Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[DragonRiderOz]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Hi! My name is Pooh. I am an ebook addict. I can't stop adding ebooks to my TBR list. I plan to be buried with my Kindle and a work light drop cord in my coffin - so I can have light and power to finish reading all the books I have bought/downloaded/acquired.

[memo: if I convert to Buddhism, will my ebook library follow me through my reincarnations?]

I’m Buddhist and hope so!

[pdurrant]

Ten months gone, and I'm averaging just under 6 books bought each month. My TBR has reduced by 116 books so far this year!

Ok, some of that is due to discarding books (esp. freebies) from my TBR. But on read:bought I'm still doing well: 95:58.

118 books read so far this year, so on track for 140 or so for the year. But my TBR is still far too high. Even if I bought nothing, I have over five years of reading in my TBR. I'd like to get that down to a year's worth.

[issybird]

I had a disastrous summer (July/August/September) and if people inferred it was due to the Kindle Summer Rewards program (and my weakness, of course), they’d be right. I was essentially back on track in October when I bought four books for a cash outlay of $4; I had expiring Google Play money that was used to buy two pricey books from my wishlist and bought two other books on sale on different platforms.

It won’t be a good year overall, although better than in the bad old days. I’m averaging under five books/month and $3/book on the year which doesn’t seem too terrible, but it’s still way too much given my TBR, which has just barely inched in the right direction.

Essentially, I need an entire reading revamp. The quality of my reading has tanked enormously and I ascribe it to the pandemic but that’s good for only so long until it turns into the new normal. I’m not getting nearly as much satisfaction from reading as I did in the before times. I have to think long and hard about reading goals for 2022 - but that’s a different thread, or will be.

[CAFlanny]

I'm doing better this month. I read 8 books from TBR, 2 from Kindle Unlimited. I only bought 3 books last month. TBR is 245. My goal is to get down to 50.

[poohbear_nc]

*snip*

Essentially, I need an entire reading revamp. The quality of my reading has tanked enormously and I ascribe it to the pandemic but that’s good for only so long until it turns into the new normal. I’m not getting nearly as much satisfaction from reading as I did in the before times. I have to think long and hard about reading goals for 2022 - but that’s a different thread, or will be.

I share your predicament - I spent the summer re-re-reading old favorites, and find it hard to finish new reads. So my purchases have plummeted

[issybird]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I share your predicament - I spent the summer re-re-reading old favorites, and find it hard to finish new reads. So my purchases have plummeted

That’s why the non-budging TBR is a measure of (lack of) satisfaction for me. I buy the books I really, really want to read, but I borrow the trash. And then I read the trash and get marooned in books I’ve bought, which are more challenging.

I think for next year perhaps I need a goal of reading only purchased books or classics. It needs to be tweaked and augmented, but that’s for starters.

[Tarana]

I did great on not acquiring in October - only 1 ebook and zero audiobooks (not counting freebees) although I did get 3 Diskworld books this morning. No guilt as I'm just acquiring those when they are on deep discount.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by issybird

That’s why the non-budging TBR is a measure of (lack of) satisfaction for me. I buy the books I really, really want to read, but I borrow the trash. And then I read the trash and get marooned in books I’ve bought, which are more challenging.

I think for next year perhaps I need a goal of reading only purchased books or classics. It needs to be tweaked and augmented, but that’s for starters.

Exactly! My purchases have primarily been pre-orders of books I really want to read, but when they arrive I start and drop them, returning back to old favs and trash - this summer it was cheap, badly written genre thrillers ...

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

Essentially, I need an entire reading revamp. The quality of my reading has tanked enormously and I ascribe it to the pandemic but that’s good for only so long until it turns into the new normal. I’m not getting nearly as much satisfaction from reading as I did in the before times. I have to think long and hard about reading goals for 2022 - but that’s a different thread, or will be.

Originally Posted by issybird

That’s why the non-budging TBR is a measure of (lack of) satisfaction for me. I buy the books I really, really want to read, but I borrow the trash. And then I read the trash and get marooned in books I’ve bought, which are more challenging.

I think for next year perhaps I need a goal of reading only purchased books or classics. It needs to be tweaked and augmented, but that’s for starters.

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Exactly! My purchases have primarily been pre-orders of books I really want to read, but when they arrive I start and drop them, returning back to old favs and trash - this summer it was cheap, badly written genre thrillers ...

I was limited to the library during the month we were moving because we had packed literally everything. I even packed all my e-readers just to keep them getting damaged. That definitely led to a downtick in my quality reading. But we've been in the house just over a month now, and I should be finished building out the bookshelves by the end of next week.

We even bought an additional couch and ottoman for the reading room, so I look forward to hitting my priority TBR list soon. I usually make a list of 100 or so every January and then just fill with lighter stuff (like reading Georges Simenone, etc.).

My wife is still buying one or two every week or so from our local book store to continue to keep them afloat in the pandemic and post-pandemic economy.

[DyckBook]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

[memo: if I convert to Buddhism, will my ebook library follow me through my reincarnations?]

Indeed. But the translation algorithm is still in beta.

[DNSB]

For October, my purchases were 63 books. Add in another 3 freebies and 6 library books.

For the second month in a row, I had a DNF freebie. The recommendation for it should have received an award for most imaginative short fiction.

I managed to end the month with 2 unread books, a most unusual situation.

[spacepope]

I was just thinking of a "No Buy November" for me and then popped across this thread!

My "unread purchased books" pile is getting a bit out of control, so I think it's time to tame it. It's pretty manageable at 17 books, but I'm going to work it down.

My goal is by the end of November to get it down to 13 books, or make a good dent. Some of the books I have are trilogies, and are pretty long...

The hardest part is going to be avoiding the daily deals section of Kobo's website. I look forward to peeking at it every day (that's how they get you I imagine)

[LDB]

I get a few daily deals emails. I look at them but I don't buy unless it's a wish list book or another in a series I like and only 99c or maybe $1.99 if it's high on a list.

I don't count accepting free books. That isn't buying as money is not changing hands.

[spacepope]

For me, I don't mind free books, they just generally stay on Calibre until I'm ready to read them. If I included "free books" in my pile I'd have hundreds of classics and giveaways. No way I'm stressing myself out about those, and I know I'll get to them eventually

As you said, no money changed hands. So I don't feel guilty not reading a free book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by spacepope

I was just thinking of a "No Buy November" for me and then popped across this thread!

My "unread purchased books" pile is getting a bit out of control, so I think it's time to tame it. It's pretty manageable at 17 books, but I'm going to work it down.

My goal is by the end of November to get it down to 13 books, or make a good dent. Some of the books I have are trilogies, and are pretty long...

The hardest part is going to be avoiding the daily deals section of Kobo's website. I look forward to peeking at it every day (that's how they get you I imagine)

Welcome to the thread. A TBR of 17 books if you read four+ books a month seems about right to me. Perhaps even a little low. But I suppose that depends on whether you are happy buying books full price.