A Year of Buying (Almost) No Books
Photo by Karola G: https://www.pexels.com/photo/great-architects-book-wooden-shelf-5869/
Yeah. I did what the title says.
In 2025, I challenged myself to buy no more than two or three books with my own money. The goal was to spend less, give myself time to sort through my collection to see what needed to go, and not add too much to my already cluttered home.
I did buy some books, but I used gift cards for most of them, and a few that I bought were required or recommended for some ministry classes I was taking. I heavily relied on my local library for getting through my reading list (see last week’s post). And I bought a few books that were replacements for ones I already owned—hardcover to replace paperback, because I buy hardcover whenever possible—while intending to get rid of the original copies.
So, did I succeed? Yes! No. Sort of.
I definitely bought more than two books this year, because I wanted them and they were inexpensive. However, the “experiment” was a success anyway because it prevented me from overspending on books or buying books I didn’t need right away.
I’ll be honest, I kind of hated holding back on buying books. It did save me some money. But I’m someone who loves to collect stuff, often to a fault (see my post “Dragon Sickness” from last year). I’ve dreamt of having a large personal library ever since I was in college getting an English degree.
On the other hand, this challenge helped me appreciate the books I already own. It also definitely made me newly appreciate the value of libraries and the resources they freely offer. Actually, it kind of blows my mind what I was able to read this year simply by checking it out from a library collection. In a world of subscriptions and jaw-dropping price tags, libraries are a boon to humanity’s quest for knowledge and learning.
I did learn one important thing from this challenge, though: I need to be more intentional about buying books, keeping them organized, and then actually reading them (cue the memes about browsing a bookstore while the books you already own wonder when you’ll read them).
It’s all too easy to just buy a book whenever I want it without thinking about what I already have. Amazon sells new books more cheaply than pretty much anyone else. You don’t have to leave your house to buy them, and they pioneered the free shipping movement. Therefore, they have a corner on the market. But if the hearsay I’ve picked up out in the world is to be believed, Amazon sells books at a loss because they make so much more money in other ventures, like internet infrastructure services. Then, of course, they have a hefty share of the ebook and audiobook world.
So there’s a conflict as I return to book-buying: I don’t really want to give more money than I must to a retail megacorp run by a stereotypical billionaire. And yet, I’m probably not going to stop buying books from Amazon completely. Amazon’s reliability, volume, occasional exclusivity, and expansive inventory are too legendary to ignore. And their prices are still too sweet for someone like me who doesn’t want to spend tons of money on a book-collecting habit.
So I’m making a new goal: I will be slower and more intentional about book-buying this year. I’m going to try doing more purchase research that hopefully keeps them reasonably priced. Maybe I’ll make a goal to thrift more books this year or visit local bookstores to find deals! And I’m definitely going to stick to a more well-defined book budget, to keep myself from getting into too much “trouble.”
I’m glad to be able to start buying books again now that my self-imposed book-buying “freeze” has thawed. However, I’m going to play the “Waiting Game” with this part of my life, just like I wrote about last year (it turns out, the Waiting Game is incredibly useful in a lot of areas of my life). And as I’m being more intentional with purchasing books, I’m going to also be more intentional about organizing them in my home, so I can learn to appreciate more the ones I already have.
Here’s to reading more and spending less!