I think I'm going to put myself on a bit of a book buying ban. Tracking my book buying so far this year has been a bit of an eye-opener (although the trip to Hay is an anomaly).

I have something only slightly short of 200 unread books to read, around 60 of which are stacked up by my bed currently. With the recent rate of ins, I'm struggling to get to books no matter how fast I read, which is meaning that I either
a) forget how excited I was to read some things, then come to them a year or more later, or
b) read only the new things I've bought and forget about books I've had for ages.

I'm also trying to make space in my room and streamline all my stuff, and there's definitely books that can go, but I won't know 'til I've read them.

Add to this the fact that in the last couple of months I've been to my two book heavens (Hay-on-Wye and the Bookbarn in Somerset), and also grabbed loads of books from a friend's charity shop pile (which will be charity shopped after, it's not thieving!), means that I really do have a surplus of books right now, leaving me slightly lethargic even when I do get the chance to go book shopping!

Plus, my imminent return to Oxford puts me right back in the centre of a network of excellent second-hand bookshops, so I want a chance to breathe before term starts!

*The Rules*

No actively buying any new books until I have got my To Be Read pile down to 150 books (from 187). Any new books bought go onto the Spreadsheet of Doom, where they will make that journey down to 150 even harder.
I'm also going to try not to use the library or borrow books from friends until I've read what I own.

*The Exceptions*

- Books I need for uni - either full price or secondhand (I'm not sure there's many left, but if I spot them, it's silly to leave them).
- Anything that is a once-in-a-lifetime chance - I'm not turning down, for example, a first edition Dorian Gray for a tenner! That said, if it does so happen that either The Doors of Stone or The Republic of Thieves are FINALLY finished and released during this time (they won't be), there is nothing that can stop me buying them immediately.
- Presents, of course.



Most of all, this shouldn't be a chore. It'll be really nice to give my books some proper attention.
That's it. We'll see how it goes.