The 2015 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread - Page 18

Hampshire Nanny · 05-02-2015, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I find that I have read $521 worth of Kindle Unlimited books this year for the price $40 for a savings of $481. Beat that.

This is a case where I wish MobileRead had a "Like" button. KU would probably be a great bargain for me, too. I'm currently avoiding spending money on books by using my local libraries through their Overdrive and Freading services. And, Freading has a lot of overlap with KU, so for right now, I haven't signed up for KU -- might do so later.

CRussel · 05-03-2015, 11:34 AM

I've read 7 KU books this year, all books I would have read anyway. And I've got several more on my Kindle, just haven't gotten to them yet. But if the goal is to get me to read books I wouldn't try otherwise? It's failing. I'm reading books like the old Ross Thomas thrillers or Marjorie Allingham Campion books. OTOH, it's been enough to keep me quite happy about KU. If it stops providing me value, it's out of here.

Dngrsone · 05-03-2015, 02:38 PM

Good Lord, I lost a whole month. I read exactly one book in April :/

HomeInMyShoes · 05-04-2015, 09:54 AM

I've fallen behind on the ten books a month pace and the 100 pages a day pace I was on. It was bound to happen. Making it to May and averaging 94 pages a day is a huge feat for me.

What's left of my subchallenges:
TBR: 1 title
World: 4 titles
Book Club: 2 titles

Dazrin · 05-04-2015, 08:55 PM

Apparently I am reading longer books this year which is showing up in my results. I am on pace for the fewest books read since I started keeping track and also on pace for the most pages read.

Another stat which I find interesting is that since 2011, when I started using the Kindle I got for Christmas 2010, I have read 346 books by 191 different authors. 268 of those books are by the 163 new to me authors I have read in that time. 85% of the books I read are by authors I had never read before getting an e-reader which is huge for me since prior to that easily 85% of the books I read were re-reads or from a very small group of authors.

HomeInMyShoes · 05-05-2015, 09:44 AM

^I love stats.

Oddly enough, I think I'm at 159 new authors to me since Mid-2011 when I got my Kindle, but it was the reading challenges I started as opposed to the device that changed my reading habits.

Dazrin · 05-05-2015, 11:17 AM

For me it was limited funding and no library e-books available when I first got my Kindle. I got a LOT of free Indies (and some others) from Amazon for the first couple years I had my Kindle. I really didn't want to go back to paper books (3 read since 2011 not including kids books) so I forced myself to read something I wouldn't have otherwise.

Dngrsone · 05-05-2015, 11:21 AM

I like me some paper books; but I don't have any more room. I am slowly working on replacing them with eBooks, but there are a few I must hold on to in dead-tree format.

Then there are those which haven't gone digital yet...

I have been trying to minimize costs-- most of the books I buy now are below the $3 mark, or part of a bundle (which equates to the same).

Dazrin · 05-05-2015, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I like me some paper books; but I don't have any more room. I am slowly working on replacing them with eBooks, but there are a few I must hold on to in dead-tree format.

Then there are those which haven't gone digital yet...

I do have some paper books still but I find that I don't read them anymore so I am slowly getting rid of them. I haven't read any of them in almost 5 years, although I have gotten a couple e-book replacements. My office has much more usable shelf space now.

Hampshire Nanny · 05-06-2015, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I like me some paper books; but I don't have any more room. I am slowly working on replacing them with eBooks, but there are a few I must hold on to in dead-tree format.

My first Kindle arrived in January 2008. I was in the UK and my Kindle arrived at my home in the USA, so I had to wait a couple of weeks before I could use it. In 2008, I read 55 eBooks and 78 paper ones. The next several years, the ratio of eBooks to paper books was about 1/3. Finally, last year, the eBooks overtook the paper ones, with about a 2/1 ratio. What turned things around was that my libraries started offering eBook check-outs.

Dngrsone · 05-06-2015, 11:08 AM

You know, I haven't even checked to see if my local library offers ebooks.

Then again, I am on the outs with them right now because Dngrswife checked out a book on my card, then lost it.

... I really should take care of that.

sakura-panda · 05-06-2015, 11:24 AM

I would like nothing better than to get rid of some of my paper books. I used to belong to The Mystery Guild and I have a bunch of smaller sized hardcover books from series that I collected in those days. I do reread them, and when I do I burn through them so fast that it is worth it to me to keep my own copy. The series are so big that I don't want to replace them all at once; I'm working on replacing them one book at a time, one series at a time.

However, there are some books that I don't want to get rid of (yet), but I'm not saving them as collector's items -- they are mismatched and incomplete (generally a mix of trade paperback for the beginning of a series, hardcover for the later ones, and then nothing because I only bought the ebooks.) There isn't any value to keeping them, but I like knowing they are there and it is worth keeping them just for that.

Relatively off topic

Goodreads has me at three books behind my posted goal, which is to match highest number of books I read in a year since I started keeping track. I didn't meet my (same) goal last year, and I was one book further behind at the beginning of May, so it looks like I will not make it. I'm still reading back issues of The New Yorker, so it's not that I've stopped reading; I don't feel like I need to change or step up what I am doing. (My real goal is to track all my read books, which I'm keeping up with really well.)

Hampshire Nanny · 05-06-2015, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

You know, I haven't even checked to see if my local library offers ebooks.

Then again, I am on the outs with them right now because Dngrswife checked out a book on my card, then lost it.

Having lost two library books while on business trips, I now have a policy that library books don't leave my house unless they are in my Kindle! One really good thing about borrowing eBooks is that you cannot lose them and you cannot keep them past their due date.

CRussel · 05-06-2015, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Having lost two library books while on business trips, I now have a policy that library books don't leave my house unless they are in my Kindle! One really good thing about borrowing eBooks is that you cannot lose them and you cannot keep them past their due date.

Yes. A very good thing, at least the not losing them. Since Kindle isn't supported as a format for Canadian libraries, I have to Alf them and convert. But I still try to keep track of their date and delete when I get to it.

I honestly haven't read a conventional paper book in 3 years, other than cookbooks and work related technical books. Once I got my first Kindle, I never looked back. I've still got shelves and shelves of paper books here, since the local library won't take them, but I'm not buying any new ones, and won't.

Dngrsone · 05-06-2015, 05:17 PM

Since I work for an airline,I occasionally come across one of those lost library books. It's worth the shipping to send it back to the owning library, so that someone else can enjoy it.

I take some of the airport-bought books to one of the local colleges, which has a mini free library kiosk.

05-05-2015, 11:21 AM	#263
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	I like me some paper books; but I don't have any more room. I am slowly working on replacing them with eBooks, but there are a few I must hold on to in dead-tree format. Then there are those which haven't gone digital yet... I have been trying to minimize costs-- most of the books I buy now are below the $3 mark, or part of a bundle (which equates to the same). Last edited by Dngrsone; 05-05-2015 at 11:23 AM.

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05-03-2015, 11:34 AM	#257
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I've read 7 KU books this year, all books I would have read anyway. And I've got several more on my Kindle, just haven't gotten to them yet. But if the goal is to get me to read books I wouldn't try otherwise? It's failing. I'm reading books like the old Ross Thomas thrillers or Marjorie Allingham Campion books. OTOH, it's been enough to keep me quite happy about KU. If it stops providing me value, it's out of here.

05-03-2015, 02:38 PM	#258
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	Good Lord, I lost a whole month. I read exactly one book in April :/

05-04-2015, 09:54 AM	#259
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	I've fallen behind on the ten books a month pace and the 100 pages a day pace I was on. It was bound to happen. Making it to May and averaging 94 pages a day is a huge feat for me. What's left of my subchallenges: TBR: 1 title World: 4 titles Book Club: 2 titles

05-04-2015, 08:55 PM	#260
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,730 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	Apparently I am reading longer books this year which is showing up in my results. I am on pace for the fewest books read since I started keeping track and also on pace for the most pages read. Another stat which I find interesting is that since 2011, when I started using the Kindle I got for Christmas 2010, I have read 346 books by 191 different authors. 268 of those books are by the 163 new to me authors I have read in that time. 85% of the books I read are by authors I had never read before getting an e-reader which is huge for me since prior to that easily 85% of the books I read were re-reads or from a very small group of authors.

05-05-2015, 09:44 AM	#261
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^I love stats. Oddly enough, I think I'm at 159 new authors to me since Mid-2011 when I got my Kindle, but it was the reading challenges I started as opposed to the device that changed my reading habits.

05-05-2015, 11:17 AM	#262
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,730 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	For me it was limited funding and no library e-books available when I first got my Kindle. I got a LOT of free Indies (and some others) from Amazon for the first couple years I had my Kindle. I really didn't want to go back to paper books (3 read since 2011 not including kids books) so I forced myself to read something I wouldn't have otherwise.

05-06-2015, 11:08 AM	#266
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	You know, I haven't even checked to see if my local library offers ebooks. Then again, I am on the outs with them right now because Dngrswife checked out a book on my card, then lost it. ... I really should take care of that.

05-06-2015, 11:24 AM	#267
sakura-panda Guru Posts: 935 Karma: 9558874 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Southeast Michigan, USA Device: Kindle Oasis; 11" iPad Pro (Books, Kindle, Kobo, MapleRead SE)	I would like nothing better than to get rid of some of my paper books. I used to belong to The Mystery Guild and I have a bunch of smaller sized hardcover books from series that I collected in those days. I do reread them, and when I do I burn through them so fast that it is worth it to me to keep my own copy. The series are so big that I don't want to replace them all at once; I'm working on replacing them one book at a time, one series at a time. However, there are some books that I don't want to get rid of (yet), but I'm not saving them as collector's items -- they are mismatched and incomplete (generally a mix of trade paperback for the beginning of a series, hardcover for the later ones, and then nothing because I only bought the ebooks.) There isn't any value to keeping them, but I like knowing they are there and it is worth keeping them just for that. Relatively off topic Goodreads has me at three books behind my posted goal, which is to match highest number of books I read in a year since I started keeping track. I didn't meet my (same) goal last year, and I was one book further behind at the beginning of May, so it looks like I will not make it. I'm still reading back issues of The New Yorker, so it's not that I've stopped reading; I don't feel like I need to change or step up what I am doing. (My real goal is to track all my read books, which I'm keeping up with really well.)

05-06-2015, 05:17 PM	#270
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	Since I work for an airline,I occasionally come across one of those lost library books. It's worth the shipping to send it back to the owning library, so that someone else can enjoy it. I take some of the airport-bought books to one of the local colleges, which has a mini free library kiosk.