Looking for a fun spring bookish reset? Consider going on a soft book buying ban and tackling your growing TBR. Here’s how you can start.
Soft Book Buying Ban for Spring
Do you find yourself drowning in unread books as they collect in piles in your home? If so, this spring is the perfect time for a soft book buying ban to reset your TBR. Following the four simple guidelines below will have you kicking off the spring season by whittling away at your TBR pile.
Identify Your Purpose
First, take time to identify the purpose for staring a soft book buying ban. Do you want to read every book on your TBR before purchasing new ones? Or would you rather have gentle, flexible goals allowing for library books and minimizing book purchases while consistently tackling your unread pile? Either works!
Additional, examples include creating your rendition of a TBR takedown, reading books you own to save money. Or, try a fun book buying ban game where points accumulate for every book you complete on your TBR for you to cash in to buy one to three books. I know it seems silly but having a end game increases the likelihood that you’ll stick to it and accomplish your spring book buying ban goals. However, you still need to establish some ground rules.
Set the Rules
Next up is to set rules that govern what is and isn’t acceptable for your soft book buying ban. One goal is to read down your TBR to a certain number. For example, if you have a TBR of 166 books, determine what a feasible number of unread books you prefer. Is it 50, 40, or 25? You decide!
A super flexible goal is to follow a low-buy reading challenge: read a specific number of books, say 5 or 10, and purchase 1-2 books every time you hit that goal. Hey, I did say this was a soft book buying ban. Finally you can go hardcore and purchase no new books until you either read your TBR down to zero or decide its time to end the ban. Regardless of which adventure you opt for, you’ll need to control your temptation to buy books.
Avoid Temptation
Don’t set yourself up for failure. Overcome your bookish temptations to achieve your soft book ban buying goals. Consider canceling or pausing book box subscriptions. Book of the Month makes it easy to pause your subscription and resume when you’re ready. Various other book subscriptions have similar features, so make sure to reach out and take advantage. Another way to prevent the urge to slide books into your shopping cart is to unsubscribe from book marketing emails. Publishers, bookshops, and authors send updates about new releases and pre-sales. So, turn your email into Fort Knox unsubscribing from them.
If the desire for something new or different arises during your book-buying ban, join the circular economy within the bookish community. Check out library books from your local branch. This will be helpful during your book-buying ban because one, the dopamine rush that comes from checking out library books hits the same as buying them from the book store.
I attest to this. Second, this will be the best way to read new releases by placing either the physical copy at your local branch or using the Libby app to reserve the e-book. This eliminates the pressure that comes with experiencing fomo when new books are released and everyone is reading them except you.
You still get your hands on the book and meet the demands of your book buying ban. Another idea is to participate in community book swap events. This is not only wonderful for meeting new bookish friends and scoring books but helpful if there’s a few books you want to unhaul. This is a sustainable way to pay increase literacy in your community and prevent waste. Once you’ve overcome your temptations you must find creative ways to make the ban fun.
Add Some Fun
The most important element of a successful book-buying ban is its fun factor. Use your imagination to conceptualize a fun tailor made game that will get your excited and keep you committed to the ban. For example, have you pondered creating a points-based system that rewards you for reading your books?
I mentioned this earlier and can attest its perfect for those who want a low-buy reading experience that encourages ethical consumption. You earn points for completing books from your TBR, physical or digital. Once accumulated, you cash them in to purchase a book. How many points you have determines whether you can purchase a new book based on the parameters you allow. It’s up to you how easy or challenging you want to make it.
Another joyous option would be to create a bookish bingo board filled with silly prompts that encourage you to have fun reading your physical books. Maybe it follows a spring-inspired theme, filled with prompts that encourage you to have a bookish picnic, a fun reading date, or another lovely way to make reading fun. Finally, creating a TBR jar adds a little mystery to your reading experience. Aim to create fun bookish TBR prompts based on the books from your TBR pile to spice up your book selection process. Whatever creative game you choose, make sure it’s fun and aligns with the flirty spring reading vibes of the season.
Taking part in a soft book buying ban this spring could be the perfect way to reset your reading for the warmer months while reading down your physical TBR. Make sure you understand your purpose for the book buying ban, create sustainable rules, remove temptations, and create fun games that spark joy this season. Don’t forget to share the fun games you create if you decide to start a ban. Happy reading!
