One of my favorite pastimes is buying books. Yes, I love reading books, but I love buying them more. This addiction has led to an absurd collection of books scattered in every room of my home. Sadly, many of them have gone unread.
Some call this their Antilibrary and state it like a point of pride. They look at the pile of unread books, which reminds them of the knowledge they have yet to acquire and the things in this world they still don’t know. Do you need a stack of unread books to be reminded of this? To me, this is similar to saying that getting shit on by a bird is good luck. Rather than admit the humiliation, it’s better to make something up that sounds good and continue along with the delusion.
Thankfully, I’m not the only person who has this problem, and naturally, the Japanese have a word for this – Tsundoku.
And boy, have the books piled up. Despite moving primarily to Kindle, it still left purchases of the past to remain. Despite moving primarily to Kindle, the occasional book arrived on my doorstep as I wanted to feel the ink on my fingers.
Per my wife, this had to stop. “You read on the Kindle now,” she would say,” and it’s ruining the Feng Shui of the house.”
My wife wanted to get rid of the books. I did not. So like most married couples, we compromised, and I began getting rid of the books.
In the past, I had sold the occasional book on Amazon. Mostly textbooks that I no longer needed and for which I could fetch a decent amount. Now, I was home and in lockdown with time on my hands. This could be my side hustle. It was time to start slinging.
Let me tell you. Like a Pringles commercial, once you pop, the fun don’t stop. I went through the house, rounded up all the books (not all, I can’t part with them all), and scanned them onto the Amazon Seller site.
When you sell a book, a notification goes off that sounds like a register ringing. Once you hear it a few times, like Pavlov’s dogs, you begin to salivate. You want more of that sweet nectar.
I called my mom to go through my old room and clear out all the books in there. We were in business.
I’ve made a note of the books I wish I read and added them to a wish list for Kindle. If they ever sell for $2.99 or less, I’ll scoop them up where they will probably remain unread. At least now, they will be in the digital form without a physical footprint in the house.
The Kindle allows me to hold thousands of books at my fingertips, highlight and search for previous highlights with ease, and reduce clutter around the house. The only reasons to buy physical books now are stupidity, vanity, or nostalgia. (Reminder – I said I couldn’t part with all my physical books, so pick which of the three I am.) For anyone looking to buy my books, disregard the last two sentences.
For the past two months, I’ve made $700 from slinging these books. My wife is happy that the books are moving out the door, and I’m glad to fill the lockdown void with a new “side” hustle.
the counterfactual 