How much money do you spend on books per year? This is a delicate question. I’m both willing and unwilling to learn the truth in this matter. But I did a little (very little) number crunching. At this point on 12/10, I’ve read 84 books over the course of 2021. Will probably get into the 90s, if not the big triple digit, by end of year. Of those 84, 18 were checked out from the library. And about 10 were either borrowed or came to me as free review copies. That means that if I bought 54 books in 2021, and assuming a hardcover price (why not) of $28 per, I spent at least $1500. But that’s not nearly the full amount. First of all, I buy books for multiple people in my household. I buy books that I need to own but either have already read or will read in the future. I replace books I’ve lost, I give books as presents for holidays and birthdays. I’m going to double that figure and say that a fair estimate would be that I spent $3000 on books in 2021. Of course I could know this much more accurately if I dug back into my credit card records but… who wants to do that, honestly.
All of this is leading somewhere, and I am mulling a project for 2022. More on that later!
Let me state for the record: I’m grateful for the privilege of being able to buy pretty much as many books as I want. I value indie bookstores as highly as possible. I’m a novelist, writing books is my job, and so I consider buying them to be part of the gig. And yet…
I also love a library. Lord do I love a library. Stay tuned.
my library lions, Patience & Fortitude