Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I think my problem was just buying on sale. When I bought paperbacks, they were never on sale.

I think that it's those of us with the years of experience of never having enough to read who have really gone overboard on ebooks. Adjusting to the change from scarcity to abundance is hard. But I may (finally) have made that adjustment, after ten years or so!

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think that it's those of us with the years of experience of never having enough to read who have really gone overboard on ebooks. Adjusting to the change from scarcity to abundance is hard. But I may (finally) have made that adjustment, after ten years or so!

This was especially true if you lived in a small town and had a poor library. Back then I would drive an hour and a half just to go to a large bookstore. It is probably why I loved rereading good books.
Apache

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think that it's those of us with the years of experience of never having enough to read who have really gone overboard on ebooks. Adjusting to the change from scarcity to abundance is hard. But I may (finally) have made that adjustment, after ten years or so!

That's very insightful. I remember trying to find new, decent Fantasy books as a teenager. Now there's loads of choice, but a minefield of overlap with Romance genre.

Nothing is ever perfect.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

That's very insightful. I remember trying to find new, decent Fantasy books as a teenager. Now there's loads of choice, but a minefield of overlap with Romance genre.

Nothing is ever perfect.

Also, does anyone even write standalone fantasy books anymore? It seems that every damn one of them is first of a series. It's frustrating because until you read it you've never quite sure whether the book will stand on its own or ends on a cliffhanger.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But I may (finally) have made that adjustment, after ten years or so!

And yet today I bought two books. But they were both on my wishlist, and I really did want them. One classic, and one modern. Both will be read very shortly!

Although they are the most expensive books I've bought in some time: £1.99 and £2.99.

I've been waiting nearly five years for the £2.99 one to drop in price!

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, does anyone even write standalone fantasy books anymore? It seems that every damn one of them is first of a series. It's frustrating because until you read it you've never quite sure whether the book will stand on its own or ends on a cliffhanger.

There are some. The Chase for Choronzon by Jaq D. Hawkins is stand alone. Usually a long series is a red flag for me to look out for Romance presenting itself as Fantasy.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, does anyone even write standalone fantasy books anymore? It seems that every damn one of them is first of a series. It's frustrating because until you read it you've never quite sure whether the book will stand on its own or ends on a cliffhanger.

They are hard to find, the only one I think I read this year was A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon). https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54369251

It was good and is not in a series, at least yet. There've been a couple "recently" that started as stand-alone books and are now series. The Golem and the Jinni is the one I can remember off the top of my head.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

That's very insightful. I remember trying to find new, decent Fantasy books as a teenager. Now there's loads of choice, but a minefield of overlap with Romance genre.

Nothing is ever perfect.

Your complaints about genre mixing tainting Fantasy books made me smile, as my biggest bête noir is the way SF & Fantasy are now treated as one genre - Kobo's "SF/Fantasy" recs almost always offer close to ZERO SF books untainted by Fantasy.

Nothing is ever perfect.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Apache

This was especially true if you lived in a small town and had a poor library. Back then I would drive an hour and a half just to go to a large bookstore. It is probably why I loved rereading good books.
Apache

Yes! I spent some teenager years where the local library was a person's house with a couple of rooms of donated books. Wasn't a lot to choose from, but I did read every Perry Mason they had, which was quite a few.

Then years later, as a military wife, had to pack up family stuff to move to Japan for three years. Weight limit meant I couldn't bring all my books, so donated them. Packed up *one* box, and sent them off. Nine months later, when receiving the household boxes of our good from military storage, guess what *one* box had gotten wet and molded?

Not one was salvageable. So, I tried to make the best of two on-base bookstores, (neither of which ever carried much Scifi, Fantasy, or Mystery, and mostly couldn't afford anyway,) and the on-base library. They meant well, but they were all donations no one wanted to pack back up to take with them on the next move, and very few were in a series. Tons of children's books, though, which we greatly appreciated.

And, to top it all off, the year we arrived was the year when catalogs stopped shipping overseas. For anything.

The book starvation was real. And deep. And seeing my grandparents downsize and give up their prized possessions as their living quarters got smaller and smaller didn't help.

So, I latched onto ebooks, and if I end up in a nursing home someday, with nothing but a couple of drawers full of clothing and my family pictures, I'll have my eReader or tablet, full of my whole library, to keep me company.

And I'm lucky enough to have two great kids who'll see to that. Come what may.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Yes! I spent some teenager years where the local library was a person's house with a couple of rooms of donated books. Wasn't a lot to choose from, but I did read every Perry Mason they had, which was quite a few.

Then years later, as a military wife, had to pack up family stuff to move to Japan for three years. Weight limit meant I couldn't bring all my books, so donated them. Packed up *one* box, and sent them off. Nine months later, when receiving the household boxes of our good from military storage, guess what *one* box had gotten wet and molded?

Not one was salvageable. So, I tried to make the best of two on-base bookstores, (neither of which ever carried much Scifi, Fantasy, or Mystery, and mostly couldn't afford anyway,) and the on-base library. They meant well, but they were all donations no one wanted to pack back up to take with them on the next move, and very few were in a series. Tons of children's books, though, which we greatly appreciated.

And, to top it all off, the year we arrived was the year when catalogs stopped shipping overseas. For anything.

The book starvation was real. And deep. And seeing my grandparents downsize and give up their prized possessions as their living quarters got smaller and smaller didn't help.

So, I latched onto ebooks, and if I end up in a nursing home someday, with nothing but a couple of drawers full of clothing and my family pictures, I'll have my eReader or tablet, full of my whole library, to keep me company.

And I'm lucky enough to have two great kids who'll see to that. Come what may.

I lived in Japan as a kid. The only show on TV, in English, was The Defenders. Most Americans stopped what they were doing when it came on and would find a TV. I used to trade comic books with the Japanese kids. I could get comic books on base, but there wasn't a large selection of kids' books I wanted to read.
Apache

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Your complaints about genre mixing tainting Fantasy books made me smile, as my biggest bête noir is the way SF & Fantasy are now treated as one genre - Kobo's "SF/Fantasy" recs almost always offer close to ZERO SF books untainted by Fantasy.

I appreciate that. I joined a science fiction reading group many years ago and couldn't help noticing that most of us suggested Fantasy books, much to the chagrin of one member who was looking for hard science fiction.

He had my sympathy.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Your complaints about genre mixing tainting Fantasy books made me smile, as my biggest bête noir is the way SF & Fantasy are now treated as one genre - Kobo's "SF/Fantasy" recs almost always offer close to ZERO SF books untainted by Fantasy.

It might have just been wishful thinking. Stuff that could not be made at the time because the tech did not exist at the time.
Is it Science based or Magical ? Back when, it had to be Magic

Electric Light (Edison era), Electric lights (Modern era)
SF proposed wall sized video back when TV's were B&W and trying to break the 13" range.
The Dick Tracy comics of the 50's , had '2-way wrist radios' back when mobile radio sets of the time, filled the trunk (boot for those across the pond) of the police car. Nowadays, it has Color Video and it is even smaller than depicted.

The list goes onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by theducks

It might have just been wishful thinking. Stuff that could not be made at the time because the tech did not exist at the time.
Is it Science based or Magical ? Back when, it had to be Magic

Electric Light (Edison era), Electric lights (Modern era)
SF proposed wall sized video back when TV's were B&W and trying to break the 13" range.
The Dick Tracy comics of the 50's , had '2-way wrist radios' back when mobile radio sets of the time, filled the trunk (boot for those across the pond) of the police car. Nowadays, it has Color Video and it is even smaller than depicted.

The list goes onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

I'm sorry, but I didn't really understand your post. You say "back when, it had to be magic" then proceed to list a whole string of example of SF proposing new tech, without magic.

The other reason I don't really grok your post is that phrase "back when"- the inseparable merging of SF & Fantasy is very much more pronounced NOW than in the past. If the "back when you speak of is last year, then I'm pretty sure the tech existed.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Your complaints about genre mixing tainting Fantasy books made me smile, as my biggest bête noir is the way SF & Fantasy are now treated as one genre - Kobo's "SF/Fantasy" recs almost always offer close to ZERO SF books untainted by Fantasy.

Or both of those mixing with romance. It was before I started my reading log so I don't remember the title, but i remember reading a book that presented itself as something involving android rights -- but they essentially ignored that bit and it just became a crappy romance.

Also, just for once I'd love to read a cozy mystery with an asexual/aromantic character.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Or both of those mixing with romance. It was before I started my reading log so I don't remember the title, but i remember reading a book that presented itself as something involving android rights -- but they essentially ignored that bit and it just became a crappy romance.

Also, just for once I'd love to read a cozy mystery with an asexual/aromantic character.

That could be a quest indeed. One that sort of fits in the category is A Spark of Justice by J.D. Hawkins. No baking but it has the light mystery aspect of cozies and is set in a circus. No romance. I quite enjoyed it.