Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think it unlikely that the ability to remove DRM from Amazon ebooks will disappear.

My TBR is now at 903, as I've spent £0.99 on an old Dick Francis novel. I read Proof ages ago, but I'd like to read it again sometime, and my Dick Francis paperbacks (& hardbacks) are long gone.

I thought you started the year over 1000? Wow, you've really knocked that down!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I thought you started the year over 1000? Wow, you've really knocked that down!

Yes. started at around 1018. But I've 'only' bought 55 so far this year, I've read 130, and discarded another 50.

The discards were for various reasons, some I found I'd already read, some I didn't want to read because of content, and some I didn't want to read because of the author.

Stopping my three SF magazine subscriptions helped.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Half is still progress! And it sounds like you've got a good grasp on it going forward! And honestly, I think many of us (not just on MR but globally) lost track of our goals and paths around April.

I admit I blame Covid. Also for the added avoirdupois!

Anyway (I'm rambly today, after-effects of last night's virtual Halloween party, maybe...) the benefit of me going through the Calibre process is the ability to weed out more stuff and also prioritize the "Hey! I really wanted to read that!" books, so I'm going to try to stick with it till it's done. Statistically, there must be a large amount of absolutely awful romance and erotica in that mess, and I stopped reading romance a few years ago. I'm not opposed to reading some of the decent romances, but I don't want this read-down to feel like punishment. Reading should not feel like flogging.

Heh. I usually phrase it, “reading is for love.” One has to internalize the sense of sunk costs; having spent money on a book is not sufficient justification for reading it. It is, however, justification for not spending even more money on more of the same and is why buying for inventory is not a very good idea. Tastes change. Certainly even with a few duds for the discard pile you might have saved money overall, but choosier pays off in the long run.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Yes. started at around 1018. But I've 'only' bought 55 so far this year, I've read 130, and discarded another 50.

Sigh. I’ve read slightly more and bought somewhat less, but my TBR is down only 24 books as library books, public domain and audiobooks don’t count toward my TBR reduction. Usually my books on the year break out roughly a third each: free (i.e., library and pd), audio and bought; my bought percentage is up this year, so I’m doing well with 24 at that. I’d be doing better if I’d bought less!

[pdurrant]

I've only added 9 freebies to my TBR this year, and I've also now read all of them. At the moment, I feel that if I'm not going to read a freebie almost immediately, there's little point in adding it to my TBR.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by issybird

Heh. I usually phrase it, “reading is for love.” One has to internalize the sense of sunk costs; having spent money on a book is not sufficient justification for reading it. It is, however, justification for not spending even more money on more of the same and is why buying for inventory is not a very good idea. Tastes change. Certainly even with a few duds for the discard pile you might have saved money overall, but choosier pays off in the long run.

To be fair, most of them were probably free. But it would take way too long to figure out how many. So I haven't really factored in the money cost, especially since over half of these are from 2013 and prior. I'm going in with the question, "Will reading this be a good or useful or enjoyable use of my time?" I'm also allowed to change my mind about a book at any point after I start reading it. Life's too short.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've only added 9 freebies to my TBR this year, and I've also now read all of them. At the moment, I feel that if I'm not going to read a freebie almost immediately, there's little point in adding it to my TBR.

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

To be fair, most of them were probably free. But it would take way too long to figure out how many. So I haven't really factored in the money cost, especially since over half of these are from 2013 and prior. I'm going in with the question, "Will reading this be a good or useful or enjoyable use of my time?" I'm also allowed to change my mind about a book at any point after I start reading it. Life's too short.

I did break the freebie habit. There’s nothing I want that’s going to be free (unless it’s free already, as in public domain) and I don’t see freebies anyway. I also agree that the price is irrelevant in terms of what you’ve already got; it’s more a case of avoiding more clutter down the line.

So I think we’re all in accord!

[LDB]

I guess I look at it like playing in the ball pool with my kids long ago. I wasn't going to touch nearly all the balls but their being there made the interaction with the ones I wanted to touch easier and more enjoyable.

Before you jump on me I know it is not the same thing, but it's the best analogy I have off the cuff. Putting more freebies in the TBR pool doesn't really hurt and if anything maybe makes it a bit better.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

I did break the freebie habit. There’s nothing I want that’s going to be free (unless it’s free already, as in public domain) and I don’t see freebies anyway. I also agree that the price is irrelevant in terms of what you’ve already got; it’s more a case of avoiding more clutter down the line.

So I think we’re all in accord!

Originally Posted by LDB

I guess I look at it like playing in the ball pool with my kids long ago. I wasn't going to touch nearly all the balls but their being there made the interaction with the ones I wanted to touch easier and more enjoyable.

Before you jump on me I know it is not the same thing, but it's the best analogy I have off the cuff. Putting more freebies in the TBR pool doesn't really hurt and if anything maybe makes it a bit better.

I can see it both ways. WAY back when I got my first e-reader (original Nook), Barnes and Noble gave away a book every week, and I always downloaded them, even though I would never read some of them. The only freebies I grab now are the ones Tor.com gives away every month. There is a very good chance that I or my wife will actually read whatever that is. I do have a number of beautifully formatted public domain books both from Mobileread and Standard Ebooks, and I do count those towards my TBR. But I also count all of the DTB books my wife buys towards my TBR just to keep myself honest in terms of my purchasing.

[ekbell]

I don't count free books as part of my TBR as my TBR was started as a means of tracking purchases and I don't want to guilt myself over my freebies.

Most of my freebies are from interesting 'free book of the month' offers, book recommendations that turn out to be in the Public Domain or books that turn up on the Faded Page home page. I admit I've picked some books that I have no desire to read due to the Open Media's recursive freebie (pick up a freebie, open the freebie and find freebie offer) but mostly they are books that I'd like to read if I had unlimited time.

[CWatkinsNash]

I am happy to report that my last library checkout has been finished and returned, and I am now reading two books (one fic, one non-fic) that I already owned. The effort has now begun in earnest.

[pdurrant]

My special ebook credit at Amazon was due to run out today (£5 fro a special offer last month), so now that I've seen the last daily deal, I've made my choices.

So three books bought so far this month, for £5.47, of which £5 was credit.

A good deal, and books I really want to read, very soon.

[DrNefario]

I just bought my first two books of November, too. One is fine, a book I'm going to read next, but the other is more dubious. It is a long-standing wishlist book that has dropped in price for the first time, but I'm still not likely to read it very soon.

That makes 31 purchases so far this year, which I'm pretty happy with, but it does mean I now need to read 62 books to meet my 2:1 target, and I'm slipping behind there. And that book I just bought to read next is over a thousand pages. I'll have to get started on some short stories and non-fiction that I can read in parallel.

[Tarana]

I'm doing well this month. Purchased 4 audiobooks and 2 ebooks. Most were part of series currently listening and in fact, I've already listened to 3 of the audiobooks. One ebook was part of TOR BOM and the other was book 1 of a series where I already have the rest of the books. Now I can start after I finish a series. Not so much true resistance on my part but a lack of good discount offerings.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

My special ebook credit at Amazon was due to run out today (£5 fro a special offer last month), so now that I've seen the last daily deal, I've made my choices.

So three books bought so far this month, for £5.47, of which £5 was credit.

A good deal, and books I really want to read, very soon.

I've been drawn in my Amazon again. This month they offered £3 credit for a £10 spend.

I wasn't going to fall for that. Not at all.

And then I realised that I'd already spent £4.97 during the qualifying period. If I spent another £5.03 or more today, I'd get a £3 credit next month.

£5 of books for £2 seemed too good to pass up, so I bought a book at £5.50 that I've had my eye on for nearly two years, and it hasn't budged in price.

Yes, I've fallen for it again. £16.34 spent last month, and now £15.94 spent this month. OK, £10.94 really this month, since £5 was credits.

But my average spend from February-September was just £7.45. Even including a rather disastrous January, my average spend was only £9.48.

Amazon certainly have my number!

[issybird]

Fortunately for my wallet and my resolve, the outlay on the similar US deal (spend $25, get $6) is so much higher that I think I’ll be able to resist. Not saying I couldn’t put together a deal from my wishlist that would get me just over $25 and I’ve got a highly desirable $5.95 book on my wishlist for that $6 credit, but I’ve already spent more than I ought this year when I’ve got so many unread books and the effective 19% discount if I keep the amounts tight, while attractive, isn’t overwhelming. There should be similar savings down the line.

The UK deal is so much better, both in lower outlay and higher discount.