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
Into the Beautiful North - Luis Alberto Urrea
The Snack Thief - Andrea Camilleri (for a friend)

At least one of the books was for a friend though.... I'm using that to try and feel less guilty.

So with that, my count is now, 45 books read and 16 books purchased.

Oops, sorry not to have replied to the query about 'deaccessioning'. I don't get to this thread all that often. But yes, getting rid of, one way or another. You hear it more when used in the context of a museum selling part of its collection.

My deaccessioning tends to involve giving the books away, to a thrift store or a swap shelf or someone from PBS or Bookmooch, although that can get tedious. At least I know someone wants the book. But once in a while an old one gives up the ghost or the binding or whatever, and I'm not allergic to tossing an old, buggy or foxed or otherwise worn-out book in the trash.

Progress has been exceedingly slow, because, in part, I have yet to read so many of the books I have. In fact, new ones tend to go out the door faster, unless i fall so in love with them I can't bear to part. But go many of them must - there is only so much space in a New York apartment.

ffortsa, I know what you mean. Nice, new books which are good reads and come into my house, and are read right away... well they go to their next home much more quickly. There are those other, To Be Read, books, many of them hard back which I really do want to read...but I just don't know just when I'll get there.

sigh

But I am making progress and I am looking for progress, not perfection!

I thought I was about to throw in the towel on this whole idea, but it's not as bad as I thought.

Up through the end of February, I had only bought 5 new books. Then I weakened. However, I have been reading a lot, so I'm still technically on track.

Books read: 62
Books bought: 48

However, most of my books read are actually library books, so I'm not really making much of a dent in the TBR stack--but that's a separate issue.

Judy, I deaccession my books through paperbackswap and bookmooch first and then any that are listed but aren't wanted by another reader after a year on the list gets donated to the library.

I'm still doing really well on this challenge, which has surprised me no end. I've read 70 books thus far and have still only purchased 16 books so far this year. Having said that, I've downloaded at least 30 free books on my Kindle but hey, they're free and doesn't take up room on my bookshelves. And I read the Kindle books only when I travel, and will read off my TBR Tower when I'm home.

May report: only 1 physical book came in this month, and it was an ARC from the Early Reviewers program.

oh then you're safe, Roni ... that doesn't count. :-)

Caro, I feel exactly the same about the Kindle books. And I've gotten adept at reading them on the Kindle or even my smartphone. It's great for mysteries, maybe not so much for non-fiction, which I haven't tried yet. but as you say, they don't take up room!

Judy- The only problem I find with reading non-fiction on the older versions of the Kindle - the Touch and Fire don't have this problem - is the graininess of some of the diagrams or pictures. And some e-books aren't properly formatted and the captions for the graphics appear on the next page instead of under the picture.

Still doing remarkably well on my challenge, much to my surprise. The challenge has been made easier with all the free Kindle books I'm downloading though.

I am not doing so well, but I am reading a lot. (of course, I'm buying more than I intend....)

Maggie .. it could be worse ... you could be buying more but not reading much. *horrors*

I've had a good first half of the year by one measure, as I've read 64 books and purchased only 42 43, even counting the 15 16 books I've bought this week. However, 89 books have entered my home so far. The 47 "unpurchased" books are books I ordered before the Dec 31 deadline, books I've received as part of previously paid subscriptions to the NYRB (New York Review Books) Club and to Archipelago Books, free downloads (Kindle, University of Chicago Press), LT Early Reviewer books, gift books, and books avaland has sent for review in Belletrista. I'll be even more pleased once my TBR pile begins to decrease, i.e. when the total number of books read is greater than the books that enter my library.

so, how much time do you spend each week reading? I am puzzled to find more time in my life for reading. I want it!

Who can believe it's the end of the first half of the year already?!

I'm doing relatively well on the challenge, having read 90 books, acquired 29 print books (10 for which I paid money), acquired 151 Kindle books (of which I count only the 11 for which I paid money), and sent 46 physical books out the door via PBS, BookMooch and the local library!

Of course, I have some challenges coming up as favorite authors are coming out with new books!

Half year statistics

Books bought 66
Books read 65

That's not too bad - at least 10 of the books bought were kindle books/short stories. So all-in-all, I'm ahead of the game. However I only managed to discard two books so far - once a book enters the house, it seems impossible to get it out the door again. That's what I need to work on next!

Maggie : I try to read at least for a couple of hours in the evening after dinner. On mornings where I don't work out, I'll read before getting ready for work. I definitely get more time to read over the weekends and when I travel, my plane time is my reading time.

Half year stats :

Books bought : 22
Books read : 95

I think I'm still doing ok. :-) and my TBR Tower is starting to stop wheezing from the effort of holding up so many unread books. That said, my Kindle is starting to look rather chubby from the somewhat aggressive intake of new free books.

OK, I'm such a loser. For no other reason than "I wanted to" I bought Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Started reading it, too, even though I am not finished with Black Diamond a Mystery of the French Countryside and several others.

OK, I know I'm not a loser.... I am having a great life reading all I want!

The most imprtant thing this challenge has taught me?

Do not, repeat not, set unrealistic goals for yourself. Just don't.

So y'all know how this went for me...

Haha... Gail ... I know what you mean. It's been a real struggle for me although I've not done as badly as suspected I might. But I know I'm going to go wild come January 1 with all the books I desperately had to hold myself back on buying this year. *sigh* I didn't not buy any at all, of course but I've so far, bought less than half the number I've read so far. I hope to hold out until the end of the year.

*staggers off to get a stiff drinnk*

I am a complete failure at this, but I am reading more than I was so that is good. But I am still buying, buying, buying....

Oh dear ...I went on a binge today ... blame it on walking around in a food coma, the heat was stifling and we walked into the Harvard Book Store where the call of the books was just too strong. Having 28 books in my basket, the hubster's raised eyebrows and a meaningful look was all it too for me to feel guilty and par them down to... 12. Yes, I bought 12 books today.

Still, I've read 115 so far, so I guess i'm still ahead on the challenge.

I've resigned. Resigned myself to the truth that when I read a good book review, I really, really, really want the book. And I'm not in the poor house yet.

If I keep going the way I do, that's exactly where I'm afraid I'll end up, Karen... the poor house. But I console myself with the fact that this is at least a more healthy vice compared to smoking, alcohol, drugs and glue sniffing.

End of August update:

Books read=104
Books acquired=47
Money spent on books=$270.93

Books deaccessioned=48 via BookMooch, PaperbackSwap & library donations

I've been averaging purchasing about 6 books per month.

I do take some comfort from the fact that I am selling/giving away more books than I am buying. The net number of books in the house is declining. Someday I think I will need to move into a retirement home or a bedroom in my niece's home. I really don't want that day to be a big trauma! I love my ebooks for that reason. Those inventories can grow and grow and I can still fit them into a less spacious life style.

I gave up. Starting over next year.

Books Read : 115
Books Bought : 32
Books Given Away : 19 (library donations and Bookmooch)

$$ spent on books : $340.

Way to go, Roni. You're doing great!

Karen, you're reading and you're also getting books out of the house before it caves in under all that weight. :-) I think the day this house becomes too much for me, I might try and see if I can live in the library .. perhaps as their nightwatch person? Then I'd not have a problem with housing books, I'll be surrounded by them.

Nancy - still not too late .. you still have 4 months to make a dent. :-)

True, but there are so many good books coming out in the next four months...

*fingers in ears* La la la la la la la la ....

Good work, Caro! Excellent ratio.

Maggie, that's the true goal, after all.

Yes, there are a bunch of good books coming out this fall, including some must-haves for me! Not to mention that after a long drought, PaperBackSwap has come up with 5 of my wish-list books in the last week or so.

I'm in the home stretch, and at the moment I've purchased 127 books, with no plans to buy any more books this year, and read 124, although I'll add at least one more book today. I'll still have at least two, and hopefully three, days off before the end of the year, so I should be able to read three more short books by Monday, which will get me to 128. Woo hoo!

I'm so glad, Darryl, that you brought this thread up to the top. I was thinking of it yesterday as I was adding my latest reads and acquisitions to my spreadsheet, and resolving to search for it, and you made it easy!

I think Paul will be funding an entire endowment this year, all on his own!

Counting the 4 books I received for Christmas, I think I'm at 78 books acquired, 168 read (60 of them library books), and 70 books deaccessioned. My pitiable statistic is only 16 books read off the shelf this year, and I've read 40 of the books acquired.

I need to update my Kindle acquisitions--I see a couple that I've paid for that aren't on my acquisitions page, so this will change slightly, but all in all, I'm doing well compared to last year (170 read to 131 books acquired) as I've lowered books coming in by 53 books, probably due in large part to increased use of the library. I'll post corrected and final figures on New Year's Eve.

I have acquired more books than I have read this year, but I have bought fewer! And I haven't bought any books since 17 October. That's more than 2 months!

So far I've purchased 93 books this year and read 148, so I'm actually coming out on the right end of things! Talk about a Christmas miracle.

I in a fit of denial, stopped counting how many books I added to my library this year. I know that I stopped counting at about 40, and I've got 51 titles of books I've read. So, I could declare victory. But I think that would be dishonest.

Now, the more important question: Will I try again next year to read more than I buy?

Maggie - I ran into the same issue. I always start out so optimistic, but then reality sets in...

Ok, just made a commitment to make it through January without purchasing any new (or new to me) books for myself. Can buy books for my daughter, but she has so many on read ones on her shelf, she would say it is unnecessary.

103- Books Read
45 - Books Read from the towering MT TBR (owned 2011 or before)
26 - Books from library or borrowed
83 - Total number of books acquired this year (not necessarily read, but total number newly owned by me): bought, gifts, trade, followed me home, ER (everything but library and online) as of 12/17/2012

Of the books I've read this year:
17 - cataloged into LT 2006 or before
5 - cataloged into LT 2007
11 - cataloged into LT 2008
__ cataloged into LT 2009
__ cataloged into LT 2010
17 - cataloged into LT 2011
4 - acquired previously but uncataloged until 2012 (have lots of these!)
51 - acquired 2012 (including those from library)

The numbers don't quite add up because I didn't count rereads as comiing from MT TBR.

By my count, I have about 30 acquired in 2012 that are going to be added to the mountain. I hope to get at least two more finished before New Year's: A Tale of Two Cities and an ER book that I have been groaning over for months......

*Not waving but drowning* in all the new books I bought this year.

*Shuffles toe back and forth*

Ummm...I'd love to say I'll do better next year, but I just got a kindle, in addition to the nook and of course the bookcases, cabinets, and hidden stashes, so it may not be likely. Instead, I'd like to keep better records; I'm starting today by cataloguing...and tomorrow cataloguing...and the next day...Until I have every ding-danged book in this overstuffed house logged here. Then maybe I can figure out a better way to read more and buy less. Right after I re-work the Mayan calendar.

I seem to be in very good company here......I failed in my "buy fewer books" resolution too.

Books acquired: 105
Books read: 128, of which 42 came from the TBR pile and 82 from the library and 4 from other places.

However, there is some good news - towards the end of the year, thanks to TIOLI, I was reading nearly 50/50 TBR/Library and over the year I actually discarded 9 books, which is a record! Also, nearly 95% or the book acquisitions were second-hand.

*Off to help bohemima with that Mayan calendar* :0)

I had to read 21 books this month to do it, but I finished my 128th book of the year last night. I bought 127 books, so I barely made it!


GIFSoup

Whew! Last day of the year and here are my stats:

Read : 151 books off my TBR Tower
Purchased : 35 books
Donated : 22 books via bookmooch
12 books via paperbackswap
18 books to the library
5 books via Operation Paperback

Amount to be donated to Room to Read : $500 (that's the value of books I wanted to buy but desisted)

It's been wonderful watching everyone's progress and sharing in the struggle not to acquire more than we actually read. Some of us have done brilliantly, while others have tried valiantly. But we're all triumphant because we're being more mindful of the books we have on our shelves waiting to be read each time we reach out for new acquisitions.

Thank you everyone, for keeping me company on this very tough challenge this year, and encouraging me to stay on course. I can safely say .... I will never do embark on such a strenuous challenge again for a good while yet. :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

You statisticians! Put me to Shame. I am in denial and I stopped counting how many books I acquired. I did read 53 which is more than I read last year, but I do not know how many of them were "new" to the house or ones from my shelves; nor do I know whether I acquired fewer than 53 but I am pretty damn sure I did not. I do know I have fewer real life books in my house which is one of my goals; and I'm planning on giving about 75% of my Christmas decorations to the Goodwill, so that will be good, too.

Maybe next year I'll take these questions more seriously.

Congratulations to all who set goals and accomplished them! You are great!

Caro, those are marvelous figures! Only 35 books purchased--I think you have to consider this a roaring success!

Last night I spent updating and correcting data, and so my final figures are as follows:

Books read: 171
141 were new reads, 61 of those were library books, 16 were unread books off my shelves, 48 were new acquisitions, and 16 were free Kindle books.
30 were rereads off my shelves

Books acquired: 95
8 were gifts, 5 were Early Reviewers books, 34 came through BookMooch or PaperBackSwap, 40 were purchased new, 8 were purchased used.

This includes all Kindle books for which I paid any amount, but not the 181 Kindle freebies which I downloaded on spec.

Total cost: $423.83 ($4.46 average)

DEACCESSIONED:
70 books physically out the door

BookMooch 27
PaperBackSwap 19
school library donation 18
public library donation 6

So at the end, with corrections and Christmas gifts, my books acquired pulled way ahead of the physical books out the door, but still far behind number actually read. Of my new books acquired, I have read in this same year 48 of them, just barely over 50%.

Thank you, Caro, for the challenge

Is there a new thread for this challenge for the new year?