Space Opera Fans discussion

Help me.

I've spent over a hundred quid of monies on books in almost two weeks! I can't help myself!

It started with books 5 and 6 of the Expanse - I haven't even read book 3 yet!

Then I found Burning Dark and the Machine Expanse cheap in Forbidden Planet.

From there I bought the Vagrant, Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, and the first 2 Spin Trilogy books. I still haven't even read Abaddon's Gate yet.

Then I bought the Ancillary trilogy and the Lazarus Gate trilogy.

God, I can't stop! Fortunately I'd sold a few tabletop rpg books to fund my addiction.

Then came Illuminae (didn't realise it was a kids book), CVagrant book 2, and The Collapsing Empire.

And now I've just bought Embers of War and The Promise of the Child and I'm considering Vagrant book 3 - haven't even read book 1 yet! I'm also considering Red Rising and the sequels to Darwin Elevator, which I bought a while back and haven't read.

I need help :D

What I used to do when money was tight was have a budget for “pocket money”. So much that I could spend each month on books, puzzle magazines, games, and other personal incidental items. I was quite firm with myself, but I had to be so that we still had enough to cover rent, food, etc.

These days I have a good salary and don’t restrict myself as much, but when I see books I’d like to have but that I won’t be reading this week, I put them on either an amazon wishlist or a goodreads “want to read” list. Then when I’m deciding what book to read next I check those lists to see what tempts me most. Or if I feel I’ve spent too much recently I go through my goodreads read list sorted by stars to find something great to reread.

It's not so much the money (for a change!) just the sheer amount of stuff I now have to read!

And I can't stop! I want the second 2 Dire Earth books, possibly Red Rising. The Amaranthine trilogy sequels, probably Eternity War after the Lazarus war books...the rest of the Expanse when it's out in paperback and the final Vagrant novel.

And I wouldn't mind picking up the Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson, although I've read those before years ago. I just don't own them anymore.

There's probably more as well; the final wayfarers book.

My god

Yeah, so.

I'm sorry. There's no cure for this disease. Welcome to the rest of your life - where you will have to push hard not to become a hoarder.

And just wait til you start buying the special editions...like this special signed edition of Red Rising .

My suggestion: Invest in good book cases, try not to get too excited...

And maybe join one of these TBR-Destruction challenges, lol.

In other words, buy two books and call me in the morning. ;-)

actually tbh i've never been one for collecting special editions and the like (not just with books either). I'm down with paperbacks and that's about it.

I don't have a cure for the addiction but do have some advice.
Don't go to work at a bookstore. I did that.
Possibly even worse for the addiction is volunteering at a fund raising shop or event where books are being sold. "I've heard this author is good. This looks interesting. It's for a good cause." The next thing you know you have more books. Possibly more books than you can carry at one time. I did that, too.

I have 10 pages of books listed on my Kindle, and 835 on my TBR pile.

I/we have to find a way to use the TBR to buy books when we're ready to read them, not when we're inspired to but them.

But not today...

I will direct you to a cartoon I posted a couple years ago:

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...

Trike wrote: "I will direct you to a cartoon I posted a couple years ago:

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/..."

Truth.

What the big deal, if you are not a collector then go digital and an unlimited membership or pay $0.99 per book without a membership.

Trike, that is a great cartoon! And it's not hoarding if it's books (haha).

Ghost wrote: "actually tbh i've never been one for collecting special editions and the like (not just with books either). I'm down with paperbacks and that's about it."


I used to not be into them, too.

Trike wrote: "I will direct you to a cartoon I posted a couple years ago:

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/..."

IKR? This is so me.

Good lord (i posted this elsewhere for some weird reason) it doesn't stop!

I just bought Sleeping Giants, Waking Gods, The Seven (not really SO), and Luna New Moon.

I restrained myself for Wolf Moon, until at least tomorrow.

I also picked up the Exodus Tower and Plague Forge second hand on Amazon. Despite owning theDarwin Elevator, I still haven't got round to reading it!

This is madness!

And then you get into characters and you have a prolific author who brings in other authors that you like, so a gift of 4 ebooks leads to me buying 18 more and I there are 31 with more coming out in the next few months. I promised myself that I would just live with waiting so another series I am reading one at a time through my 1x a month free kindle borrow - I hate waiting!!! Yes, I can join kindle unlimited but not all the authors I read are on there. In the meantime I collect free ones in case I run out of sci fi and mysteries to read and I have almost 500 books on my kindle that I haven't read but don't interest me because of some author's series.

At least, generally, published print books don't come out as quickly, so you spend more but not as many in one month.

There is no cure. I am not sure it requires a cure. It has no calories, no good or bad fats or cholesterol, no sugar - and I learn something new each day.

Lizzie wrote: "And then you get into characters and you have a prolific author who brings in other authors...There is no cure. I am not sure it requires a cure. It has no calories, no good or bad fats or cholesterol, no sugar - and I learn something new each day."

I love how much we learn from reading fiction. Science section of standardized test based on same science as SF book = qualified into honors science. Success in a notoriously tough history class, credit reading historical romance of the period. Comfortable at formal tea due to reading British cozy mysteries. More to learn, back to reading.

Ok NOW i'm going to stop.

Just had to pick up Revenger, Luna Wolf Moon, and Ninefox Gambit

So that's IT for now...after I pick up Raven Stratagem

Promise; this is all getting a bit self indulgent :D

I love this thread because it's me too. :D

A couple things:

1. Fun fact: bibliomania is a real psychiatric disease. Welcome to the ranks of the insane. We've even inspired books A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books
2. Buying books doesn't have to be expensive. When I was a college student with a limited budget I used to rock used booksales, abebooks.com, and other sources of used books. Or I'd go to my local library -- there's very little you can't request via interlibrary loan. This turns what can be a very expensive addiction into something a bit more manageable.
3. As addictions go, reading too much isn't a bad thing. You could be hooked on drugs, for instance.
4. It's important to take the time to actually read books. Books aren't just for decoration!
5. (See point 2) Used books can be sold again. If you are smart about how you do it, you can get some of your money back.

Enjoy, and welcome to our ranks!