10 Reasons I’ll Buy a Book

How do you decide to hand over your credit card in a bookshop?

Photo by César Viteri on Unsplash

You’ve heard it said a hundred times, and you’ve probably said it yourself too: so many books, so little time. I’m too scared to count the unread books on my shelves, but I estimate that, between the hardbacks I’ve bought at author events, the many bargains I’ve bagged at Strand Books, and all the e-books I’ve accumulated on both my Kindle and my Kobo, I probably have enough reading material for the next five years. Maybe more. Maybe quite a lot more.

And that’s not including the books I have in storage back in Europe.

So, the thing is: I really don’t need to buy any more books. But I will. I know I will. It’s a sickness. A beautiful, inspiring, life-giving sickness.

And I’m all the more likely to keep buying if any of these apply.

1. I hear the book talked about often, especially by people I trust.

This happened to me with Fates and Furies. On publication day, it was everywhere, particularly on Twitter. Book critics, other authors, everyone seemed to be talking about it. Then I listened to All the Books and Rebecca was raving about it too. I added it immediately to my mental shopping basket.