Wrap-up Book Buying Ban in September

The Book buying ban has finally come to an end.  I managed to stand strong although I have had a couple of major temptations.  The reason I wanted to participate in this ban was because my spending on books was getting completely out of control.  I finished my degree in February and after six long years of reading mostly legal texts I went on a buying and reading spree.  Books in New Zealand are expensive and e-readers have only just come onto the market here so it was not strange for me to spend $100 on books in one week.  With an upcoming wedding to save for I decided I needed to get my spending under control.

Even though I need to cut down my spending long-term and shorten my to be read list I would not participate in a book buying ban again.  Banning leads to binging.  History has shown us this time and time again.  Temptation drove me to concocting arguments in favour of me failing the ban.  The most prominent argument was that since prohibition didn’t work, a book ban couldn’t either.  After much thought I decided that there are many similarities between books and alcohol...

The ways that books are like alcohol:

•       They are both highly addictive;
•       You can read or drink for pleasure;
•       You can  read or drink to escape from reality;
•       They can both lead to headaches if over used; and
•      If over used they can lead to a break down in communication between family and friends.

Prohibition in North America only lasted for a short time as bootlegging (rum-running) became widespread and organised crime took control of the distribution of alcohol.  Prohibition generally came to an end in the late 1920s or early 1930s in most of North America and Europe, although a few locations continued prohibition for many more years.  Therefore, because alcohol and books are so similar, prohibition or a book buying ban is not going to work in the long run.  Luckily I did not have to book smuggling or bootlegging in order to get hold of something to read.

The ban has been a good thing in its own way, it encouraged me to put together a to be read list and gave me a chance to focus on the books I had at home rather than the new and shiny ones in the shops.  However I am going to control my spending in other ways in the future, like being patient enough to wait for library reserves to come in.  I am also going to try to get hold of second hand books or only buy new when they are on sale.