Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[DrNefario]

Hmm, I'd still have stuck to just book 1, myself. I like to pretend. (I do like Sanderson, but I'm not at all interested in the Alcatraz books, should I be?)

I find that after a rocky period I am now 4 books ahead of my TBR again. This seems to mean I am casting around for something to buy, because I've "earned" it. Never mind that I have 1200 other unread books already.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That was a good buy. A series you really wanted by an author you like, on a 70%+ discount.

It's to be able to buy such offers that we try to practise restraint at other times.

Yeah, like getting a book on sale by some random author I've never read isn't good. But Sanderson is a favorite and it was heavily discounted...so it was a good buy I think.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Hmm, I'd still have stuck to just book 1, myself. I like to pretend. (I do like Sanderson, but I'm not at all interested in the Alcatraz books, should I be?)

Did you read one of them and not like it?

It is a Sanderson book, that means if you like his writing style there is a very good chance you will like that specific series as well... but that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot decide that you just don't enjoy one particular work of his.

[DrNefario]

What I meant was that I now try to avoid buying more than one book ahead in any series, no matter how good the deal is. I'm not that great at keeping to this policy, but I increasingly think it's a wise policy.

With the Alcatraz books specifically, I guess they just don't seem to be on my radar. They don't appear to get the same attention as his other work.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

With the Alcatraz books specifically, I guess they just don't seem to be on my radar. They don't appear to get the same attention as his other work.

They are intended for children. That doesn't mean they won't be enjoyable, but that's probably why you haven't heard of them. (I hadn't either.)

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

They are intended for children. That doesn't mean they won't be enjoyable, but that's probably why you haven't heard of them. (I hadn't either.)

Yup I know they're children's books. Maybe comparable to Harry Potter.(fantasy books for children but adults can read them too)

[Tarana]

I'm trying really hard to break the 'sale' habit. I have a bunch of stuff now that I'm selling on ebay that I bought on sale and never really used including cookbooks and craftbooks. On the other hand, the argument that it will always be there hasn't really played true either. Much of the Morland series (Harrod-Eagles) was pulled, put back, pulled again due to georestrictions and changing contracts. The worst for me, of course, is those darn $1.99 audiobooks when you get the ebook for almost nothing.

I have actually returned a couple of books (and even an audiobook) this month. Hopefully, Amazon won't seek to bash me, but I did return them within a couple of hours after reminding myself - when the heck are you even going to read that?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

What I meant was that I now try to avoid buying more than one book ahead in any series, no matter how good the deal is. I'm not that great at keeping to this policy, but I increasingly think it's a wise policy.

My policy is different -- if there is a series I know I will read, I seize the opportunity to grab the whole set at a discounted price.

I try to make up for it by avoiding things that aren't on sale.

With the Alcatraz books specifically, I guess they just don't seem to be on my radar. They don't appear to get the same attention as his other work.

They had publisher issues.
He has finally finished off the series after a long hiatus.

[CRussel]

After several serious disappointments, I've moved back to the "only buy the next when I'm ready to read it, or it's hugely on sale." And never buy more than one more. I've had several series where they started out very promising, the characters looked interesting, and the sale price was really good. But by the time I got to the third or so in the series, I knew it was a loser. Doesn't matter how good the price, if I'm never going to read it, it's just wasted money.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Did you read one of them and not like it?

It is a Sanderson book, that means if you like his writing style there is a very good chance you will like that specific series as well... but that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot decide that you just don't enjoy one particular work of his.

I think I know what he means. I love The Stormlight archive books, but was dissatisfied with The Mistborn books. I personally think that the latter are a waste of space. But then. I consider The Way of Kings as the best book I've ever read.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

My policy is different -- if there is a series I know I will read, I seize the opportunity to grab the whole set at a discounted price.

That's what I used to tell myself, but when I look back on the things I've bought ahead, and work out how many of them I have actually read, the figures don't look that great. The problem, as ever, is that I was buying deep into series faster than I was reading them, no matter how convinced I was that I would definitely read them. It's a simple question of maths, and trying to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.

I reckon that if they've been on sale once, they'll probably be on sale again, and even if not, I'd probably still be saving overall if I bought the next book at full price when I wanted to read it.

Although even limiting myself to just the next book in a series (which I'm not even that good at), I am probably still buying too many series.

[pdurrant]

For a new series with a new author I'm trying to resist series buying. Even at £0.99 a book, a series adds up to a lot of money, which is not worth the risk if I'm not certain I'll enjoy them.

What I will do is buy up a series that I've read and enjoyed (in paper) if it comes up on a special offer. In fact, I mostly resist buying old favourites in ebook form unless they're available at a very good price indeed.

[DrNefario]

If I've read it in paper it doesn't go onto my TBR.

(Although the chances are I am not going to re-read it anyway. I hardly ever do. At least it will let me get rid of the paper version.)

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

For a new series with a new author I'm trying to resist series buying. Even at £0.99 a book, a series adds up to a lot of money, which is not worth the risk if I'm not certain I'll enjoy them.

What I will do is buy up a series that I've read and enjoyed (in paper) if it comes up on a special offer. In fact, I mostly resist buying old favourites in ebook form unless they're available at a very good price indeed.

Exactly. Why I bought a BUNCH of Georgette Heyer books when they were on sale AND there was a 90% multiuse coupon. And also a bunch of Alexander Kent books. (They're not as good as the O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin, but they're still quite enjoyable.)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Arrgghhh. I was having a really bad week, and I just succumbed to Retail Therapy and bought the new Oasis. I know I don't need a new Kindle, but I _wanted it_. And no, I don't really have buyer's remorse, but I do feel like I let down the side a bit and succumbed to my (undoubted) addiction.

Shouldn't be a problem if you can afford it without problems. I've had the same with the Aura ONE.

I've started e-reading again on a Kindle Touch in 2011. No light, and only 6 inch, were the only two real drawbacks of the KT. The font customization of the Kobo's was just a wannahave. Then the KPW1 was released the year after, and I bought it on release date (in Germany), because of the front-light.

In general, I've been happy with it, except for the fact that after one of the firmware updates, Amazon messed up the font sizes; often size 4 is too small now, and size 5 for the same book is too big.

The next four years, all releases were 'meh'. Functionality added that I didn't want or need. Marginal, tiny improvements (imho) to existing functions and features. Then the Aura HD came out, and I was interested, but got deterred by the weird backside it had. Then the H2O was released, and I was interested even more.... but decided that the 6 -> 6.8 inch step was too small.

Then the Aura ONE came out, and I've ordered it as soon as it appeared in Dutch stores. I literally had bookmarked some pages of different stores where I normally buy, and I ordered as soon as one of them went from 'pre-order' to 'in stock'.

I admit it: with the KA1, I was *greedy*, and it has paid off. After being able to work around the bugs in full screen mode, I now positively *LOVE* this device. (Maybe I'll re-install the Font Freedom patch to be able to test more fonts.)

I will be using this reader for a long, long time... the only way I can see myself going back to Amazon is when they release an 8 inch Kindle, with more fonts and font weight customization.

(I don't care for any extra functionality. Facebook, Twitter, on-reader store, library, Push, Pocket, games, browser, highlighting, annotations, Wordwise, X-Ray... all are useless to me, though I can understand other people may want them.)