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Book-o-holic

scrapsandsass

scrapsandsass

Oh Ricky you're so fine ...
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
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I think I really need a 12-step program for my book addiction. It has really gotten crazy lately. I currently have 29 books checked out, 20 on order (no knowing when they will arrive... arrival roulette), 3 e-books checked out, and 3 to read/review on NetGalley. And my pre-order of Stephen King's book hit my kindle last night. I told my daughter that I need to figure out a routine/schedule so I can maximize my reading/sleeping time. Ugh.

And there really aren't any bad ones in the bunch.

Does anyone else have this crazy problem?
 
scrapsandsass said:
Does anyone else have this crazy problem?
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I used to. Then I had kids. LOL/COL. But on the bright side, DS is now 4 and old enough to "read" next to me for perhaps 5 or 10 minutes, so I have started reading more. :) I don't have that many on order but that's cuz, as I posted late last month, we're on a spending freeze (more like "hard frost" lol, now that we have a good idea of what our triggers are). I've got about 10 books checked out from the digital library, including The Circle, which I've started and am trying to get into (it's not that I don't like it; it's that I just don't have a ton of time to devote to reading it and I'd rather have a big chunk of time to read a big chunk of the book, ya know?). As far as the digital books: I start one, and if I LOVE it, then I keep reading. If I don't like it then I return it. And if I love it but don't finish it, then it's easy to add it to my Holds list again.
My library has a section that's a 7-day checkout for new books. There are no holds, no transfers, and a dollar-a-day late fee. I read Miller's Valley that way. It was great! And recently I checked out Eligible that way cuz I thought I'd love it but I really didn't like it, so I'm glad I didn't just buy it! But I haaaate knowing I have to go to the library in a week's time (it's not close and I hate driving here. Give me 6-lanes-each-way Houston 610 Loop traffic to these backwoods 2-lane roads any day! At least Houston traffic moves rotfl). But, bad traffic aside lol, it's a nice way to get new books. I can't spend $20+ on a new hardcover anymore, I just can't. (I used to buy books then give them to my mom to read and pass on to her friends.)
So, yes, I have a problem: too many books, not enough time or money. :faint2
 
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Yes. Bookbub has been my greatest setback. I hate to pass up a cheap read if it looks good. And now (thanks to you miss @scrapsandsass ), I have pending reviews on Netgally... Ha! So many books, so little time...... I need a twelve step program too.
Close the reader, step away, - wait let me finish this chapter.....
 
I'm pretty good at utilizing the library and their Overdrive audio/ebook service. It sure saves me on late fees!! When I do buy a book I hit up the local used book store and the awesome independent book store downtown. In fact, I'm going to an event at the bookstore tonight. It's their yearly bookclub festival. They'll give us a bunch of recommendations and each employee does a quick little book talk about them. It's fun!
 
Kindle has killed me. So many books, all so easily accessible. Have just started going back to the library again so that's something. Have just gotten 4 books out - have two books I have purchased, a couple on Kindle/google play that I haven't finished and am nearly finished with my latest audio book (Last Train to Istanbul - really good!). Yep, addiction is one word for it, I prefer dedication...

(and @scrapsandsass , I am always adding to my TBR list because I see what you are reading on Goodreads and think that looks interesting, must add that one - it's more like a guide on how to read more books than breaking the habit :giggle)
 
Tree City said:
My library has a 7-day checkout for new books. There are no holds, no transfers, and a dollar-a-day late fee.
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Wow... your library is hardcore. Our library has a 21-day checkout for any book. If it isn't on someone else's waiting list (or a "lucky day" book), you can renew it up to three times, and then there is a $.15 per day late fee. I admit that sometimes I just keep a book an extra day or two so I can hurry and finish because it is so inexpensive. They also let you run up to $10 in late fees before they put a block on your account. The holds/requests is what is killing me. I have about 16 that are still on hold and had 25 previously. There is no way to tell when you are going to get the book, so I have a bunch on hold and then all of a sudden, you have 8 books arrive at the library pretty much all at once (which is what happened this week). Same with e-books. We have a statewide online library for ebooks that goes along with your city library, and then the county library has a separate ebook library, separate accounts, different books, etc. So you can have books on hold there, books on hold through the state e-library and then the physical library. It gets kind of crazy.

Lindzee said:
Yes. Bookbub has been my greatest setback. I hate to pass up a cheap read if it looks good. And now (thanks to you miss @scrapsandsass ), I have pending reviews on Netgally... Ha! So many books, so little time...... I need a twelve step program too.
Close the reader, step away, - wait let me finish this chapter.....
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I'm glad you checked out NetGalley! :) Fun stuff. There is no rhyme or reason to their acceptance or rejections, but I've gotten quite a few good books so far through them.

enjoyyourpix said:
In fact, I'm going to an event at the bookstore tonight. It's their yearly bookclub festival. They'll give us a bunch of recommendations and each employee does a quick little book talk about them. It's fun!
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Did you find any cool new books to read? That sounds like such a cool thing. That is the weird thing about where I live. We don't have any bookstores. None. I think there is a gross musty used "bookstore" up just out of town, but it was basically just a hoarder with old icky books who turned it into a "shop" so I avoid it. I have to drive quite a bit to get to Barnes & Noble... or there is a Half-priced Books quite a drive from us as well. I don't really have a book budget anymore, so the library is now my new best friend. :)

KarenW said:
Kindle has killed me. So many books, all so easily accessible. Have just started going back to the library again so that's something. Have just gotten 4 books out - have two books I have purchased, a couple on Kindle/google play that I haven't finished and am nearly finished with my latest audio book (Last Train to Istanbul - really good!). Yep, addiction is one word for it, I prefer dedication...
(and @scrapsandsass , I am always adding to my TBR list because I see what you are reading on Goodreads and think that looks interesting, must add that one - it's more like a guide on how to read more books than breaking the habit :giggle)
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Same here. You guys are killing me. Goodreads has really pushed my reading in the last couple of years. I find book lists out on the internet, but a lot of them end up having the same books. But when I go to add something I run across in a list to Goodreads, I end up finding at least ten others. It is crazy. And then I see books you guys are saving to read or reading and then there are another half dozen books added to my list. LOL. It is really a brilliant platform for books. :giggle

You guys rock!!!!
 
Based on my reading behavior as a child and teenager, I would have guessed I'd be a bookaholic adult, but I seem to have trouble reading if I don't have large chunks of time to devote to it, like Sara @Tree City said. And I resisted setting goals for reading until this year because it felt silly having been a former avid reader. But I finally did set a goal this year, and what do you know, it seems to have led me to focus more on it and I'm finally reading novels again! Still not as much as when I was young, but it's progress.

Sara, that's wonderful you and your son sit for 10 minutes and read together. It shows him the joy of books too.
 
scrapsandsass said:
Wow... your library is hardcore. Our library has a 21-day checkout for any book. If it isn't on someone else's waiting list (or a "lucky day" book), you can renew it up to three times, and then there is a $.15 per day late fee. I admit that sometimes I just keep a book an extra day or two so I can hurry and finish because it is so inexpensive. They also let you run up to $10 in late fees before they put a block on your account. The holds/requests is what is killing me. I have about 16 that are still on hold and had 25 previously. There is no way to tell when you are going to get the book, so I have a bunch on hold and then all of a sudden, you have 8 books arrive at the library pretty much all at once (which is what happened this week). Same with e-books. We have a statewide online library for ebooks that goes along with your city library, and then the county library has a separate ebook library, separate accounts, different books, etc. So you can have books on hold there, books on hold through the state e-library and then the physical library. It gets kind of crazy.
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Sorry, it isn't ALL new books that have the 7-day checkout limit: it's just the "first come first served" books (maybe what you call "lucky day" books?). I think they pick the big bestsellers, like After You (the sequel to Me Before You) or the newest "Robert Galbraith" book. They also have non-lucky day new releases, which you can put holds on but it can take FOREVER to get a book. Same thing online: there are currently 34 people ahead of me for When Breath Becomes Air! My state is small but apparently we're all readers. :confused: We don't have a county digital library because it's actually the digital library for our whole state. (Like I said: we're small.)

@michelepixels I used to "read" (and then actually READ lol) with my dad. He's a big reader, and I do think you're right: it's good for a child to see his or her parent reading. :)
 
You are right, @Tree City . Sounds like the same type of thing. But we still get 21 days with the lucky day books. At least it isn't a 7-day limit with all of your library books. Sheesh! That would stink. :)

Our city library is really awful. They either just don't ever have books or their online catalog system doesn't work right. It is only a couple of blocks from me, but I go to the county library in the neighboring city to get all of my books.

We have the same issue with the holds. I was excited because usually by the time I get around to requesting at the library, they are like that... 52 people ahead of me or something. But I figured out that our library catalog has an "on order" section, so I went through that and put holds on a few books. Most of them already had holds, but for The Firemann by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son), I am actually first on the list once the library gets it in stock. Yay! But that's what gets me into so much trouble... the hold list. I am on the waiting list and am #6 out of 20 and then all of a sudden, I get an alert that it is ready along with two other books that were way down the list. Like what happened to the other 5 people? I guess it must be multiple copies or whatever, but it always throws me off. :giggle
 
No bookstore? @scrapsandsass, that makes me sad!

Yes! I bought 3 new books last night. I'm excited to read them. I'm headed out of town next week and should have lots of sitting and waiting time. I'm looking forward to reading them!

I picked up:

The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan.

A Master Plan for Rescue by Janis Cooke Newman.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. It just released to paper back. The author read from the book and was just adorable and funny. Here I am with him signing my book.

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It's winter here and knowing i get ' frozen mouse hand', for loss of a better phrase, scrapping at night (becos we tend not to run heating at all), i end up reading more at night in winter than scrapping and the backroom is even too cold to sit and watch tv, so reading with the electric blanket on is an easy winner. I'm reading less actively atm because i know i get more 'fitbit steps' if i have music going rather than audiobooks and so my 'audioreading' is down to only a few hours a week from a few hours a day. Don't get me wrong, i still want all the books and to read all the books but i guess i'm one step into the program!
 
I'm a total book-a-holic too. Your online libraries sure seem larger scale than mine though. We can only have 7 books on hold at any one time and I think I can only check out 5 at a time, which is actually fine because I can't read that many in the 2 weeks I can have the book anyway. You can choose to check out the books for 7 or 14 days and almost never can renew them. If there isn't anyone waiting next in line, you can renew, but otherwise it automatically returns at the end of the 1 or 2 weeks. I wish I was a faster reader so I could plow through more books!

I also totally love Goodreads. I don't know how i survived without it. I completely rely on the ratings at Goodreads to help me pick the next book to read and I love that I can keep track of what I've read. I swear without that i would end up reading the same books over and over again because sometimes I used to start a book and then realize a few chapters in that I'd already read it. Whoops! :giggle
 
Our "statewide" online library only lets you have 5 holds at a time and 5 ebooks checked out. The county is insane and lets you have 20 holds and 30 ebooks checked out at a time. It is like that with the actual books too. I think you can have 100 checked out at one time. LOL. I guess if you have a huge family full of readers, that would work, but as fast as I read, I'm struggling to juggle at the moment. :giggle
 
Our physical library allows 100 books at a time after you've had your card for a year. The digital library allows you to check out 7 books and put a hold on 10. But you have unlimited "wish list" items, so if my Holds list is full then I just add a book to my wish list. And you can see what books on your wish list are currently available, so that's nice cuz I can either check out a book or add it to my Holds if there's a spot.
And I just logged onto the digital library to see how many people are waiting for The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah... there are 10 copies and 28 people waiting per copy. That's 280 people ahead of me! It's on sale today on Amazon; I figure $2.99 is a small price to pay so I don't have to wait over a year before getting it from the library. :waiting
 
Our library only lets us have 5 books out and 5 on hold at one time. The e-library is the same. We can renew the paper versions of the books but not the e-versions. A couple of times, I have had too many e-books come in at once and haven't been able to read them all in the allotted time, so I ended up having to put the book back on hold again! I love to read but I haven't been reading as much lately as I did the past few years.
 
This thread made me count... Oh dear..... next to my bed I currently have. 18 books that are what I call "must reads". On a shelf above the bed I have 9 "should read if I get time". On the Kindle cloud I have 14 unread books including Light of the fireflies. I don't even want to count the books on my hubby side of the bed,most of which will eventually end up on my" to read" pile too,but it is a lot!
My name is Vivi and I'm a bookaholic.
 
Lately I've felt like I'm just a book hoarder. I've had such a hard time getting into reading! But I have 599 books on my kindle to read, plus 52 books on my library wish list (25 of those I have holds on). Not sure why I've been in a reading slump, but I want to get out of it!
 
My library online tells me what number I am on the wait list for each book, and I think it will allow me to "freeze" a hold for a while. It lets other people on the wait list have the book, but you don't have to completely lose your place in line.

I'm not a book-o-holic. I'm not very good at seeking new books to read, usually I resort to things that my mom recommends. My step mom is a voracious reader, and she passes them all on to my mom, so that is where my mom gets all her books.

Often I'll hear non-fiction discussed on radio shows, so then I will put them on hold at the library. But I usually only have one or two books checked out at a time. But I do often use the expectation of an on-hold book to get me to finish up what I'm already reading.
 
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