Restraining oneself - Page 2

estrial · 08-04-2010, 04:18 AM

you know what? I found that ever since I started visiting goodreads I began to add books to my "to-read" list over there instead of impulsively buying them straight up. Usually when I look back at the list after sometime, I would get selective and buy only the book that I would like to read then, until I finish it.

Lyndl · 08-04-2010, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m-reader

No buying new books until the current one is finished. There's no need to hoard.
After all we are talking e-books here - it's not like they will run out of stock

.

But..but.. but.... they might !!

delphidb96 · 08-04-2010, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

As a newbie, I have to ask this question:

So you get your shiny new device. How do you stop yourself from going nuts and buying far too many ebooks?

A good rule of thumb.

"If you accidentally got swept up by roving aliens into their mothership, would you regret not having that ebook on your reader???"

Think about it. It *could* happen!

Derek

Maggie Leung · 08-04-2010, 01:34 PM

I buy only what I will read soon, because one of the main features of e-readers is the ability to buy books 24/7, from almost any place. I don't see the point of buying till I'm ready to read. Why lock in my choice early and hand over my money early? If I think I might wanna read something later, I send myself a sample of the book, so I can keep track and buy as mood suits for reading.

I can see loading up on freebies, but I'm selective even with those. Most current freebies I've seen don't appeal to me. I know what I like, and I'm willing to pay for it. I'm not going to read stuff just because it's free. I value my reading time.

Kumabjorn · 08-04-2010, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

As a newbie, I have to ask this question:

So you get your shiny new device. How do you stop yourself from going nuts and buying far too many ebooks?

Simple answer; You don't!

In the two weeks I had my Kindle 2i I spent more money on books than the Kindle. And I loved spending each and every dollar. Sometimes it is OK to go a little nuts and spoil yourself.

Juliette · 08-04-2010, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delphidb96

A good rule of thumb.

"If you accidentally got swept up by roving aliens into their mothership, would you regret not having that ebook on your reader???"

Think about it. It *could* happen!

Derek

sakura-panda · 08-04-2010, 03:25 PM

Past experience.

I think about my anime DVDs that I bought fresh and new that dropped in price and were reissued cheaper before I ever took the shrinkwrap off. I bought one ebook at full price that went to free before I had a chance to read it and I decided I'm going to wait until I'm ready to read before I buy anything.

On the freebie side, when I first started digital scrapbooking I downloaded oodles and oodles of free kits that I not only have never used, but now they are something I have to manage and I have so many that I don't even know what I have, much less expect to get around to using. Along the same vein, I don't want to end up with a bunch of books I won't read but have to manage their files.

Lady Fitzgerald · 08-04-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

Past experience.

I think about my anime DVDs that I bought fresh and new that dropped in price and were reissued cheaper before I ever took the shrinkwrap off. I bought one ebook at full price that went to free before I had a chance to read it and I decided I'm going to wait until I'm ready to read before I buy anything.

On the freebie side, when I first started digital scrapbooking I downloaded oodles and oodles of free kits that I not only have never used, but now they are something I have to manage and I have so many that I don't even know what I have, much less expect to get around to using. Along the same vein, I don't want to end up with a bunch of books I won't read but have to manage their files.

Get calibre and let it manage your books for you.

Lady Fitzgerald · 08-04-2010, 05:04 PM

Restrain one's self? Why?

astra · 08-05-2010, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

As a newbie, I have to ask this question:

So you get your shiny new device. How do you stop yourself from going nuts and buying far too many ebooks?

Easy. I need only what I read.

Sweetpea · 08-05-2010, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Get calibre and let it manage your books for you.

I find Calibre horrible in managing my books. I prefer a simple folder structure, and my explorer does that nicely.

astra · 08-05-2010, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I prefer a simple folder structure, and my explorer does that nicely.

bevdeforges · 08-05-2010, 04:47 AM

I suppose the real answer is that I don't. In the past, I've loaded up on books on my semi-annual trips back to the US, so I'm used to have a stash of 5 - 10 books ready to be read at all times.

I still buy/download books in ones and twos as I find them at reasonable prices, but generally I put them in my wishlists on the various vendor sites and watch to see if and when the prices drop. At the moment, though, I'm well ahead of myself in reading material, so am avoiding the book reviews and browsing for a while.

Lady Fitzgerald · 08-05-2010, 08:33 AM

@astra and Sweetpea. I used to think Windows folder and file tree was the easiest way to organize things and, for most of my data, it still is, but I've found it much too limiting for the organization of books and music. I have a commercial program I use to keep track of my music (that sadly has become abandonware since the developer has retired so I'll have to find a new one to keep track of my mp3s once windows 7 gives up the ghost). In an effort to keep track of series names and numbers, authors, titles, and ISBN #s (without having to open each book to dig out info), I had horrifically long filenames. And since a book can be classed in more than one genre, have more than one author, be in a series that part of a greater collection, etc., sorting is a nightmare in a folder and file tree since multiple copies would be needed to cover each organizational possibility. Windows Explorer, etc. are woefully inadequate for tracking down books by various criteria. And God forbid if you ever want to maintain a printable list of what's in your library (handy when hitting the used book stores; calibre can organize both paper and e-books). Calibre uses tags for organizing a library instead of a folder and file structure which allows three dimensional organizing instead of a two dimensional folder and file system. The key thing people often have trouble understanding is calibre organizes books, not files. Once people can grasp that difference, then calibre makes much more sense. Calibre is a work in progress. I've been using it only a few months and already it is twice as useful and easy to use than it was when I first started using it. And it will continue to get better over time. Also, the developer is young so it's unlikely to become abandonware anytime soon due to him retiring (even then, if Kovid decided to abandon calibre, which is not likely since he uses it himself, there are plenty of other people who have been helping with its development that would likely pick up the reins). One can print out lists of one's books, either in their entirety or the result of searches (the way to do that right now is a bit clunky since it requires manually interfacing with Xcel but that will eventually change; at least the option is available). Calibre also simplifies loading a device with e-books. Adding a book to calibre is simple and it will do most of the work for you, if you let it; it's adding an entire library of books automatically that becomes complicated but there are plenty of people in the calibre forum willing to assist in writing a recipe tailored for your filename structure. Same for any other problems you might encounter. The support system there is phenomenal. I would be lost without it. Granted, there is a bit of a learning curve but the same is true of any program this powerful.

Sweetpea · 08-05-2010, 08:41 AM

I prefer a simple structure. In my case that is

[format]/[author]/[series]/[nr - book title]

or

[format]/[author]/[book title]

Calibre just doesn't do what I want. First of all, I want to sort author by last name. Calibre refuses to do that simply because I have [Lastname, Firstname] in my metadata. The second author gets a new line.

About multiple authors: I put them in a folder of the primary author. Which is most often the author I know best

My current formats are [source], epub, mobi and pdf. Where source is the unzipped version of epub.

ISBN's I couldn't care about, and neither genre. I only care about the author and within that the series.

08-05-2010, 08:33 AM	#29
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	@astra and Sweetpea. I used to think Windows folder and file tree was the easiest way to organize things and, for most of my data, it still is, but I've found it much too limiting for the organization of books and music. I have a commercial program I use to keep track of my music (that sadly has become abandonware since the developer has retired so I'll have to find a new one to keep track of my mp3s once windows 7 gives up the ghost). In an effort to keep track of series names and numbers, authors, titles, and ISBN #s (without having to open each book to dig out info), I had horrifically long filenames. And since a book can be classed in more than one genre, have more than one author, be in a series that part of a greater collection, etc., sorting is a nightmare in a folder and file tree since multiple copies would be needed to cover each organizational possibility. Windows Explorer, etc. are woefully inadequate for tracking down books by various criteria. And God forbid if you ever want to maintain a printable list of what's in your library (handy when hitting the used book stores; calibre can organize both paper and e-books). Calibre uses tags for organizing a library instead of a folder and file structure which allows three dimensional organizing instead of a two dimensional folder and file system. The key thing people often have trouble understanding is calibre organizes books, not files. Once people can grasp that difference, then calibre makes much more sense. Calibre is a work in progress. I've been using it only a few months and already it is twice as useful and easy to use than it was when I first started using it. And it will continue to get better over time. Also, the developer is young so it's unlikely to become abandonware anytime soon due to him retiring (even then, if Kovid decided to abandon calibre, which is not likely since he uses it himself, there are plenty of other people who have been helping with its development that would likely pick up the reins). One can print out lists of one's books, either in their entirety or the result of searches (the way to do that right now is a bit clunky since it requires manually interfacing with Xcel but that will eventually change; at least the option is available). Calibre also simplifies loading a device with e-books. Adding a book to calibre is simple and it will do most of the work for you, if you let it; it's adding an entire library of books automatically that becomes complicated but there are plenty of people in the calibre forum willing to assist in writing a recipe tailored for your filename structure. Same for any other problems you might encounter. The support system there is phenomenal. I would be lost without it. Granted, there is a bit of a learning curve but the same is true of any program this powerful. Last edited by Lady Fitzgerald; 08-05-2010 at 08:36 AM.

08-04-2010, 04:18 AM	#16
estrial small is good Posts: 95 Karma: 100 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy S	you know what? I found that ever since I started visiting goodreads I began to add books to my "to-read" list over there instead of impulsively buying them straight up. Usually when I look back at the list after sometime, I would get selective and buy only the book that I would like to read then, until I finish it.

08-04-2010, 01:34 PM	#19
Maggie Leung Wizard Posts: 1,449 Karma: 58383 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Kindle, iPad	I buy only what I will read soon, because one of the main features of e-readers is the ability to buy books 24/7, from almost any place. I don't see the point of buying till I'm ready to read. Why lock in my choice early and hand over my money early? If I think I might wanna read something later, I send myself a sample of the book, so I can keep track and buy as mood suits for reading. I can see loading up on freebies, but I'm selective even with those. Most current freebies I've seen don't appeal to me. I know what I like, and I'm willing to pay for it. I'm not going to read stuff just because it's free. I value my reading time.

08-04-2010, 03:25 PM	#22
sakura-panda Guru Posts: 934 Karma: 9558874 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Southeast Michigan, USA Device: Kindle Oasis; 11" iPad Pro (Books, Kindle, Kobo, MapleRead SE)	Past experience. I think about my anime DVDs that I bought fresh and new that dropped in price and were reissued cheaper before I ever took the shrinkwrap off. I bought one ebook at full price that went to free before I had a chance to read it and I decided I'm going to wait until I'm ready to read before I buy anything. On the freebie side, when I first started digital scrapbooking I downloaded oodles and oodles of free kits that I not only have never used, but now they are something I have to manage and I have so many that I don't even know what I have, much less expect to get around to using. Along the same vein, I don't want to end up with a bunch of books I won't read but have to manage their files.

08-04-2010, 05:04 PM	#24
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	Restrain one's self? Why?

08-05-2010, 04:47 AM	#28
bevdeforges Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1094000 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Essonne, France Device: Kobo Forma; Sony PRS600B; Sony 350; Sony T-2	I suppose the real answer is that I don't. In the past, I've loaded up on books on my semi-annual trips back to the US, so I'm used to have a stash of 5 - 10 books ready to be read at all times. I still buy/download books in ones and twos as I find them at reasonable prices, but generally I put them in my wishlists on the various vendor sites and watch to see if and when the prices drop. At the moment, though, I'm well ahead of myself in reading material, so am avoiding the book reviews and browsing for a while.

08-05-2010, 08:41 AM	#30
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I prefer a simple structure. In my case that is [format]/[author]/[series]/[nr - book title] or [format]/[author]/[book title] Calibre just doesn't do what I want. First of all, I want to sort author by last name. Calibre refuses to do that simply because I have [Lastname, Firstname] in my metadata. The second author gets a new line. About multiple authors: I put them in a folder of the primary author. Which is most often the author I know best My current formats are [source], epub, mobi and pdf. Where source is the unzipped version of epub. ISBN's I couldn't care about, and neither genre. I only care about the author and within that the series.