Month One Library Ban Update

Since January is wrapping up, that means my first month of my self-induced library ban is almost up! After having what could be considered an addiction to the library, based on the habit of going once or twice a week when my boyfriend was in class, I thought it would be much harder to deny myself library access. In fact, the other day I was cleaning my bedroom and found my library card...on the floor...under a pile of clothes. Neglected! I felt a little pang of sadness, and then I wondered what shiny new books were sitting on the 'new releases' shelf...and then I brushed it off.

Some things I've noticed in this library dry spell:

• Not going to the library has suddenly made it much more acceptable for me to buy books. I am now all over the Kindle Daily Deals, NetGalley, used book bins, etc. 
• I read much slower and with less urgency. When I have library books, the three week due date is always looming over me, pushing me to read as much as possible. In the past month, I have only read five books, and one of those was started in December. That's not a very high number for me, and I just don't have that due-date pressure, which lets me relax a little bit more.
• I've missed marking my pages! One of the worst things about library books is that it's not socially acceptable to underline your favorite passages or make notes in the margins, which is something I LOVE to do. I recently read The Shining and loved highlighting certain passages, or even just jotting down, "oh snap!"

All of this has also been made much easier by this Polar Vortex nonsense that Chicago (or should I say, Chiberia?) has been dealing with for the past month. It's too cold for me to even want to deal with walking two blocks down the street. And since this month has been a slow reading month for me, maybe I will even have to extend this into March! So far, I'm definitely not feeling a shortage of books to choose from, and it's satisfying to be able to slide a finished book back in it's place on my shelf. 

Month one in the books!