SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Interesting article on the Tor website today

tsundoku = “a Japanese word for a stack of books that you have purchased but not yet read,” according to The New York Times.

CBRetriever wrote: "Interesting article on the Tor website today

tsundoku = “a Japanese word for a stack of books that you have purchased but not yet read,” according to The New York Times."

It's rude that they are spying on me like this.

oh, here's the link to the article

https://www.tor.com/2021/08/05/maybe-...

sorry, I was too interested in reading it. I am guilty of waiting and waiting for a book to come out and then waiting and waiting to read it

CBRetriever wrote: "I am guilty of waiting and waiting for a book to come out and then waiting and waiting to read it"

Me too. I always feel sure I'd read it immediately if it was already out, and then when it is out, I'm not in the mood anymore.

Anna wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "I am guilty of waiting and waiting for a book to come out and then waiting and waiting to read it"

I always feel sure I'd read it immediately if it was already out, and then when it is out, I'm not in the mood anymore"

Anna, I'm the same way!

My tbr/shelves could definitely use a thorough cleaning out. I have so many books at this point that I feel guilty reading new books that I'm excited about because what about all these other books? And books that I was originally excited about when I got have sat around so long they feel like a chore to read at this point.

at least with digital books, I don't have piles, but it's oh so easy to amass a good hoard of them

Digital and Audiobooks are the best really, you can have an infinite amount of books and there's no problem. On the other hand, my bookshelves are a great part of what makes my house a home. I don't care if a books waits years to be read, there's no hurry.

The problem is that I'm always afraid that I'll miss something if I don't add it to my TBR stash. Periodically I'll go through it and scratch my head over a book wondering why it's there. If I'm feeling particularly irritated, for whatever reason, while I'm looking through my list I tend to remove some of the books. But then I add some within the next day or two. I puzzle myself.

Or I really hate it when I'm in the mood for something new and I go to my TBR but nothing looks good. So then I buy something new that isn't in my pile from the Kindle store.

I must be getting contrary as a get older.

I don't need to add everything because as I have an idea of what I like I don't need to add a book I think I would probably not like to my TBR. I see this often on Booktube, people have to read all the hyped books but some hyped books won't be for you especially if you read a book by one author and really didn't like it or if the premise doesn't interest you at all. The internet gives people this "fear of missing" but this only leads to burn out and being overwhelmed.

Ha- I like the factoid about picking something and the other thing becoming less appealing. (Note to self, do not buy more than one book at a time!).

Part of it for me is, I do take comfort in knowing I have my own personal little library with plenty of unread things across genres. No matter what mood I’m in, there should be something for me to read.

I’d say ratio of read vs unread books in my house right now is about 50/50, but that may be wishful thinking. I do have more tendency to donate or sell the books I’ve already read. (So the unread ones probably outnumber read books.)

Last count I did with my daughter was close to 100 unread books in the house, not counting hers.

Since then... I have bought more books. 😫

It's an addiction!!

it's a separate hobby. collecting the hobby, using the hobby. consistently 2 very different yet intertwined pastimes

well, I do collect cookbooks = 4 bookcases worth of them

It's for this reason that I keep a small tbr list. I would quickly have a problem, and I truly want to read each book I add.

I have different (GR virtual) shelves for different priorities of library books.

I do have too many books in paper that I own, because I love visiting Little Free Libraries & sales hosted by Friends of the Library for serendipitous discoveries, but I'm working through them... a little bit faster than I'm finding them. If you don't count the STTOS or Animorphs collections that I'm intentionally hoarding for later, I have fewer than 100 than I would like to get out of the house before our next move.

That article brought to mind a few posters I ran across on some of the Amazon help forums: they never met a free book they didn't like or "purchase" immediately. The results were unwieldy libraries of 20,000-30,000 Kindle books. At 3 books a day, that would be 1095 books a year and would take 18 years to read all they have (20,000 used in the math).

I'm presuming both Nooks and Kobo devices have a few similar "collectors". It's totally mind-bogging to me.

Leticia wrote: "I don't need to add everything because as I have an idea of what I like I don't need to add a book I think I would probably not like to my TBR. I see this often on Booktube, people have to read all..."

I don't pay much attention to Booktube/Bookstagram/Booktok (or whatever iteration) as a whole, because it seems like most of the Booktube (at least that I've seen) is centered around YA/NA and I'm not much into that these days. Maybe that's the reason for the hype-train? I do follow 3 Booktubers whose reading and analysis style I like, even though they mostly read books I don't give a hoot about. LOL

That being said, I have no interest in wasting my time, money, physical or virtual shelf space, kindle space or MENTAL space on books that I know I'm not into. If I add a book to my TBR, it's because I am interested in reading it. I just may not get to it for a while. O_o

I went nuts with the free Kindle books when I got my first Kindle, but I've deleted almost all of them and only left the ones that I might be a tiny bit interested in. There's one exception! I'm still sad I didn't get all the Open Road Media SFF books when they were free. I only got 34 :D I've read one of them, they were free in December 2016. I'm still interested in all of them though!

Anna wrote: "I'm still sad I didn't get all the Open Road Media SFF books when they were free. "

Keep an eye on the Humble Bundles. It seems like they have a deal on a group of them once a year or every other year. They had one last November that i bought

I should probably read the ones I already have before I start looking for more! :D

Anna, that's the story of my life! Probably most of our lives!

Anna wrote: "I should probably read the ones I already have before I start looking for more! :D"

My next tattoo. :P

Things that help me keep my TBR under control:

1. I know that I have enough books that I could just reread for my whole life and still have great reading experiences, so there is no pressure to add to my TBR.

2. I will DNF a book quickly if it is aggravating me or feels like a chore.

3. I read Star Trek, Star Wars, and some other shorter series, so I will still have new books to read, even if I make no efforts to add things to a TBR list.

4. When I start or sample a book, I am looking for something that makes me say "ooh" in anticipation. Anything short of that has a harder time staying on the TBR or Currently Reading list.

5. I have nothing to prove as a reader and very little FOMO. I don't have to have the same experiences as others in my circles to have a rich reading life.

Another booktube trend I don't like is people unhauling tons of unread books. I don't get it unless you are moving to another continent and don't want to pay to move the extra weight. Even though it makes me cringe. If I have read a book and didn't like it I'll be fine donating it, but unread books?

I just checked, and I guess my TBR could be much worse. My read/TBR ratio is 1781/164. 164 is still a lot, though.

you're not bad, but I have a ratio of 2782/561, but I blame the Humble Book Bundles (367/165), especially the Drizzt books which I've slated to read next year. The other large chunks are under Baen, Tor and Other (StoryBundle, Gutenberg, and other free sources).

I'm doomed - I had it down below 480 at the start of the year. However as I usually read a lot (stats for the last few years), I haven't given up hope

2018 = 189
2019 = 351
2020 = 258
2021 (so far) = 148

These aren't all SF&F as I also read mysteries, history and an occasional biography/autobiography

I did some decorating recently and had to empty one of my cupboards of all my books. The shelves have bowed with the centre being more than an inch off the floor. Need to offload some books but my library is refusing donations at the moment.

used book store for trade in?

A women's shelter might take them, too.

I'd rather put them in the public domain as it were.

Never thought of a women's shelter...

stack them on a table in front of your house with a free sign?

Bookcrossing: https://www.bookcrossing.com/

BookCrossing is the act of releasing your books "into the wild" for a stranger to find, or via "controlled release" to another BookCrossing member, and tracking where they go via journal entries from around the world. Our community of 1,923,483 passionate, generous book-lovers is changing the world and touching lives, one traveling book at a time. We hope you join us!

That sounds cool! I'm not doing anything to attract people to my home though! XD

I have a fair few on my TBR, but I've decided that it's not a MBR (Must Be Read) list.

I now use it to remind me of things I thought I might like to read, and dip into it on occasion. Then I go and buy one if it piques my fancy in that moment. Which is in fact what I'm reading right now - something from that list that piqued my fancy.

It's Exit by Belinda Bauer, which is more a cosy mystery than anything else. I just felt like a change for a moment, and remembered a friend's review. And it's delightful. A few laugh out loud moments and I'm about halfway through. Apparently it's just what I needed right now.

Also hospitals and nursing homes/aged care centres Ryan. They need good books too.

My TBR pile is currently about 4 bookcases full. I did have 2000 books on my iPad but last week when I went to add a new one through iTunes it decided I only had 119 and deleted most of them. I did the thing to take it back to before and it did and then deleted them again. Bloody annoying. Took me three years to get that thing full. Anyhoo....

Hasn’t stopped me buying new books when I go to bookshops though no matter how many dead tree books I already have. In the last three weeks I’ve bought about 8 new ones.

As mentioned before...reading is one hobby and collecting books is another one completely. I’ve been more of a collector than a reader lately. Just getting ready for our proper retirement.

Ryan, try Little Free Libraries, too.
And paperbackswap if you have a wishlist.

Btw, I used to be a bookcrosser (still wear the hat) but so few ppl who find a book report on it that I don't bother registering my releases anymore.

Brandon, I agree; I too DNF or skim readily.

Another issue with a large TBR is deciding what to read next. I often default to my library books as they have due dates, but that means I rarely make any dent in the books I've actually purchased.

Just a stack? Does "tsundoku" have a plural form? What do you call a stack of tsundokus? What do you call a stack of those?

Christopher wrote: "Another issue with a large TBR is deciding what to read next. I often default to my library books as they have due dates, but that means I rarely make any dent in the books I've actually purchased."

So, I guess I am lucky that here in Croatia none of libraries lend Kindle books :o)

I have 6000+ titles, mostly from Amazon but also from Smashwords, HumbleBundle and StoryBundle, Gutenberg wtc, not counting articles sent from browser, back issues of dozen or so magazines (and Dead Tree Books, which I also keep although very rarely resort to (re)reading in their unwieldy, physical form)... At least half of those are yet to be read.

But I am retiring next year, so, TBR pile, here I come!

Bnz wrote: "... But I am retiring next year, so, TBR pile, here I come!"

I retired, well, quite a while ago now. Yes - I have more time to read. I also have more time to look for books I'd like to read. I don't think, overall, that being retired has helped shrink my TBR list at all. Hoping your experience there is what you want...

Raucous wrote: "I retired, well, quite a while ago now. Yes - I have more time to read. I also have more time to look for books I'd like to..."

you're just like me and finding this board didn't help either :)

I retired a number of years ago and started reading again but lately I haven’t been reading much at all. I’ve been making masks a lot and I haven’t been able to concentrate since my weight loss surgery. Reading is too much like hard work.

There is never too many books, just not enough shelf space.

Matt wrote: "There is never too many books, just not enough shelf space."

yes there is when you own a Kindle and only buy Kindle books. A few minutes ago, I was holding over 300 books in one hand

Great article. Like the author, I have tended to hoard paper books and only get e/audiobooks (mostly library borrowed) when I am ready to start reading them. And my TBR just keeps growing.

CB, not sure how to find that historic info of how large my TBR was at a point in time, but since I recently retired from accounting I also try not to allow myself to get sucked into spreadsheet/data analysis that I am no longer paid for. I mean, I try…I also fail.

I really like the idea of the anti-library. I too feel more comfortable decluttering/releasing books from my (too?) many bookcases if I have read them and decided they are unworthy of another read.

Liane wrote: "Great article. Like the author, I have tended to hoard paper books and only get e/audiobooks (mostly library borrowed) when I am ready to start reading them. And my TBR just keeps growing.

CB, no..."

if you put your books on Goodreads when you purchase them, then at the end of the year you can easily export them to a spreadsheet, delete the Read books and see your TBR status.

At the end of 2020, I had 574 TBR books and I've added 158 this year while reading from both the original TBR and the added 2021 books a grand total of 165 whole books and 3 novels from a few Delphi Compilations. Wow, I'm slightly eating into the TBR by a whole as I've read more than I added so far!!!

Sarah wrote: "Ha- I like the factoid about picking something and the other thing becoming less appealing. (Note to self, do not buy more than one book at a time!).

Part of it for me is, I do take comfort in kno..."

The personal, unread library really is the point of it all. If a moment seizes me and there is a mood to read a certain type of literature, I don't want to wait 1-10 days to acquire the scratch to my itch. (This is the rational explanation).

Really, though, there is an inability to limit the purchase of books when out and about, whether because of lack of control, a strong recommendation, or a discount shelf.

Discounts always get me! I can't resist a good sale.

Allison wrote: "it's a separate hobby. collecting the hobby, using the hobby. consistently 2 very different yet intertwined pastimes"

I wish you'd stop spying on me, Allison. 👀

More seriously, you're right, planning a project and actually completing a project are two different things, as well. A number of years ago I got into videogaming as a hobby, and doing the spreadsheet thing, as one does, I found that my bought vs. played videogames were about the same as my ratio on Kindle: somewhere between 1:5 and 1:6. (I'm neither a fast reader nor a fast gamer.)

CBRetriever wrote: "The results were unwieldy libraries of 20,000-30,000 Kindle books. At 3 books a day, that would be 1095 books a year and would take 18 years to read all they have"

Makes my 950-ish ebook collection look rather modest in comparison! I've even gotten "refunds" on most of the Kindle freebies that I subsequently decided I wasn't all that interested in reading, or that I took an immediate dislike to when I tried to read them.

Michelle wrote: "A women's shelter might take them, too."

There was a debate on twitter about a similar subject not long ago, and my received knowledge from librarians who joined the debate goes something like:

1. Don't donate a book if it's damaged, marked, moldy, etc.
2. Imagine whether you'd be happy if you received the book/s as a gift.
3. Nobody wants your old reference books or National Geographics.
4. Respect the wishes of the organization you want to donate to. Maybe if they won't take your cast-offs, they'll have an amazon wishlist or something like that, where you can donate items they genuinely want and need!
5. Literacy, and books, will survive if you recycle or dumpster a few. Or even all of them. :)

In any case, disposal of whatever kind, is definitely an issue for hoarders mood reader-collectors like myself. What to do with these videogames that quite rightfully went out of print....