Tsundoku: Why do people buy books and never read them

Do you have a pile of unread books? You bought books but never got around to reading them? There’s a term for that—Tsundoku!

According to BBC, “Tsundoku” is a Japanese term for having a collection of unread literature. The word “doku” can be used as a verb to mean “reading”. According to Prof Gerstle, the “tsun” in “tsundoku” originates in “tsumu” – a word meaning “to pile up”, BBC added. So no need to call yourself a lazy reader or a spendthrift, you are ✨engaging in Tsundoku✨!

Why do people buy books and never read them

If you’ve been interested in books—both fiction and non-fiction, you’ve probably heard the word bibliomania or bibliophile. It is all-over the internet pages that aims to cater to book readers and lovers. But what do they really mean and what is their connection to Tsundoku?

Tsundoku vs. Bibliophile vs. Bibliomania

A surface-level definition for all three terms is love for books. But they have different meanings! And you might be using them wrong.

You engage in Tsundoku when you buy or get books you intended to read but have never quite found time to read all of them. It is your to-be-read pile. You are a bibliophile when your motivation in purchasing books is their content. You make sure to finish reading one book first before buying another one. And lastly, you do bibliomania when you acquire books for the sole reason of their appearance. You just buy books for the aesthetics, you don’t read it nor you are interested in doing so.

Timing out of Tsundoku

Here are tips to help you get through your reading slump!

1. Try a different hobby.

Forcing yourself to read when you don’t feel like reading may actually put you in a deeper and longer reading slump. Determine what part of a reading slump you are in. Do you feel tired of reading books in general? Or are you just bored with your current book genre?

If you are tired of reading books, you can try another hobby that isn’t related to reading e.g. painting. Take your time in discovering a new hobby. It does not mean you won’t get back to reading, maybe you just need a break from it.

2. Read everything.

Not an entire book. Read every book that sparks your interest, you don’t have to finish the whole book, stop when it is getting boring and find another book that interests you. It may be a pet peeve for some but it takes off the pressure on reading books—that you always have to finish what you started. You maintain the momentum of your motivation by doing this.

3. Try book tabbing.

Book tabbing is another term for annotating a book. You mark the parts of the book that you think are important or you want to remember by sticking paper or plastic flags to the side. You can also highlight with a highlighter, or underline with a pen or pencil—if you are fine with writing on your book. This keeps you focused while reading and at the same time gives you very short breaks while reading.

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4. Have a reading buddy.

It can be your best friend who has a totally opposite book genre than you or one who enjoys the same books you do. Ask for book recommendations from them, have book reading dates, and discuss your thoughts about a book with each other. Many book lovers and movie lovers hate this, but you can also ask someone to spoil a book for you. Maybe you just need to know enough about a to-be-read book to get motivated to read it.

5. Build a routine.

You might be getting into reading slumps because you binge read. Reading large amounts of text in a short amount of time can actually drain you. Because your motivation to read is dependent on how interesting the book is. By setting a routine like spending only 2 hours for daily book reading, allows you to actually look forward to continue reading again and do other things for the rest of your day.

How to take care of your book collection

Whether you are a bibliophile who reads one book at a time, engages in Tsundoku or bibliomania who has a pile of unread books—you want to take care of your book collection the best way you can. Because books aren’t cheap!

Here are simple ways you can keep your book/s in the best condition:

Shelf books upright and together with books of the same height. And don’t shelf them so tight that you would need to forcefully pull a book out. If you think the shelf can fit only one more book, that’s when you stop adding to the shelf.
Place bookshelves away from the window and sunlight to minimize yellowing of pages and bleaching of covers/jackets.
Watch out for moisture. Paper absorbs moisture and hence the pages will warp over time. When storing in air conditioned rooms, you can use a dehumidifier if your AC cannot keep humidity levels at a comfortable level. Or if you are storing your books in a storage box at a humid place, you can put a few silica gel packets in the box.
Keep books away from oil. Whether the oil is from food or from your own skin, it will stain. The book and the pages that made contact with oil will yellow faster and more visibly than other parts of the page.
Do not use thick bookmarks. It can create a gap or a dent on the book. But warps caused by using thick bookmarks is reversible.
Use a plastic cover to protect the book cover. Though covering the book with a plastic cover may leave tape marks on the inside of the cover, it is better because the book is a little more protected.