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I don't have to worry about space because I have a Kindle, and I use ereaderiq to alert me when Kindle books I'm interested in go on sale. Haven't paid more than $5 for a book in years.
You're either reading the wrong material or you simply don't enjoy reading. Read what you enjoy.
Apart from textbooks, 10% of the population purchase 90% of books.
I definitely enjoy reading. Up until college, I was reading a couple books a week. Through college I didn't do nearly as much pleasure reading since I was so busy reading stuff for school, and after I graduated I never stopped reading, just found that I was often "too tired" to read and ended up watching TV or surfing the web instead. I'm trying to get into the habit of reading again so that I'll just do that instead of going to the TV or internet.
Now that you're pointing out that one can read "the wrong material," I can think of a few books over the last few years that I had to force myself to get through and that took weeks or months to finish. Switching over to borrowing from the library vs. buying will help with that since I won't be as invested in the books (i.e. I didn't pay for them) and won't feel obligated to finish them.
I had no idea about the 10%/90% thing. Interesting!
So I too have stopped buying books for the time being. I am borrowing like mad from the library and rethinking my reading materials. I have culled my books many times - and to be honest, most of the books permanently on my shelves I'm still trying to get around to reading. I tend to give favorite books away to people I think would enjoy them.
Things I get rid of - paperbacks that are "mainstream fiction" like Janet Evanovich or stuff science fiction that is not unique. I tend to borrow most of my "brain candy" stuff from the library now. Or I buy e-books on sale on Amazon for 99 cents.
The books I buy for myself these days tend to be nonfiction on topics I care about or stuff that I will refer to repeatedly. So, I have some books on maps and old manuscripts, others on writing, a few on dog training, history, gardening etc.
There's a whole small Ikea bookshelf of paperbacks I keep on hand for when I need to take a book with me to keep my brain occupied.
My house is pretty big for a single person and my goal is to simply fill it with books. But finances demand I spend my money elsewhere now.
I will be buying books until the day I die, lol. I buy mostly used books at book sales, yard sales, and thrift stores. I can never pass up a good deal on a book even when I don't need them Whenever I need to cull my books, which is when I run out of room for them on my shelves, it is the fiction that goes first. I will see if my library system has the book and if they do I put it on a list and get rid of the book. If I can't get it at the library I will keep it. I will also get rid of the non fiction that are not reference books. I keep my "most used" cookbooks, gardening, homesteading and health/medical books.
I check out 3 or more library books per week. I don't mind the deadlines. I just read the new releases first so I can return them and usually end up renewing the older books that I have checked out.
I also have a kindle and I do buy some of the deals but I prefer to read a real book in most cases and I never get a known author's works for 10 cents for my kindle
Keeping - I usually keep the ones that are either very interesting, or have value with repeated readings (like good advice, wisdom, etc.) I used to let my library get big - and even thought that was important - but am now continually in a mode of keeping only what I consider "the great books". I did that with my CDs and DVDs too. It saves space, and condenses them down to the really good stuff.
Buying - I actually have a list of books that I've had for years, that I keep refining. That might sound excessive, but I find it helps we pick wisely. I don't have a lot of money to buy books, and want to spend wisely. By the time I'm ready to buy, I've already put a lot of time in deciding, and it usually goes well.
Selling - I try to sell to local second-hand books, but they usually offer very little. So I often end up donating.
If I really want to read something, and I can’t get it in a reasonable time from the library, I’ll likely buy it. But I would do this only if I really wanted to read it. After reading, I often try to lend it to someone else.
I read 80% of my material on Kindle, either through the Unlimited program, the free monthly rental program, the library Overdrive program or direct purchase. Books I like (or I think I might read again) I download from the Amazon server to my hard drive so that access to them is for as long as the hard drive and the device exist.
Over the years my physical collection of books and been culled down to "essentials" - reference or non-fiction that I like to have quickly to hand, quality hardbacks and books not available in electronic format.
I have moved too many boxes of books too many times to do it again.
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I borrow contemporary fiction and occasionally how-to's from the library. The books I buy are usually classics and nonfiction that I expect to reference, e.g. health, gardening. Used books might be from any genre, fiction or nonfiction.
I think a lot of my purchases have something to do with long-term durability. I never buy a current best selling novel but I may well buy actual literature - something that has survived for a half-century or more. Similarly, I'd be buying non-fiction based on the credentials and reputation of the author.
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Whenever I need to cull my books, which is when I run out of room for them on my shelves, it is the fiction that goes first. I will see if my library system has the book and if they do I put it on a list and get rid of the book. If I can't get it at the library I will keep it. I will also get rid of the non fiction that are not reference books. I keep my "most used" cookbooks, gardening, homesteading and health/medical books.
