MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Do you ever choose a book to read based on its length?

ficbot · 05-06-2011, 12:18 AM

I used to sort my ebooks books by source, which in hindsight was kind of dumb (who ever says 'I feel like reading a book from Kobo today?) and then moved to a genre system. Today, I was suddenly struck by a fit of overwhelm at how many unread books I have, so I was struck by the sudden inspiration to go through and pull out all the books I could read in one sitting. My rationale was as follows:

- If the book was a freebie and turned out to be terrible and/or unreadable due to format issues, a binge read of the short ones would allow me to clear out a large amount of unread books very shortly

- If I separate out the shorter ones, it will reduce the size of some of my groaning genre collections, meaning that I will have less choice paralysis when I dip into those truly intending to read a certain genre

- I can reduce the number of collections on my Kindle since this will largely amalgamate the YA/Poetry/Fanfic/Insert Other Generally Short Genre Here books into one collection

I found a fringe benefit that I had not anticipated once I started sorting through the choices. If in the past I felt like a short, quick read then there were certain genres I favoured (mystery, for instance; I usually read a mystery novel in one or two sittings). I would avoid something like 'literary fiction' (even though I do enjoy those) because I had a perception that all of these books were long, involved sagas. Knowing that I have some choices from those genres which will not take a whole week to read makes me more likely to choose them.

Once I reduce my TBR pile, I am more than happy to get into the long sagas. I just feel like I want to clear out my TBR list a little and found this was a good way to do it. I now have a collection on the Kindle of about 100 books that I can read in one sitting. About a quarter of them will be freebies I deign not to finish. So, in about a month, I can reduce my TBR pile by a tenth in one fell swoop.

Does anyone else ever choose a book to read based on its length?

05-06-2011, 12:18 AM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Do you ever choose a book to read based on its length? I used to sort my ebooks books by source, which in hindsight was kind of dumb (who ever says 'I feel like reading a book from Kobo today?) and then moved to a genre system. Today, I was suddenly struck by a fit of overwhelm at how many unread books I have, so I was struck by the sudden inspiration to go through and pull out all the books I could read in one sitting. My rationale was as follows: - If the book was a freebie and turned out to be terrible and/or unreadable due to format issues, a binge read of the short ones would allow me to clear out a large amount of unread books very shortly - If I separate out the shorter ones, it will reduce the size of some of my groaning genre collections, meaning that I will have less choice paralysis when I dip into those truly intending to read a certain genre - I can reduce the number of collections on my Kindle since this will largely amalgamate the YA/Poetry/Fanfic/Insert Other Generally Short Genre Here books into one collection I found a fringe benefit that I had not anticipated once I started sorting through the choices. If in the past I felt like a short, quick read then there were certain genres I favoured (mystery, for instance; I usually read a mystery novel in one or two sittings). I would avoid something like 'literary fiction' (even though I do enjoy those) because I had a perception that all of these books were long, involved sagas. Knowing that I have some choices from those genres which will not take a whole week to read makes me more likely to choose them. Once I reduce my TBR pile, I am more than happy to get into the long sagas. I just feel like I want to clear out my TBR list a little and found this was a good way to do it. I now have a collection on the Kindle of about 100 books that I can read in one sitting. About a quarter of them will be freebies I deign not to finish. So, in about a month, I can reduce my TBR pile by a tenth in one fell swoop. Does anyone else ever choose a book to read based on its length?