Happy Friday! Is anyone bored of me saying I’ve had a busy week yet? Lol! Perks of moving into an old cottage – something ways needs doing!

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish discussion meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and Dini @DiniPandaReads. Each Friday, bloggers will write posts about a particular topic and share on their blog.

Today we are discussing intention around our purchases. Buckle up because this is a long one today – it’s something I have been working on a lot personally.

Do you buy books randomly or do you think about what to buy?

For the most part, I consider all my purchases before I hit the ‘buy’ button (or walk to the till). This hasn’t always been the case – a couple of years ago I was very much regularly swept up in the ‘hype train’, buying books left, right and centre because I saw it on Instagram, liked the cover or didn’t want to miss out on a pre-order.

About two years back, I realised that looking at my stuffed bookshelves was starting to make me feel off. Not overwhelmed, because I love the thought of having so much to discover, but I wasn’t happy with what I had curated. There was so much that I had bought on a whim or received through book subscriptions that I just had no interest in actually picking up.

It also made me realise how much money I had been spending on things I didn’t care for. This has historically been an issue for me that I won’t go too far into, but what I will say is that one of my strongest ADHD traits is impulsive spending. I took some drastic action and gave my bank cards to a trusted family member, deleted all ways to buy stuff off my phone and went in hard on having an allowance and a budget. I also decided to cancel all of my book box subscriptions (I only had two, but anyway).

This meant that if I wanted to purchase a book, it went onto a wishlist first, and only when my ‘allowance’ came through could I buy it. Having that delay between my brain going ‘want’ and actually being able to obtain it helped me become more intentional over time. I no longer have those measures in place, but I also no longer buy every book that piques my interest. For me to actually make a purchase these days, it has to be for something that really interests me, is from an author I adore, or has a super strong recommendation from someone who knows my tastes well.

I also apply this thinking to ARCs. I am on a few publisher lists and also use NetGalley a lot. No longer do I request all the things, instead I take the time to research a book and only request if I genuinely am interested in a title. While it’s exciting to receive stuff from publishers, I don’t want the burden of having to feel like I must read a book I don’t want to because it was sent to me.

How do you decide which books to buy vs which books to borrow or just save for later? For books at the top of your TBR, is your go-to buying a book or do you check your library first?

As I said above, my purchases tend to have a lot of consideration put into them. I do still buy a fair few books, but I make sure they are ones I feel strongly about.

I have a selection of favourite authors that I pre-order for. Books that have been sitting in my ‘saved’ tab on Instagram that I keep looking at will also usually be purchased after a time. Recommendations that friends insist I must read because they are certain I’ll love them are also ones I tend to buy. I never want to be rushed with these kinds of books, so I don’t want a library deadline hanging over me.

All books that don’t fall into the above category get searched for in the library catalogue. I actually joined an international library for this reason as my local selections are dismal (I live in the middle of nowhere).
For example, you might know I have been reading through The Climate Fiction Prize shortlist. Three of the five books I didn’t own. Two I wasn’t sure how I would like, so I got them from the library. The third I searched for second-hand as the library didn’t have it, and I was also a bit more excited about it than the others.

There are some outliers to my above rules. If there is an author I want to support for whatever reason (they’re a minority, it’s a debut, etc), I will often purchase their book. I do also occasionally make impulse purchases, but they are far and few between these days, and I do still try to make sure it’s a book I am likely to enjoy!

Another thing that I consider when it comes to buying versus borrowing is availability. I am not just talking about the library here. This is a slight deviation, but still important and relevant to how I choose between buying and borrowing. If you’ve been reading my blog for a bit, you’ll know I am a huge lover of the environment. Sustainability and ethics are important to me and they do dictate where I spend my money. I appreciate that what I am about to say isn’t applicable to everyone – the choices aren’t always available, but I am in a position where I can make them.

If a book I want to read that doesn’t fit one of my ‘buy it’ categories is not available at the library, I will first look on Vinted or eBay for a second-hand copy. If I can’t find one I will then look at Kobo because I refuse to support Amazon anymore, so I figured out how to get Kobo books on my Kindle. If I still can’t get it or for whatever reason would like a print copy, I will then look at indie bookstores. There are a decent number that trade online these days, and if all else fails my trusty and beloved Bookshop.org should do me well!

What book formats do you own most of—physical books, ebooks, or audiobooks?

I’ll keep this section shorter – thank you so much if you’ve read it all so far!

The majority of my collection is physical books. I enjoy having bookshelves filled with things I have loved and things that I hope I will love.
Of late, my ebook collection is growing quicker than my physical collection for the reasons I stated in my last section above but it’s still smaller than my physical library.
As for audiobooks, I own a total of 5 lol. I’ve never enjoyed audiobooks as much, but I have started to buy audiobooks through Libro.fm (no thank you Amazon), so I suspect I will slowly add to that library too.

You Tell Me: Are you an impulse purchaser, or do you like to wait to make a book purchse?