The "problem" with eBooks...

[JeremyZ]

... is that it is so quick & easy to get mass quantities of reading materials, but it takes so long to read them all. Has anyone here actually read a majority of the books they're purchased?

Physically getting a book: Amazon solved that in a revolutionary fashion.

Money: Amazon lowered the prices and gives free shipping on many books. Then, they became even cheaper (even free) with eBook readers.

Shelf space: eBook readers have eliminated this concern, with the purchase of one device.

I think I downloaded all the public domain books that I want. There are at least 50, and it is going to take a good while before I get through them all. I'll probably yearn to read something more modern too.

But let's face it, surfing and participating here take away from book reading time. Surfing also tempts us to get more books. (at least it does for me)

It's kind of like how the internet made so much information (and mis-information) available so quickly, and for free, that people get addicted to having everything at the click of a mouse.

[edembowski]

It's very quick and easy to get large volumes of reading materials that take so long to read from a brick & mortar store as well. If you buy a box full of books, or download a bunch, you still have the same problem. Regardless if I download a public domain book, or buy one from the store (online or in person) I generally only get one or two at a time. I do go back for more often, but getting books in bulk to me is asking for a pile of unread material.

- Ed

[Hellmark]

I have! It is the freebies I am still slagging my way through.

[FlorenceArt]

I've had the same problem at first, but I'm getting better now. Instead of buying books I put them on my wishlist, like I used to do at Amazon. It's like making a note that I might want to buy them later. With p-books I found that if I bought too many at the same time, often some of them would end up gathering dust on my shelves, and if I didn't read them soon after buying them, I might not read them at all. I think it's the same for ebooks. Buying a book (or downloading it for free) is a pleasure in itself, because of the anticipation. I try not to buy/download too many at the same time, so that I can have that pleasure more often

[Superlucky]

Ebooks have totally turned me into a book hoarder. Fortunately, I don't actually purchase that many, as there are lots of classics that I want to read. I was never tempted to buy 10 books at once at Barnes & Noble, but it is different in a virtual bookstore. The "other people who liked this book liked these books" feature has no equivalent at a bookstore or library.

[pilotbob]

Yes, I have read all the ebooks that I have paid for. I have not read all the ones I have downloaded. Although, I have read MANY ebooks that I didn't pay for, which makes ebooks on average much cheaper.

People complain about the price of ebooks... but if I average the price for all the ebooks I have read, I am pretty sure I am well below $1 per ebook read.

BOb

[pepak]

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

... is that it is so quick & easy to get mass quantities of reading materials, but it takes so long to read them all. Has anyone here actually read a majority of the books they're purchased?

All but four:

- No Place Like Earth (compilation of John Wyndham stories) I just can't force myself to break the wrapping and read it, simply because after I read it I will have read all JW stories and novels and there will be nothing left to explore.

- Fearie Tale (Raymond E. Feist) - I tried four or five times, but never could get past 50 pages mark.

- Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune (Frank Herbert) - the series keeps getting more and more depressing and I have yet to summon the courage to start the 5th part.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

... is that it is so quick & easy to get mass quantities of reading materials, but it takes so long to read them all. Has anyone here actually read a majority of the books they're purchased?

When people see my paper book library, the usual reaction is "Wow! Have you read all of those books?", to which the honest answer is "About half of them..." Granted, many are references of one sort or another used to Look Stuff Up, and not normally read straight through like a novel.

I have about 3,500 ebooks, and have probably read fewer than a quarter of them. Many are public domain books, where I've grabbed everything I can find by a particular author, and am going through them as time permits. (Macaulay is an example here. Marvelous essayist.)

I long ago came to the conclusion that acquiring books and reading them were separate and distinct pleasures, and I wouldn't feel guilty about getting six and having time to read two.

For ebooks, I tell people the advantage is that you don't have to call the paramedics if my unread stack falls over one me.

The ultimate issue is "How do you feel about having books you may not ever read?" to which my answer is "I at least have them if I do get the time and desire to read them, so I'll settle."
______
Dennis

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I have about 3,500 ebooks, and have probably read fewer than a quarter of them. Many are public domain books, where I've grabbed everything I can find by a particular author, and am going through them as time permits. (Macaulay is an example here. Marvelous essayist.)

I guess I don't have a large d/l-ed list of books because I have a Kindle. I can just search for the books in the Feedbooks and/or MobileRead ebook list and click, click and it is d/l-ed via Whispernet in a minute or so.

So, I guess you could say I have 5,000 plus books "on" my Kindle.

BOb

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I guess I don't have a large d/l-ed list of books because I have a Kindle. I can just search for the books in the Feedbooks and/or MobileRead ebook list and click, click and it is d/l-ed via Whispernet in a minute or so.

So, I guess you could say I have 5,000 plus books "on" my Kindle.

Mine are actually on my devices. Most of them are converted HTML in Plucker format for my Palm OS PDA, but I've been accumulating an assortment of Mobipocket volumes as well, and have a few things in other formats.

Most recently, I've been using a Linux version of FBReader on my notebook, which displays Plucker and Mobi files, as well as ePub and a few other formats.

There are several ebook sites I check daily for new additions, and my master ebook repository on my desktop is about 15GB at this point.

One nice thing about Plucker is the ability to create "high compression" volumes using a Palm port of Zlib, with gzip equivalent compression, for about a 70% reduction in ebook size over the source dicument.
______
Dennis

[ficbot]

I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of how much I have spent versus how many I have read. I find the free books really do subsidize the costs of the paid ones, and even when I factor in device costs, I am still at less than $5 a book---and I get to keep them all forever, I don't have to purge them to the used bookstore due to shelf space issues...

I have about 500 ebooks and I have read about half. The half I have not read are either:
- Free books that sounded interesting so I grabbed them when they caught my eye
- Several I bought in a 'complete the series' sale from Fictionwise. I have read the earlier ones but not finished all of them yet
- Magazine subscriptions from Fictionwise I have fallen behind on

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by pepak

- Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune (Frank Herbert) - the series keeps getting more and more depressing and I have yet to summon the courage to start the 5th part.

HA! I had the same problem with 1984! I've tried twice and got about 2/3rds through and quit.

[Alisa]

Like Bob, I've read (or am reading) all the books I've purchased though I have many free books I haven't read. I take advantage of the free samples. When I see a book that looks interesting, I send the sample to my Kindle. I don't actually buy the book until I've finished the sample. Since it has a 3G connection, getting the rest of the book is trivial. It doesn't matter if I'm at home or near a computer. I've very rarely found myself anywhere without coverage. I've read many samples and not bought the book. Most of these are books I would have bought back in my paper book days. I have plenty of paper books on my shelves that I never finished.

[queentess]

Generally speaking, I read the ebooks I pay for almost immediately. If I don't have time to read them right then, they go on my GoodReads TBR list and I look into purchasing them later. Right now I'm about halfway through a book and have the next book purchased and queued up, but there's nothing paid for beyond that.

Now, whenever I see a freebie I might be interested in, I snap it up right quick. Like the Suvudu books that are free for a limited time, or some of the stuff in the Baen library, and various deals through publishers. I'm loving me the free ebook wave (and not just the classics). I've tried far more authors this way because I was able to easily get the book for free. (I don't typically try random new authors off the shelf in the library -- there's too much chance of it being a 'miss' for me.) It's a type of marketing that publishers just can't duplicate with pbooks.

[PennyPie]

Ebooks have totally turned me into a book hoarder. Fortunately, I don't actually purchase that many, as there are lots of classics that I want to read. I was never tempted to buy 10 books at once at Barnes & Noble, but it is different in a virtual bookstore. The "other people who liked this book liked these books" feature has no equivalent at a bookstore or library.

I totally agree with the above statement....

I have just under 300 on my Sony. I have yet to buy a book, as there have been so many that I've found, or been 'turned onto' from the kind folks here. Although I love to read, my time available is very limited...and I generally fall asleep about 5 minutes after starting to read when I go to bed, and life just sorta gets in the way of reading other times....anyway....I'm embarassed to say I've probably only read 10 book since getting my Sony in May. I, too, have found many authors I wouldn't have looked at in the 'pbook days', and have them tucked safely away on my reader for future reading. And lots of them are from our fellow MR writers.

I started a Neal Gaiman yesterday, after hearing he'll be speaking today here in Cleveland (not that I'll be able to attend)...someone I'd never heard of before. This forum certainly expands my horizons, opens up so many choices I'd not find on my own.