Tsundoku (積ん読) is a beautiful Japanese word describing the habit of acquiring books but letting them pile up without reading them. I used to feel guilty about this tendency, and would strive to only buy new books once I had finished the ones I owned. However, the concept of the antilibrary has completely changed my mindset when it comes to unread books. Unread books can be as powerful as the ones we have read, if we choose to consider them in the right light.
Having a bunch of unread books piling up on my bedside table and jamming up my shelves, I can absolutely empathize with Anne-Laure Le Cunff on this one. After reading her essay on the power of unread books, I won’t feel as guilty about getting more and more books despite those waiting already to be read anymore —I’m just building an antilibrary myself.
Now I just need a similar explanation to justify getting new records, even though I still haven’t listened to all of the ones I own already.