Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread - Page 302

Alohamora · 03-14-2018, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNefario

"But it's only £8 and it's for charity" has a lot to answer for.

Uh huh. Like those cookies I bought at lunch aren't going to add to my waistline because it was a charity fund raising bake sale. Right.

C-novice · 03-16-2018, 11:28 PM

I had not thought of myself as an e-book addict even when I have accounts at sites I can not even remember until I saw old receipts in my inbox. I toss nothing out including ebooks I got from public domain. I would buy at least two or more books each week (and that's being modest).

I got a credit card just for book purchases and nothing else.

I have 1570 books in Calibre, read about 1000 of those. More than a 1000 on one e-reader having read over 900 of those. Then there are the other e-readers I haven't paid any attention to in more than 2 yrs -they are now gathering dust.

I created wish lists on my most fave e-book sites and one on Calibre -not many books on those lists. They totaled about 60 books.

. . . and more than 2000 hard copies filling 4 good sized bookshelves in my house. My kid once skeptically said to me "I hope you know that the people who wrote more than half those books are long, long dead". I retorted, "that means they are antiques and when I'm dead you get to sell them for more than tuppence."

About a year ago, I began to think I am buying books just for the sake of buying them because I sometimes don't read them right away.

I would like to think I've slowed down a bit. I first check my library for a title. Get it, read it, return it. No guilt.

Sometimes it works sometimes not. I decided to stick with only 3 or 4 sites. Use my library more and buy and use the site's own gift card instead of the 'dedicated' credit card.

Reading is such a fun thing, I just can't see my life without it. 'Cause as I write this a couple books on my pre-ordered list are now available.

Are we hopeless book / reading addicts then?

pdurrant · 03-17-2018, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C-novice

Are we hopeless book / reading addicts then?

Some people have managed to cut back on purchases. So there is hope.

Just keeping track is the first step. I was astonished by the number of unread ebooks I found I had, once I'd got everything into calibre.

HLS · 03-17-2018, 09:25 PM

I just bought Alan Alda's book Don't get your dog stuffed and its actually a good book so far.

pdurrant · 03-19-2018, 06:59 AM

I'm finally back to zero change in my TBR for 2018.

The worrying thing is that this year I don't really regret any of my purchases so far.

Apache · 03-19-2018, 07:17 AM

I would worry more if I bought books and later regretted reading them.
Apache

pdurrant · 03-19-2018, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I would worry more if I bought books and later regretted reading them.
Apache

But if I'm happy about all my purchases, how am I going to reduce my buying in the future?

I suppose it's a lot better than not having anything to read.

HarryT · 03-19-2018, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But if I'm happy about all my purchases, how am I going to reduce my buying in the future?

Why do you want to reduce your buying? Having "too many books" seems like a strange concept to me; I may have (no, I do have) more books than I can possibly read in any reasonable human lifespan, but more books give me more choice of what to read - there's no requirement to read every book that one owns!

pdurrant · 03-19-2018, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why do you want to reduce your buying? Having "too many books" seems like a strange concept to me; I may have (no, I do have) more books than I can possibly read in any reasonable human lifespan, but more books give me more choice of what to read - there's no requirement to read every book that one owns!

Really? I suppose that certainly applies to reference books. One doesn't need to read through the whole book, just know what is in it that one might want to look up.

But I have every intention of reading every fiction book I buy.

It's just that I've bought about 1,000 more than I've read, so far.

I don't mind having a reasonable selection, say 50-100. But 1,000 is just too much!

montalex · 03-19-2018, 05:40 PM

Many years ago, in a land far from here, I worked in an independent bookstore. I was underpaid, of course, but received a decent discount on books. Also, in those days before computers, book publisher representatives would regularly visit the store to hawk their wares and to make sure missing titles were reordered. I'd get some freebies. I was young and trying to read myself an education so I accumulated many books, some in hardcover boxed sets (The Oxford Complete Works of Jane Austin!). When I moved out of state, I left around 2,000 books in my mother's basement, taking only enough to read for several lifetimes. When my mother sold her house, I had to go and extract the books. THere was no way I could transport them to my new home in Canada, so I borrowed a van and drove to a local used bookstore, which was closed. It was a fine, sunny Sunday, so I just opened the boxes and left them on the street for passersby to scavenge. It felt liberating!

Jump forward several years, and I now have almost 4,000 ebooks on my computer. my Calibre book folder is regularly backed up to a couple of usb drives. I hope I can afford an ereader and a computer when I'm in the old-folks home. If not, there's always the paper book library...

pdurrant · 03-19-2018, 05:46 PM

Moderator Notice

MobileRead does not condone piracy. Giving away paper books that you obtained legally is fine. Giving away copies of in-copyright ebooks is not.

montalex · 03-19-2018, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

MobileRead does not condone piracy. Giving away paper books that you obtained legally is fine. Giving away copies of in-copyright ebooks is not.

I just edited my post. Sorry about that.

Tarana · 03-19-2018, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C-novice

Are we hopeless book / reading addicts then?

We're not hopeless, but we can do some steps. I don't have a 12 step program though. For ereaders, I recommend selling off the ones you haven't used in 1 year. Why? The batteries will just go dead. My brother ruined a perfectly good Kindle Keyboard simply by not charging it for 2 years. Complete waste. Either sell or give away ereaders you are not using. (let's not mention my current ereader glut - it's a long story).

Next, separate out your paper books - ones you've read vs. ones you have not read. Among those you have read, give away or sell those that are not beloved. You'll never reread the others and you'll save your family a lot of anger having to do this after you are gone.

Among those you have not read - separate out those that don't really appeal to you now. Make a plan to read ONE of those each month. Pretty soon you will find out that you don't want to waste your time on things that no longer appeal to you and it will help you pitch them so that you can focus on books you do enjoy now.

Something my sister and I both found helpful is to have a couple of bookshelves and eliminate books until ALL the books fit on the bookshelves available. No more books on the floor, in cupboards, in the closet.

I'm not sure that we can stop buying, but I've gone from accumulating over 150/year to about 80/year. Since I read about 100-120 books a year, my TBR will dwindle slowly. To stop the buying, read large sections of this thread for tips and suggestions. Maybe something will work for you.

I found it easier to cut ebook purchases by tracking what I buy as Paul mentioned. Helps when you realize just how many books you've accumulated and how long it will take you to read all of those. I feel no guilt over the free books though - other than sometimes they encourage me to get an audiobook. I sort them and stuff while I'm hanging on hold on the phone. Hope some of this helps.

Fbone · 03-20-2018, 08:41 PM

So far this year I read 13 books and purchased 5.

The breakdown is:
6 Purchased
6 Library borrows
1 Freebie

My TBR number is down one at the moment. This I can live with.

issybird · 03-21-2018, 07:36 PM

Counting WIPs, my TBR YTD is down 15. I've bought five books and read/am reading 20 purchased books. The rest of the books I've read are public domain or OverDrive or audio. It's a long, slow process!

I do feel as if I've got the ebook purchasing addiction under control, so as Tarana alludes to above, my biggest issue right now is getting the pbooks out of the house. I wouldn't want a bookless house and I won't get rid of favorites, but I need to do some serious weeding. I'm also trying to read the unread pbooks, but vision issues are a hindrance. I need to buy some stronger readers; I'm spoiled reading ebooks where I can adjust the font to my acuity.

03-19-2018, 05:40 PM	#4525
montalex Fanatic Posts: 556 Karma: 1283268 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: KindleDX,Kindle 4, Kindle Keyboard 3G	Many years ago, in a land far from here, I worked in an independent bookstore. I was underpaid, of course, but received a decent discount on books. Also, in those days before computers, book publisher representatives would regularly visit the store to hawk their wares and to make sure missing titles were reordered. I'd get some freebies. I was young and trying to read myself an education so I accumulated many books, some in hardcover boxed sets (The Oxford Complete Works of Jane Austin!). When I moved out of state, I left around 2,000 books in my mother's basement, taking only enough to read for several lifetimes. When my mother sold her house, I had to go and extract the books. THere was no way I could transport them to my new home in Canada, so I borrowed a van and drove to a local used bookstore, which was closed. It was a fine, sunny Sunday, so I just opened the boxes and left them on the street for passersby to scavenge. It felt liberating! Jump forward several years, and I now have almost 4,000 ebooks on my computer. my Calibre book folder is regularly backed up to a couple of usb drives. I hope I can afford an ereader and a computer when I'm in the old-folks home. If not, there's always the paper book library... Last edited by montalex; 03-19-2018 at 07:09 PM. Reason: better not to say...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
[Old Thread] Support for Elonex 511EB	RobPope	Devices	4	04-15-2011 04:31 PM
November Announcements & Support Thread	jenifer.ezread	Astak EZReader	0	11-01-2010 05:06 PM
Hello fellow eBook addicts...	apriluofa	Introduce Yourself	14	09-26-2010 12:37 PM
NEWBIE 1st Thread PSP SUPPORT	bigike	Calibre	2	04-15-2010 10:30 AM
Hello eBook-addicts! I'm from Morocco ;-)	mimochal	Introduce Yourself	10	03-05-2010 08:49 PM

03-16-2018, 11:28 PM	#4517
C-novice ReadingZealot Posts: 164 Karma: 11818 Join Date: Oct 2014 Device: kobo ARC, Samsung Tab4	I had not thought of myself as an e-book addict even when I have accounts at sites I can not even remember until I saw old receipts in my inbox. I toss nothing out including ebooks I got from public domain. I would buy at least two or more books each week (and that's being modest). I got a credit card just for book purchases and nothing else. I have 1570 books in Calibre, read about 1000 of those. More than a 1000 on one e-reader having read over 900 of those. Then there are the other e-readers I haven't paid any attention to in more than 2 yrs -they are now gathering dust. I created wish lists on my most fave e-book sites and one on Calibre -not many books on those lists. They totaled about 60 books. . . . and more than 2000 hard copies filling 4 good sized bookshelves in my house. My kid once skeptically said to me "I hope you know that the people who wrote more than half those books are long, long dead". I retorted, "that means they are antiques and when I'm dead you get to sell them for more than tuppence." About a year ago, I began to think I am buying books just for the sake of buying them because I sometimes don't read them right away. I would like to think I've slowed down a bit. I first check my library for a title. Get it, read it, return it. No guilt. Sometimes it works sometimes not. I decided to stick with only 3 or 4 sites. Use my library more and buy and use the site's own gift card instead of the 'dedicated' credit card. Reading is such a fun thing, I just can't see my life without it. 'Cause as I write this a couple books on my pre-ordered list are now available. Are we hopeless book / reading addicts then?

03-17-2018, 09:25 PM	#4519
HLS Wizard Posts: 2,027 Karma: 15107670 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Sage, Scribe, Boox Note 2 Plus, iPad Pros and Samsungs S6,S7,S8	I just bought Alan Alda's book Don't get your dog stuffed and its actually a good book so far.

03-19-2018, 06:59 AM	#4520
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,504 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I'm finally back to zero change in my TBR for 2018. The worrying thing is that this year I don't really regret any of my purchases so far.

03-19-2018, 07:17 AM	#4521
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,137 Karma: 89858112 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I would worry more if I bought books and later regretted reading them. Apache

03-19-2018, 05:46 PM	#4526
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,504 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Moderator Notice MobileRead does not condone piracy. Giving away paper books that you obtained legally is fine. Giving away copies of in-copyright ebooks is not.

03-20-2018, 08:41 PM	#4529
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,189 Karma: 100500000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	So far this year I read 13 books and purchased 5. The breakdown is: 6 Purchased 6 Library borrows 1 Freebie My TBR number is down one at the moment. This I can live with.

03-21-2018, 07:36 PM	#4530
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,225 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	Counting WIPs, my TBR YTD is down 15. I've bought five books and read/am reading 20 purchased books. The rest of the books I've read are public domain or OverDrive or audio. It's a long, slow process! I do feel as if I've got the ebook purchasing addiction under control, so as Tarana alludes to above, my biggest issue right now is getting the pbooks out of the house. I wouldn't want a bookless house and I won't get rid of favorites, but I need to do some serious weeding. I'm also trying to read the unread pbooks, but vision issues are a hindrance. I need to buy some stronger readers; I'm spoiled reading ebooks where I can adjust the font to my acuity.