Please, someone help me!

[fjtorres]

What's the big deal?
1400 unread ebooks is nothing to fret over.
That's, what, 4 years worth of reading?
Unless you're pushing 100 you'll easily live long enough to read them and another 5-10,000...
1400 unread books isn't a problem; it's a solution...

[Sydney's Mom]

My family says I am a horder (of ebooks). Of course, since I use the cloud for storage, there is no harm. Now, I can't say the same thing about my yarn buying addiction, which is also beyond anything I could use in my lifetime. I hope I don't end up like Burgess Meredith in Time Enough at Last - blind and arthritic. Oh well, time to obsess some more.

[OtterBooks]

I place two books on the device at a time. One to currently read and one for after. Though recently I have been limiting it to one at a time because my "after" decision often changes.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

I place two books on the device at a time. One to currently read and one for after. Though recently I have been limiting it to one at a time because my "after" decision often changes.

Then you are missing one of the advantages of an ebook reader: the possibility of reading any other book at any time.

Sometimes I'm in the mood to read, but I want to read something different than what I've been reading for the last week... so I just look around my library, pick a short story book, and read a couple of stories/chapters. Or I start another book before finishing the first, because the best read at night time might not be the best read in the garden, surrounded by noisy children.

[Kiwimick]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Then you are missing one of the advantages of an ebook reader: the possibility of reading any other book at any time.

Sometimes I'm in the mood to read, but I want to read something different than what I've been reading for the last week... so I just look around my library, pick a short story book, and read a couple of stories/chapters. Or I start another book before finishing the first, because the best read at night time might not be the best read in the garden, surrounded by noisy children.

Good Call Jellby. Thats exactly why I have around 500 books on mine just so I have plenty to choose from if I fancy a change

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Tonight I passed 1,400 books installed in my reader. At a rate of 2 books per week, it would take me close to 14 years to read everything on the reader right now.

There's a fairly simple solution to this (no, not deleting books off the reader) and it starts with the chanting of a helpful mantra:

"I don't actually need to read all these books."

According to my Amazon archives, I've acquired 700+ Kindle time-limited publisher promo freebies since last year alone. How many of them have I actually read?

~20.

That's less than 3%, and that was the 3% which were capable of grabbing and keeping my attention to begin with.

So I wouldn't worry about your 1400 or so. Sure, it's a daunting-looking number, but you'll probably only end up reading about 2 or 3 dozen out of the entire lot, which should only take you several months.

Unless those 1400 books represent some sort of self-selected personal reading goal, like tackling all the classic works of western, eastern, asian, and ancient civilization, or even actual paid purchases, in which case I'm afraid you're doomed. DOOOOMED!!!!!

[wvcherrybomb]

I keep telling myself I'm going to ignore the freebie section. So far I haven't. It's like crack, it just keeps pulling me back in! I have made a bit of progress in that I have become MUCH more selective in what I take.

I have found that owning an ereader, and having an endless supply of free reads, has turned me into more of a book snob. If something doesn't hold my interest right away it gets deleted and I move on to something better.

I have only 400 or so ebooks right now and I add an average of only a day. Since half of these will likely be deleted after the first few chapters, I hope to one day catch up!

[dreams]

Hi, my name is dreams and I am on the road to recovery. It is a slow, but steady progress with only minor back steps. ***Does it count as recovery is there are more steps back than forward? ***

I've been a hopeless collector for more than 2 years. Every book just had to be on my device and available immediately. I added books everyday. I scrolled through my book titles everyday. I opened and closed those same books everyday. I created collections and reorganized my books everyday. ****Wow, I should have typed this out sooner.. seeing what I just wrote, it really looks like an addiction. **

I started by deleting every book off my device and trying to load only those that really interested me. Didn't work and found that I was just back where I started by including those "just in case I want to read it" books. Finally, I created just 3 collections: Now, High Interest, and Looks Good. **I tried other collection names and more than 3, but found that I kept adding to those collections. You know, just one more mystery to fill the page or just one more thriller. **

Next, I limited myself to only keeping 50-75 on my reader. If, I really had to add more, I made sure to remove one from those already loaded on the reader.

Now, I'm working on being selective on which free books I download and the amount I purchase.

Is there hope for me?

[Catlady]

I have had my e-reader for only six months. Yesterday I maxed out a 4gb card.

My particular sickness is that if I have read (or intend to read) one work by an author, I must have that author's complete works. I also find it nearly impossible to limit myself to one version of public domain works--e.g., the Austens here at MR are so nicely done, but then there are the BN classics with commentary, and then there are the illustrated editions ...

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by dreams

I limited myself to only keeping 50-75 on my reader. If, I really had to add more, I made sure to remove one from those already loaded on the reader.

Now, I'm working on being selective on which free books I download and the amount I purchase.

This is essentially my strategy, too: under 100 books on (each) reader ... I have an original Kobo and a Kindle 3. So I have library books covered; ePub and Kindle covered; and Calibre just in case. I delete books from the reader once read; and I typically have 1 or 2 books on the go (I prefer one but if it bogs down I might open something else for a day or two).

At 50+ books a year, 1400 books in the OP means 28 years of reading. Even assuming I make it that long, I doubt if my current ereaders will ... so 100 each is fine.

I do delete things off my TBR when it becomes obvious they aren't in my nearish future and I don't generally download a freebie unless I am reasonably certain I plan to read it reasonably soon. If I'm desperate for a bargain, I download a library book.

Besides: the best bargain of all is actually reading something I paid for ....

[Asawi]

My sicknes resembles Catlady's.
This is a common scenario for me:
1. Find a book I want to read. (Could be from recomendation, or just stumbled upon something)
2. Do research on the author and get curious about earlier work.
3. Find earlier work and decide to read that as well.
4. Have to read things chronologically, so earlier work goes to the top of the list
5. Like earlier work so have to find more...

And the list gets longer, and longer...

(I don't keep more than 20-50 on the reader at a time though, but my Calibre library just grows and grows...)

[poohbear_nc]

Hello, my name is Poohbear, and I am out of control. My kindle(s) are loaded with Amazon purchases, free books, MR classics, Tor & Baen books -- you name it.

Resistance is futile!

My rationalization: I'm accumulating books while I'm a wage earner so that I'll have something to read when I've retired - in case social security goes broke and I don't have an income to spare for new book purchases.

The truth: Ereaders allow me to hoard books without the accompanying problems of filling the house!

Excuse me ... gotta go read.

[Filark]

Wow!! Have you ever read something someone else wrote and recognized yourself?? I just had that experience 27 times over!

My Calibre library only has about 200 books, my Sony has 35 or so loaded, my eDGe (relatively new) has a mere 14 at the moment. I can almost gaurantee that I will add more books than I finish, in perpetuity.

Addiction? Probably. Seeking cure? Nope. Sorry. I am having too much fun!!

And it's so much cleaner than my houseful of books!

[poohbear_nc]

It's not my fault *whine* - I just logged in and found this post:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...80#post1486380

Numerous "Click to Buy" transactions went by in a haze!

Stop posting these irresistible deals! You're feeding our addiction!

[DixieGal]

I just copied 5 of the 6 Locus nominees from Tor. But thaey are a special case, the best of the best, so it's OK. I can stop anytime.