"That and my wife has told me that I gave up new books for Advent..."
Nice of her to let you know.
Practically all of GKC's works are available free on line.
She is good about that! Did the same for Lent. But I am a bibliophile, and she doesn't want to end up 30 years from now living in a private library.
It is ok though, being married has forced both of us to discipline our habits in areas that were lacking before. For instance, I can't buy tons of books and rifles (I love to collect them) and she has to limit the amount of shoes she gets.