On the non-buying of books ...

So ... those are my bookcases. Some of my bookcases. There's more, but taking pictures involves moving boxes, and I couldn't be bothered.

Anyway ... I've developed a really bad habit lately of buying books. And that may not sound all that bad, but books are expensive here. Plus, I have all of these books already and I've only read 19 books this year.

The other picture there – of the pile of books on the bed? Those are the books I've bought so far this year (I took the picture before I bought Kraken) and I haven't read any of them. I mean – I've read some of them in the past, like To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Princess Bride, but certainly not since buying these particular copies. As for the rest – there are some very interesting-looking reads in that pile.

So. This is what I'm going to do: No buying books – of any kind – until after December 31. No new books. No secondhand books. No 50c withdrawn books at the library. Because that defeats the purpose of a book-buying ban. And I could say 'but a 50c withdrawn book from the library doesn't add much ...' but it does. It adds another book to the pile of books I'm already not reading.

And I have some amazing books there, just waiting. I'd do a library ban, but that's really not going to happen, so I'll stick with a book-buying ban, with Mockingjay being the one and only exception I can make for myself between now and December 31.

I'm still reading American Gods and The Two Towers. I still have Horns by Joe Hill and Gone with the Wind on the nightsand as well. And oh, so many more books ...

I bought Kraken, and that's my last purchase for the year. As an example of how expensive books are – Kraken was $40. So was The Passage. That's a lot of money to be spending every week on books that I'm just stacking up on my nightstand. On average, standard paperbacks are about $25. That adds up. And I love books, love new books; love discovering new authors and great reads.

But I also love finding buried treasures. And I have so many treasures already on my shelves, just waiting to be unearthed.


Now. On a completely unrelated note, although it's still about books, so perhaps a slightly related note, I'm planning on doing my classic-a-month challenge that got me into book blogging in the first place. I don't really have a list in mind yet, but I was talking to Eva from http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/ about it and she mentioned something about diversity, which got me thinking.

So what I'm after, followers, readers and commenters, is suggestions for classics from around the world – any culture; any genre; fiction or non-fiction. I'm looking to expand my literary horizons.