Quote:
Originally Posted by l_macd
I'm another of those who only has a small number of books on my ereader at any one time. Never more than 30 and usually only about 10 or so. I use Calibre to manage my library as it's far superior to anything else, and also because it's far easier to browse any large collection on a computer screen than on a ereader.
It's cool that you can pretty much carry your whole library with you, but I just don't see the attraction. I don't imagine those of you who do this only ever used to read sitting next to your bookcase or in your study/library just because you might happen to fancy reading a different book and therefore had to have it on hand in the same room as you? Or maybe you did! Each to their own I guess anyway.
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I always had a large drawer of books beside my bed for much the same reason that I have a lot of books on my reader. I read in bed before I go to sleep. Once I am settled I don't want to get out of bed to get another book.
Obviously I didn't have the luxury of 1,000 books in my bedside table drawer, although I used to have more in my apartment. But if I could have I would have.
And the situation was different. Of the 1,000 or so paper books I had I had read probably 90% so I only had maybe a couple of hundred that I hadn't read and I actually do not know why I kept the rest. I had no desire to reread most them, some weird hoarding thing I guess.
If I won a lottery I would be hoarding ebooks big time and if possible would want every one of them on every reader I owned.
I think it is a decision making thing. There are literally 1,000s of books I want to read that I actually know of. I want to have them all available to read whether I am home, on the bus, in a waiting room etc.
I don't want to say to myself, you've got x books here to read, just get over it and read one of them. And honestly there are just so many books in the world, that I cannot remember at all times what I have bought, borrowed, gotten as freebees or 99 cents etc. So if I did not find something in the 100 books that struck my fancy and was out of town I might buy a book I already owned. Not the end of the world, but would upset me a tad. And yes, I could have the catalogue on my reader and do, but balk at using it.
Plus I love calibre, but picking and choosing just a few books to send is fraught with peril. I can sit for hours and start reading the books on my computer, or wonder if I have converted them properly, or second guessing myself as to whether I have too many or not enough of a certain type of book.
I will then end up not sending a single book because I just can't decide.
I guess I go on the maybe/probably approach. Maybe I will want to read that this week, month, year etc. So I put on a bunch at once and it is done. I was the same in bookstores and libraries. Didn't spend a lot of time fussing over whether a book was ideal, just grabbed a bunch that looked likely, and generally enjoyed them all.
My hat goes off to those who are structured enough to know just what they want to read next, or can narrow it down to 100 books. Narrowing it down to 4 is unimaginable to me. Makes my head hurt and my eyes water just to think of that. I can read a book in an hour or three and could take that long to make up my mind what 4 books to put on the reader. Then a few hours later I am hungry again
Helen