2019 Book Haul: Let’s see how many books I got, how many I’ve read, and how much I’ve spent!

Another year is coming to an end, so welcome to my first “2019-in-review” themed post!

I think it is fair to say that books are released with such a speed and quantity that it’s hard for us to catch up and read them all. As the result, our TBR pile become one of the most stressful thing for readers 😨

I am certainly not immune against this issue, especially since started blogging. Before (and for the first couple of years, tbh), I didn’t have issue with unread books as I still live with my parents and have limited shelf space. Since I moved out, I feel like my book spending has skyrocketed, which really worries me as I don’t have enough space nor time to actually read them.

So I began to track down my book spending since 2 years ago, which makes me really conscious on what book I buy, how much I’ve spent, and whether I’ve read them or not. Last year, I managed to buy only 8 books and spending IDR 720.000 (USD 51.30)- which is astounding as I bought new books every month in the previous year. And I’ve read 6/8 books as of now! The fact that I managed to buy 7/8 books only during book sales also probably help 😃 I feel like keeping track of what I buy and how much I spend, as well as whether I’ve read it or not is such a good way for me to spend more wisely, so today I’m going to share with you my hauls for 2019!

DISCLAIMER, I know money and hauls can be a sensitive topic and I did not write this post to shame any of you. If you have the money and want to buy the book, then go for it! If you can’t, that doesn’t mean you’re a “bad” blogger or reader! Personally, I did not have the money, time and space to keep buying books without reading them and it did start to gave me real anxiety and guilt- which is why I started tracking them in the first place.

So the first book I bought this year was Good Omens by Neil Gaiman. This is a book that I’ve been DYING to read for years and as the TV adaptation was being released this year, I think it was the perfect time to buy and finally read it. Unfortunately, I did not enjoyed it and ended up selling it to someone else.

The second book haul happened in February, if I’m not mistaken, when one of the most prominent english book sellers had a warehouse sale (Bootopia). Here, I bought two books which was Princesses Behaving Badly and a Word Search. I already read the first one and absolutely love it, so I couldn’t pass the chance of getting a physical copy with such a cheap price! For the word search, it’s always been one of my favorite types of games and so far, I really enjoyed getting back into it and savoring every quizzes thrown at me 😃

The third haul happened in the annual book sale in Jakarta, called Big Bad Wolf. This is usually where I spent the most money in the year and this year, I bought 4 books: Frogkisser!, Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies, The Scarlet Letter, and Tangleweed & Brine. I haven’t read any of it though….

The next book I got was the Bear and the Nightingale, the first book in the Winternight trilogy which is one of my favorite series! I reread my favorite parts and still in love, plus I bought it during my internship in Singapore so it’s also a physical thing to remind me of the experience. Safe to say that this is not a purchase that I regret (except for the price and the cover 😭)

One of my favorite book, Vicious, also join the list of physical copies I bought. I guess by now you should know that I will always buy physical if I absolutely love the book. I just couldn’t resist!

And final haul of the year, The Girl in The Tower, which is the second book in the Winternight trilogy. This purchase happened few weeks ago during black friday sale. I really want to buy Winter of the Witch too unfortunately, it was out of stock.

In total, this year I bought 10 books and spent IDR 1.017.500 (USD 72.20), which is more than what I spent last year. In the hindsight, most of this purchase could be avoided as I’ve already read most of the books in this list and just buying them for personal collection. So technically I don’t need them? 😬 But at the same time, they are books that I really loved and I’m sure I will revisit (case in point, Vicious and the Winternight Trilogy). For me, they are all worthy purchases (except for BBW haul, which still unknown as I haven’t read them) but the fact that the amount I spent was pretty high means I should be more careful next year. Especially since it will be my final year and I would like to have some trips with my friends before we go our separate ways 😭

Thank you for reading! Tell me, did you buy any books in 2019? What’s your favorite purchase this year?