There is a good chance that given this blog is over a decade old and I am currently writing a post a day that there are times I will repeat myself. It comes with the territory so I apologise in advance if this is one of those times. My mind has so much in it I cannot keep track.
A long time ago I found myself really struggling along Princes Street in Edinburgh with a large collection of books. I think there were 8 all hardback and about A4 in size and housed in a heavy hard cardboard casing- there might even have been 2 of those. They were so heavy. They had cost around £180 from memory and all related to a Microsoft Windows training course. I remember cursing how sore my arms were- nowadays I would not have to leave home and collect them electronically. I walked a mile and them the hour journey back to Perth and another 20 minute walk at the other side. When I got home I opened a cupboard and put them beside lots of other computer related books. Over the following years the shelves grew and all those books were transported down to where I currently stay. I would say about £1000 worth of books at least all now worthless and probably water damaged to boot up the loft. More than that though I think I'd be lucky if I more than browsed them a few times or referenced.
It's not the only time. When I was very young I used 2 weeks wages at the Virgin Megastore in Glasgow buying guitar books and never got by the first page. I've done it with many other things. And I am not alone. I know of many people who have done the same. What is that? Do we see a book on a subject and think how we would like to learn about it, make the purchase and then find it's too much bother? I've done it with some anxiety books too where it's like a comfort blanket hoping it can help if I need it. Is it part of putting things off?
My point to all this though is not actually about the act of reading or lack of it but about waste. When money was tight I could not buy books and certainly not books I would never read. Now that we are better off financially I am finding the urge to buy books constantly and fighting it. Does having more spare cash just lead to more waste? I look back and think it does.when I was single and making lots of money I kept buying rubbish. At one point I bought 3 pcs to link up and then bought parts fir them and books to experiment and all sorts of waste. When you have to account for every penny there is less waste. With spare change you question yourself less. So my new rule is I will never buy another book until I have read the last one I bought. I've bought possibly 20 books this year and read none. That is also one downside to the electronic format. If I had physical copies of those books I'd be less inclined to buy more. That cloud library is invisible and easy to add to. It maybe makes a case for buying paperbacks in future rather than ebooks.
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