So, I broke my book buying ban hiatus.
I have an excuse, of course. Let us pretend you have not seen my twitter for a while and thus know nothing about my previous breaking of the ban. That would be too embarrassing, right? My boyfriend took me to this book fair called “boekenfestijn” (book fest) near where I live. I had heard about the awesomeness of this fair before, Bina told me I should definitely visit it if I had the chance. However, I somehow did not expect there to be SO MANY English books for prizes ranging from 0,80 to 3 euro’s. But there were. Books that had been on my wish list for a while & books I never knew I wanted but had to buy anyway & books I wanted to try for that amount of money even if I should know better (Sophie Dahl).
So really, the situation was quite outside of my control. Another excuse: one or two of these may end up as gifts.
I am in desperate need of another ban. A ban that I hope won’t present itself out of necessity (ie. I probably won’t have any money to spend in a month or so from now). Also, I have enough books to last me 2 years, I think. Thing is, I am hesitant to announce another ban on my blog, seeing as failure is so humiliating.
It looks to me like you got some absolutely beautiful books! I think there can always be good reason to break a ban and this seems like the best possible one.
Don’t worry about the failure though, I always do terribly with bans like this as well.
Haha, I find that the post-hiatus binge almost cancels out any benefits from a hiatus!
You have some great titles there! And I love the total lack of restraint. All or nothing.
I absolve you from your book-buying sins.
I love that you crumbled! Hehehe. I think book bans are impossible for book addicts. You got some fabulous books there, i hope you enjoy them.
Oh dear
I think you need to be locked in your bedroom for a while (with no internet access!) – otherwise, there is no hope for your book-buying bans!
What a great pile of books!! I don’t think I could have resisted in the face of a sale like that either.
Holy cow! I see some really good treasures here. I loved Sum of Our Days.
What a pile of books you have there. Well, if you are going to fail at least fail spectacularly.
I’m on a book ban too… well until the New Year anyway at least. I really do need to keep that TBR down, but it keeps growing and growing… ah well. Worse things to be addicted to.
Congratulations on your new stack of books, don’t feel too guilty. Bans can never last forever.
Wonderful pile of books! And what good is a ban if you don’t violate it from time to time?!! The Coll book is good but the one by him that is even better is Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden.
i went to het boekenfestijn in zwolle last week and only bought two books. which is remarkable considering the big piles i took home with me the last few times..
anyways – i don’t blame you! i know what a sight a boekenfestijn is and i’m sure no real bookworm is able to leave without buying anything.
Not humiliating, in my opinion, as it happens to so many of us! These books look GREAT and I hope you enjoy each and every one, Iris.
LOL that is a lot of books! But very worthwhile and deserved I think
Can’t turn down prices that low! Happy reading 
With that selection, I no doubt would have gone crazy as well!
Those all look wonderful. Great piles!
Oh, the boekenfestijn! It’s a trap! I went once but haven’t been the last few years as I know I’ll come home with more books than I need (the latter equalling zero). But it looks like a nice pile of books. I think you should pretend you’re “building up a library” in which case these purchases make perfectly good sense.
As a bookaholic, I think it’s perfectly normal to ban yourself and then go off the ban when time and circumstances arrive that may make it painful for you to abstain! I love the new books, and can’t wait until after Christmas so that I can go shopping for myself too!
some great books there, as to your ban, how about a bit of reverse psychology – from this moment forth, You, yes I do mean you! are banned from not buying books, you are banned from walking past bookshops etc with your eyes closed & your head down, you are banned from feeling guilty about buying books. So Now You had better go & buy books, as you are banned from having a book ban.
hope this is of help.
I don’t see how you could have avoided breaking the ban with so many wonderful books available at such a reasonable cost – and, at this time of year, especially, it’s good to help the economy!
I’m practically drooling looking at your beautiful stacks of books and reading some of the titles and authors! Well done, Iris! Good for you!
Happy Reading!
Such great prices and they’re all in such great shape: how could you resist. (See how that’s not a question, just a statement.)
I can’t resist book sales like that either. And I am also on a “ban,” but I’ve slipped a couple of times the last few months (I have been a LOT better about buying tho!).
Ha! That’s why I don’t announce bans anymore! Enjoy your haul!
Ooo, you got a lot of good ones. I have my eye on the Orhan Pamuk one!
Blimey! That is one big pile of books. I think us book addicts need some kind of 12 step rehab …
loads of lovely books I always buy books don’t get ban thing still I just storage or cull read books ,all the best stu
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Will you look at that lot! Beautiful.
Do you fancy doing a ban together? I’m going to limit myself to one book a month next year, fancy joining me for a few months?
Haha, it’s great to see the boekenfestijn won you over after all! I always used to save up before so that I could really splurge. And look on the bright side, if you get snowed in this year, you’ll have plenty of books to read