Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

"In February" I shall be buying the first ten Gil Cunningham mysteries that are currently on special offer at Amazon.co.uk at just £0.84 each.

And then form the books read:

21 January 24th: The Harper's Quine by Pam McIntosh - $1.26 - 4/5 - 236pp
A good historical murder mystery, set in 15th century Glasgow

Sigh. I guess you guys were supposed to be supportive

Of course I caved and got the book. It's a great story. Very, very tempted to get the other ones as well, now that the prices are still so low.


Just what I needed

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Soldim

Sigh. I guess you guys were supposed to be supportive

Sorry! It was a moment of weakness. Mind you, I do now have nine books in a series that it looks like I'll enjoy a lot. So it's not all bad.

And I only have two books in the pipeline for February at the moment, so I should be able to make it to the end of February without having spent more than $80 for the year.

Sometimes a special offer is just too good.

[xg4bx]

I bought 2 books yesterday, mainly to break in a new Nook but one was the 2nd part of a series that I enjoy and the other was a Lovecraft compilation which I habitually purchase in every format.

[VictoriaP]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sorry! It was a moment of weakness. Mind you, I do now have nine books in a series that it looks like I'll enjoy a lot. So it's not all bad.

And I only have two books in the pipeline for February at the moment, so I should be able to make it to the end of February without having spent more than $80 for the year.

Sometimes a special offer is just too good.

I would happily, without reservation or regret, take advantage of a sale that net me an entire series (or five) at those kinds of prices if it were available in my region. If they're books you'd buy and read anyway, why on earth should you wait & pay full price later?

I'm all for budgeting and setting certain limits, but passing up those deals is, as they say, "penny wise and pound foolish'. I just wish that sale extended to the US!

[DrNefario]

If you keep buying stuff faster than you read it, then you will never catch up, by definition. Sooner or later you have to draw a line.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Umm... couldn't the second have also been the first?

Good news, everyone! I haven't bought an ebook for a whole week!

Most likely. The second title was a recent discovery by one of my fav authors, Mark Frost. He published a YA adventure back in 2012 that I somehow missed . So I used a Kobo 75% off code on it. These were my only January purchases. I budgeted $100 but spent less than $4 so I'm still good. However, I don't "rollover" the extra funds.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

If you keep buying stuff faster than you read it, then you will never catch up, by definition. Sooner or later you have to draw a line.

This is true. I'm going to see if I can read books I've already bought instead of buying more and more. I have three must buys in the coming few months, The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison, Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris(paper back) and Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan. All 3 are authors I know and love. Let's see if I can do it.

[pdurrant]

Of my purchases this year, I have only six definitely outstanding, in terms of needing to be read in the near future. The others were excellent bargains in series I like, so I don't feel constrained to finish them immediately - they can be savoured over the next few years.

And I've finished reading all but two of my unread ebooks from December 2003. (Yes, 2003, not 2013)

I hope that by the end of February I'll have finished all my more-than-ten-years-old unread purchases, and with a bit of luck I'll be able to continue that through 2014. There's only 28 outstanding from 2004. (& I bought 114 ebooks in 2004, so I do read most of them!)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sometimes a special offer is just too good.

The difficult thing, of course, is recognising when that is.

I was uncertain about my purchases in the special offer on crime fiction this month, but no longer. I consider how much pleasure I got from previous similar purchases (esp. the Agatha Christie novels at Fictionwise), and I realise that this was one instance where it was the right thing to do.

38 books for £31.92 when I'm going to really enjoy each and every one of them is a great bargain. (10xGil Cunningham, 3xLovejoy, 19xAmelia Peabody, 6xVicky Bliss)

OK, so now I mustn't buy any more ebooks in February and most of March (other than the ones already planned or on subscription), but how hard could that be?

[PurpleStar]

Well, I broke down and bought the Star Trek book, but at least I'll read it right away.

[Yapyap]

I'm still on ten books bought this month. Barring any irresistible deals tomorrow, I think I might just manage to stick to my goal in January.

[pdurrant]

Ignoring the $47.88 spent on the C&G special offer, I'm doing well - only 12 books and under $40. Of course, including them I have bought 50 books and more than $80.....

A frugal February and March should get me back on track.

[CRussel]

I've done pretty well this month. $31.65, including buying a Baen monthly bundle. And I read a book on my back TBR that has been sitting there a while, Midnight Riot, aka Rivers of London. Unfortunately, that's put more books on my wish list, so I'm not sure it's been a net plus. Except for being a fun read outside my usual genre.

[VictoriaP]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The difficult thing, of course, is recognising when that is.

I was uncertain about my purchases in the special offer on crime fiction this month, but no longer. I consider how much pleasure I got from previous similar purchases (esp. the Agatha Christie novels at Fictionwise), and I realise that this was one instance where it was the right thing to do.

38 books for £31.92 when I'm going to really enjoy each and every one of them is a great bargain. (10xGil Cunningham, 3xLovejoy, 19xAmelia Peabody, 6xVicky Bliss)

OK, so now I mustn't buy any more ebooks in February and most of March (other than the ones already planned or on subscription), but how hard could that be?

Yes, it blows the budget, but I agree you did the right thing in this case. It's quite the bargain and you've picked up some good series with those!

I'm over for the month now as well, at ~$35 on a ~$30 budget. It was another long week medically-speaking, and having the distraction of something new to read outweighed the desire to stick within the budget.

[DrNefario]

I don't agree it was the right thing. I haven't bought anything at all in that particular sale*. It's just a matter of willpower. I really don't need any more books right now.



*It hasn't quite finished yet, and I'm making no promises.