I really really really really really really need that book because....

[Karen from AustCrime]

Okay I really don't care why people can't get that a Mt TBR of less than 200 books is a cause for panic. What would happen if the roads were all blocked for some reason! There's always a chance you could get snowed in, even in Australia, and what would you do if you had 2 weeks with insufficient books to read. But I also like a classy excuse.

I need to buy this book because:

- I'm worried about the general downturn in publishing.

- If I stop buying them, they might stop printing them.

- I'm doing a scientific study on the amount of bound paper sheets that can fit into a single abode before it sinks into the earth

- I've heard that there are subliminal messages in later day crime fiction, causing people to crave more chocolate and I'm on the task force trying to identify the culprits.

Come on, this is a public service everyone, add to our welter of excuses.

[Patricia Abbott]

I'm sure I can pass this book on to any number of friends after I read it (in the next milenium because hundred of books are already on the stack)/

[Sunnie Gill]

Cos if I don't buy it, it might turn out to be the book of the century and I won't have it.

If I dont' buy it, then I might forget and never get around to reading it (not that owning a book is any guarantee that i'll read it either. But at least I have the option)

If I don't buy and and remember when I get home and have to reserve it from the library, then I may not get around to reading it in time and then have to pay overdue fines. See? In some ways it's a saving. (Well, ok it isn't)

What would cover up all the dust if I didn't have books lying all over the place?

In this economic climate, and with the price of books. Who knows? Perhaps next week/month/year I'll be out of work and won't be able to afford to buy books.(our glorious Federal Government have a 10% tax on books)

And living where I do (Tasmania) If I don't snaffle them up when I'm visiting (insert name of city here) and if I dont trawl ebay, I may never be able to get my hands on that copy of (insert book title here) locally.

If government ever stops funding libraries and make it user pays, then perhaps I can set up on opposition and undercut them

And finally, I love it when my in-laws visit and are appalled at all the books lying about and they make comments about how much we spend on buying books. (gotta be a plus)

[Angie]

Because this one's so pretty...just feel the paper, look at the cover art, and what about that snazzy typeface? Oooh, and it's a good smellin' one, too! Besides, if I leave it here all alone, somebody else will get it first, and it really, really, really needs to come home with me!

[Laura Root]

Exactly Angie, nothing like the feel and look of a NEW book on the table in the bookstore :)

[LC Fraser]

I buy books to save money. Library fines are way to expensive for me and once a book is on my TBR it can be read in days or it can take months. Libraries are not so happy when you want to keep a book six months because you just are not in the right mood yet. Plus someone has to make sure Sleuth is still there for another 20 or 40 years or so. I agree - it is a public service. We need more excuses to buy books. After all, they just feel good to hold and smell.

[J.D. Rhoades]

"I ran into the author at a conference, and he/she was so cool, I had to buy the book."

[bluerosekiller]

Because, if I don't acquire them then my nice, mild, pleasantly quaint OCD issues will no longer remain an amusingly eccentic part of my personality ( no matter HOW much Paxil I feed it ! ), but a raving, savage beast that threatens to drive me mad until until it's placated. How's THAT for an honest answer? LOL

Seriously, I have the same prob with DVDs. When one comes out that I need to see sitting on my shelf, I NEED to see it sitting on my shelf!
I may not get around to actually watching it anytime soon, but dammit, I know it's there waiting for me whenever the desire to do so arrises. Though, times do vary greatly with those. I've still got DVDs that I HAD to have in my collection right away when I purchased my first DVD player back in early '99 that I STILL haven't actually gotten around to watching. But, I know they're there, just waiting for the day that I feel like watching them, that's the important thing. Right? LOL

[norby]

It was the last copy at the grocery store. If I didn't buy it I would have had to waste gas and drive all the way across town to buy it. Do you know how expensive gas is? I just saved us money.

Did I need the book? What does that matter?

[Larry W. Chavis]

This for my wife: "But if I spend the money on books, then I won't be down at the casinos throwing it away."

[Daniel Hatadi]

- In casual conversation about the weather, a really cool author found a way to insert the title of their excellent new book. I just had to buy it.

[Cheryl Reynolds]

I need to buy that book because:

I'm saving up for my retirement! I mean, I only have 15 years til retirement and I need to start stocking up on books because I don't want to have to choose between having something to eat and having something to read when I'm old and decrepit. (I wonder if I should buy some audio books just in case my eyes go bad?)

I'm pretty sure that my 401k plan has money invested in Amazon.com so am supporting myself by buying those books.

Lifting all those boxes of books whenever we move keeps my husband in great shape!

If I don't spend the money on books, how else will I spend my children's inheritance? I hate shoes, don't wear jewelry and prefer to slosh around in jeans and t-shirts. How many books equals one Prada handbag, I ask you??? My husband has no idea how lucky he is. :-D

Cheryl

[Damien Gay]

I need to buy that book:

- For my children to read...when they're old enough to learn to read.

- Because I have a reputation to uphold as being at the cutting edge of modern literature and having that book sitting on my bookshelf will be proof.

- The size of THAT book fits exactly into the only gap I have left in my bookshelf.

- Because people keep bloody well writing 'em.