Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread - Page 257

DrNefario · 04-27-2016, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Oof. I've just bought a new paperback, and in one hit have spent more money than in any single whole month so far this year.

It's not even a long book.

Because of this one book, it's looking like April might be the first month of 2016 where I spent more than the cost of the books I've read.

I have actually bought two more books this month, both also paper books (so I guess I'm doing OK on the exact title of the thread), but both second-hand, so significantly cheaper.

On the other hand, the total value of everything I've read still doesn't add up to the £8.99 I spent on that one paperback.

I am almost in a position where I could read that book - provided I break my own rule about not reading back-to-back books in the same genre - but I don't know if I'm quite going to manage it before the end of the month.

DrNefario · 04-28-2016, 08:33 AM

Ah, never mind all that. I'm just making extra rods for my own back. I'll just read what I was planning to read, and make a notional loss this month.

Tarana · 04-29-2016, 10:42 AM

Bought 3 audiobooks of a series I've listened to for a long time. Two of them were older titles marked down to $6, while the very latest was marked down to $11. No ebooks purchased this month. Next month, I have to decide if I want to continue any of my magazine subscriptions. Stuff starts coming due for renewal in early June.

pdurrant · 05-01-2016, 04:09 AM

1st May! One third through the year, and well over half way through my book budget. But Apil was pretty good. Only £4.27 spent.

But I've already spent £9.27 in May. All of my subscriptions come out this month!

DrNefario · 05-01-2016, 06:37 AM

I bought no ebooks in April.

I still only narrowly made a net gain on my TBR, because of freebies, loans and pbooks, but still, it's a start.

Yolina · 05-01-2016, 08:00 AM

I've already bought a couple of books today

one was 99p and the other £2.49, far from terrible for my bank balance but not helping my TBR... I also have a pre-order that's released later this week and there's my Kindle First and Samsung freebies, plus I'll have to pick my Kindle library book for the month.

Going to try to not buy anything else until next month

Tarana · 05-05-2016, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yolina

I've already bought a couple of books today

one was 99p and the other £2.49, far from terrible for my bank balance but not helping my TBR... I also have a pre-order that's released later this week and there's my Kindle First and Samsung freebies, plus I'll have to pick my Kindle library book for the month.

Going to try to not buy anything else until next month

You can BE STRONG!! I did get a Kindle First selection. I debated because I haven't yet gotten to the OTHER two books in this series. and... was tempted and broke down to get this month's Pheonix offering (5 books - $8). I'm still under $100 for the year, which is far less than last year, but still - more TBR than I can get to this year. Anyway, for the rest of the week, I'll be able to focus on some older, yet not listened to audiobooks.

Valentino · 05-07-2016, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Because of this one book, it's looking like April might be the first month of 2016 where I spent more than the cost of the books I've read.

I have actually bought two more books this month, both also paper books (so I guess I'm doing OK on the exact title of the thread), but both second-hand, so significantly cheaper.

On the other hand, the total value of everything I've read still doesn't add up to the £8.99 I spent on that one paperback.

I am almost in a position where I could read that book - provided I break my own rule about not reading back-to-back books in the same genre - but I don't know if I'm quite going to manage it before the end of the month.

Reading that stressed me out...

DrNefario · 05-07-2016, 05:11 AM

I still haven't read that book. It's the SF Masterwork edition of Man Plus by Frederik Pohl, which I wanted for 1976 in my chronological SF challenge, but I couldn't start it until I'd read my 1975 book, The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K Le Guin, which was a collection of (I think) 17 shorts, and since I'm also reading one short story a day, it was pretty much always going to take me about 17 days for that one.

I was due to be reading Man Plus now (well, I'd probably have finished it, since the one I started instead is quite a bit longer) but ended up picking something else, partly by accident.

It was a stupid thing to worry about, to be honest. It was only after the fact that I noticed that I (a) had not read more books than I'd gained every month but (b) had read a greater value of books than I'd bought each month. It was stupid to then decide to make target out of (b).

I did read more than £8.99 in April, but I'd spent more by then and still fell short.

issybird · 05-07-2016, 08:44 AM

I'm late to the month-end round-up; time to take a meeting!

It's my usual mixed bag. After having bought five books per month for the first three months of the year, a last-minute expiring credit from Amazon pushed my April total to six. I spent $18 for the month, which also bumped up my average; I've now spent $58 for the first third of the year. The April issue was that old bugaboo of spending money to save money; I had several coupons that needed to be used and I had to top them off. I only bought wishlist books; so it goes.

My year-to-date totals are trivial compared to the splurgey years, but my ongoing problem remains that I'm still buying them faster than I read them, given so many alternative sources for books. The encouraging aspect is that I don't expect more coupons to land in my inbox, so with luck I'll start to chip away a bit in May.

The real lesson is that while I've gotten far more selective in my purchases, I need to tighten the noose more. No matter how good the deal, if I never get to it, it's money wasted.

CRussel · 05-07-2016, 09:08 AM

I was doing fairly well - buying only books I had planned to buy, next in series by favourite authors, when I read an absolutely rave review of The Vital Question on Bill Gates' blog. And in a mad impulse, immediately bought it, despite the $16 price tag. BAD. I should at LEAST have checked the library! OTOH, it's a book I really think I should read, and I think my DW will read as well, so not a bad purchase so much as an unplanned one. And one that I might have avoided had I checked the library. Sigh.

issybird · 05-07-2016, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

BAD. I should at LEAST have checked the library!

You think those impulses are squelched, and then! Eternal vigilance, sigh.

The one thing I'll say about my overbuying so far this year is that there's really only one book that I wouldn't buy if I had to do it over again. I don't know if this is progress or a sign that I'm still not on board with reality. Some of both, most likely.

pdurrant · 05-07-2016, 04:52 PM

I think it's certainly progress to be able to look back over recent book purchases and not regret any of them. I'm not quite there yet.

CRussel · 05-08-2016, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think it's certainly progress to be able to look back over recent book purchases and not regret any of them. I'm not quite there yet.

I'm close. Mostly I don't regret the books, just the purchase of them.

Especially when I discover the book on Overdrive. AFTER the purchase.

issybird · 05-08-2016, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think it's certainly progress to be able to look back over recent book purchases and not regret any of them. I'm not quite there yet.

The problem is that I need to regret more, if I'm ever to get my purchases in line with my reading rate. I already know the odds are that I'll never feel like reading this one regrettable book; there will always be something I'd rather read. But I need to apply that standard more stringently! No matter how much I think I'll want to read something, the reality is that many books I own will never be read if I don't stop buying. Or so the actuarial tables would have me believe.

Of course what I should really do is go on an all-out moratorium, but I'm not there yet, either. Speaking of which, however, I did resolve on a moratorium on pbook purchases for the first half of this year and while I fell off the wagon once, early on, I've managed to keep to it since. Last year I bought pbooks at the rate of one every two weeks, so I'm quite pleased to have bought only one in four months (and one week) so far this year. I think I'll end up extending the moratorium through December.

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04-28-2016, 08:33 AM	#3842
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,207 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	Ah, never mind all that. I'm just making extra rods for my own back. I'll just read what I was planning to read, and make a notional loss this month.

04-29-2016, 10:42 AM	#3843
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,040 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Bought 3 audiobooks of a series I've listened to for a long time. Two of them were older titles marked down to $6, while the very latest was marked down to $11. No ebooks purchased this month. Next month, I have to decide if I want to continue any of my magazine subscriptions. Stuff starts coming due for renewal in early June.

05-01-2016, 04:09 AM	#3844
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,080 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	1st May! One third through the year, and well over half way through my book budget. But Apil was pretty good. Only £4.27 spent. But I've already spent £9.27 in May. All of my subscriptions come out this month!

05-01-2016, 06:37 AM	#3845
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,207 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	I bought no ebooks in April. I still only narrowly made a net gain on my TBR, because of freebies, loans and pbooks, but still, it's a start.

05-01-2016, 08:00 AM	#3846
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	I've already bought a couple of books today one was 99p and the other £2.49, far from terrible for my bank balance but not helping my TBR... I also have a pre-order that's released later this week and there's my Kindle First and Samsung freebies, plus I'll have to pick my Kindle library book for the month. Going to try to not buy anything else until next month

05-07-2016, 05:11 AM	#3849
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,207 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	I still haven't read that book. It's the SF Masterwork edition of Man Plus by Frederik Pohl, which I wanted for 1976 in my chronological SF challenge, but I couldn't start it until I'd read my 1975 book, The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K Le Guin, which was a collection of (I think) 17 shorts, and since I'm also reading one short story a day, it was pretty much always going to take me about 17 days for that one. I was due to be reading Man Plus now (well, I'd probably have finished it, since the one I started instead is quite a bit longer) but ended up picking something else, partly by accident. It was a stupid thing to worry about, to be honest. It was only after the fact that I noticed that I (a) had not read more books than I'd gained every month but (b) had read a greater value of books than I'd bought each month. It was stupid to then decide to make target out of (b). I did read more than £8.99 in April, but I'd spent more by then and still fell short.

05-07-2016, 08:44 AM	#3850
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,341 Karma: 234636059 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	I'm late to the month-end round-up; time to take a meeting! It's my usual mixed bag. After having bought five books per month for the first three months of the year, a last-minute expiring credit from Amazon pushed my April total to six. I spent $18 for the month, which also bumped up my average; I've now spent $58 for the first third of the year. The April issue was that old bugaboo of spending money to save money; I had several coupons that needed to be used and I had to top them off. I only bought wishlist books; so it goes. My year-to-date totals are trivial compared to the splurgey years, but my ongoing problem remains that I'm still buying them faster than I read them, given so many alternative sources for books. The encouraging aspect is that I don't expect more coupons to land in my inbox, so with luck I'll start to chip away a bit in May. The real lesson is that while I've gotten far more selective in my purchases, I need to tighten the noose more. No matter how good the deal, if I never get to it, it's money wasted.

05-07-2016, 09:08 AM	#3851
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 was doing fairly well - buying only books I had planned to buy, next in series by favourite authors, when I read an absolutely rave review of The Vital Question on Bill Gates' blog. And in a mad impulse, immediately bought it, despite the $16 price tag. BAD. I should at LEAST have checked the library! OTOH, it's a book I really think I should read, and I think my DW will read as well, so not a bad purchase so much as an unplanned one. And one that I might have avoided had I checked the library. Sigh.

05-07-2016, 04:52 PM	#3853
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,080 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	I think it's certainly progress to be able to look back over recent book purchases and not regret any of them. I'm not quite there yet.

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