So many books . . .

Paul_C

Paul_C

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Northampton UK
. . . so little time :)

Since signing up to the forum I've acquired a couple of hundred or so Sci-Fi books, mostly cheap second hand paperbacks and Kindle special offers.

If I add the books I currently own to my wishlist of well-regarded books and their authors, the total is over 500, and some of books on the list are merely a gateway to a huge number of books by the same author.

Despite this I've spent the last few days looking through another website full of lists of "Top" Sci-Fi books i.e. Top Stand Alone, Top Chinese, Top Hard Sci-Fi etc.

My latest list contains 77 books which don't already appear on my already "comprehensive" list of books to acquire. Somehow I get the feeling that no matter how much I spend or how fast I read I won't get close to reading more than half the great books out there, but it's fun trying !

:)
 
I have long since accepted the fact that no matter how much of my life I dedicate to reading I will inevitably die with the knowledge there are fantastic books I will never read...

Although this does also mean if I am selective I should likely be reading books I will enjoy and not second rate drivel!
 
Randy M. said:
So, you're saying forums like the Chrons are a gateway to reading?

Yeah. Pretty much. ("Pssssst! Hey ... hey, you, kid! I gotta book here for ya. Yeah, a real good one, you'll love it, and when you're done with it, there's more where that one came from.")


Randy M.
Click to expand...

In my case more of an encouragement to acquire more and more books, I've been a reader as long as I can remember (my Dad got me started well before I got to school) but having arrived here in search of authors I've missed out on over the years I can certainly say the Chrons has given me more than I had hoped for when I made my first post (and that was only last year, though I have browsed the forum once or twice in the past).
 
Back in the early 1960's I would never have this problem.
I had to troll every drugstore - five and dime- and the few bookstores there were just to find new books. The library was always the best source but other than the school library the library back then was pretty far to go. I hit every yard sale I could and my dad even brought boxes of books from auctions and estate sales. Around the mid 70s to early 80's I already had developed opinion about what I enjoyed reading and that narrowed my choices though the good news was that there were real bookstores then and more potential choices.

I think now with ebooks and hundreds-maybe thousands-of new authors I finally have reached a point where it's no longer a matter of finding a book as much as deciding which one I want to read presently.
 
Yes and no, Tinkerdan. I kinda miss the wall of books in the local drugstore where I'd likely see the latest from John Updike but end up buying the two volume pb of Arthur Machen stories. It kind of amazes me to recall you could buy Machen of A. E. Van Vogt or Charles Birken or Poe or Poul Anderson or ... in a drugstore.

(And then there were the bargain bins of books.)

Randy M.
 
Paul_C said:
In my case more of an encouragement to acquire more and more books, I've been a reader as long as I can remember (my Dad got me started well before I got to school) but having arrived here in search of authors I've missed out on over the years I can certainly say the Chrons has given me more than I had hoped for when I made my first post (and that was only last year, though I have browsed the forum once or twice in the past).
Click to expand...

Got it. Scratch "gateway"; insert "floodgate".

("Pssst! Hey, kid, turn this valve and watch the flow!")


Randy M.
 
I have always had a problem in that I buy far more books than I ever read. I am buying books at a much reduced rate this year than the previous two but still buying more than I read.

I just thought this was relevant to your post Paul_C:

My book purchases can be seen here:

2015 purchases
2016 purchases

:)

Tsundoku is alive and well.
 
I know the feeling! I keep buying books - I'll see them cheap on Kindle, or in second hand bookshops, and buy them because hey, I've heard that they're good or it's been recommended to me, and I can never resist a bargain. But I don't have nearly enough time to read the books I already have, never mind any more!

I keep a To Read list on Goodreads, and it's currently at nearly 600 titles - and I add more to it regularly.
 
So many books, so little time to read them.
I feel a bit like that famous Twilight Zone character.
Who can finely settle down and read all the books he wants to.
Only to break his reading glasses!
 
Same here, my TBR pile keeps growing. At the same time I find more and more bargains, both real books and ebooks, and I am compelled to buy them.
In Chrons I see books and authors I've never heard of, go seeking them, and stumble across another half dozen every time. Then, of course, I have to buy those ones too. Never ending.
Fat kid in a sweetshop with his birthday money syndrome
 
Terrible isn't it? I have tried not to buy any more but ..... plus there's a pile from the library!
 
I have 200 books in my paperback TBR pile and probably another 100 in my e-book pile.

I still buy books every year because:
  • They are tax-deductible where I am - I can buy quite a hefty lot of books and have that amount knocked off the total amount I enter for my tax returns.
  • I'd rather my money go towards supporting authors I love than go towards supporting the kleptocracy that rules the country I am in now.
  • Too much temptation at my local bookshop, book fairs etc.
 
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