I talk a lot on this blog about the ‘book ban’ that i am regularly on, but then i know i post book hauls quite often. I can understand this is a little confusing and looks like i’m cheating or slacking a lot of the time. When in reality, i’m not (I promise!) So this post is to explain what my book ban is about and how you can put your on a much stricter book ban if you’re really struggling!
For a few years now, me and my dad have been on a book ban together. This is mainly because our house is getting way too crammed with books from both of us and to be honest, it’s a problem when your floors wont hold the weight. Also all book lovers have that sinking feeling when they’re not reading so much but their TBR piles are getting huge. So we came up with this joint book ban that we could do together.
The rules are quite simple: we can’t buy books, and if we do, we owe the other person a book to the same value of the book you just bought. This mean’s that if i went in to Waterstones on a weak day and caved and spent £12 on shiny new books, i’d then owe my dad a book (or numerous books) that costs £12. This works for one reason. you don’t want to spend more money than you have to! Even if i went in to a charity shop and spent £1 on a book, chances are i wouldn’t want to give my dad ANOTHER £1 to go towards a book.
We do have some exceptions. If there is a set date in which a book is published that we would buy no matter what (for me, they are The Fletcher family release dates or anything Harry Potter), we have ‘free book days’. This is just the publication day of the book and both of us are then free to buy books as we please! But the day after, back to the ban! Other exceptions are special occasions (birthdays, Christmases etc), if someone buys a book for us, and we are allowed to use store credit or vouchers bought by someone else.
So here’s my advice:
If you’re struggling with a book ban, do it with someone else! Chances are, book lovers know other book lovers that would use with going on a book ban! So get them in on the challenge and do it together. It’s worked for me and my dad because we’re both stubborn and don’t want to buy each other another book on top of the one we’ve already bought, and with certain days that you’re allowed to buy books, its works so much better!
That’s my book ban explained, i challenge you all to do the same and stop that excessive book buying!
The Little Contemporary Corner 