Why do you keep buying more e-books?

Katsunami · 05-08-2016, 04:56 PM

As with most of us here, my TBR is big enough for at least the next 25 years, or if I would read everything I bought (thus reading each and every novel, play, and biography in the Delphi Classics, for example), my TBR would probably extend beyond my projected life span.

Still, I sometimes buy a new book, or start reading a public domain book that was previously not on the list. I can understand that: monkey see book, monkey read book (if it's interesting), moving it to the top of the TBR pile.

However, there probably are people around here who have thousands of books already, one or more subscriptions such as Baen or Robot Trading Company, AND library cards, who are still actively buying and seeking out new books.

What I'd like to know: if you have so many books already that you can't possibly read all of them, why do you still buy more? (And I don't mean one book to read right now because you feel like it, but by the batch; be they free or paid, that doesn't matter.)

And there are people around here doing just that, or there wouldn't be an e-book addiction self-help thread

Does e-books set people to hoarding, in a way paper books (mostly...) don't, just because they don't take any extra physical space?

DiapDealer · 05-08-2016, 05:12 PM

I don't have a formal TBR. I acquire* ebooks to immediately read--one at a time, usually.

*That's not code for "steal." I mean buy or download for free legally.

NickyWithNook · 05-08-2016, 05:36 PM

If one goes on sale cheap that I've been wanting to read, I get it, even if it might be a while before I read it. Hmm, not so much now because I have Scribd but sometimes.

Free ones I just get if they look like I would read them regardless of my TBR list. I read what I want when I want. I don't care about the list.

pidgeon92 · 05-08-2016, 05:53 PM

I've slowed down on my acquisitions a lot. Now I only buy a book if I really, really want to read it, and it falls under $5.99. I used to grab anything from my wishlist if it came below $5.99, now I re-read the description and think about the odds that I'm ever going to actually read it. I don't think I'm going to outlive the TBR pile I have of books I already own.

murg · 05-08-2016, 05:58 PM

It's a sickness, I tell you, a sickness.

Historiann · 05-08-2016, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murg

It's a sickness, I tell you, a sickness.

You'll get no argument from me on that point. In addition to being a sucker for books on sale, I keep buying because I have a fear of somehow being stranded without something to read. What happens if I'm stuck at home for a long period b/c of illness or some disaster that cuts me off from the outside world? Suppose I'm traveling and get stranded en route? Now, neither of these scenarios has ever come to pass nor is it likely to, but I always make sure my kindle is well-stocked. Before I acquired an e-reader, I bought paper books. My house is filled with them and I used to always have extras in my luggage when I traveled. Thank goodness that was in the days before airlines charged baggage fees and began enforcing weight limits.

poohbear_nc · 05-08-2016, 06:21 PM

Ebooks are the ultimate 'impulse buy' for readers -- they take up no room in your house, your ereader doesn't get too heavy to carry around, and you never have to hunt for something to read.

Plus those annoying comments from jealous friends/relatives about your 'decorating with books' become fewer ...

issybird · 05-08-2016, 06:24 PM

The triumph of hope (i.e. that I'll actually get to them) over experience.

pwalker8 · 05-08-2016, 06:58 PM

I would say that my new purchases fall into a couple of categories.

First, new books that I read right away.
Second, replacing dead tree books with ebooks.

The vast majority of my purchases right now are the later. I read a lot faster than my favorite authors can write. Of course, I still have a day job as well as teach at night, so I expect that once I retire or stop teaching, I'll have a lot more time to read. I don't think that having too many books to read will be an issue.

barryem · 05-08-2016, 07:08 PM

I have a lot of books already, more than I can ever read, so when I buy one it's usually because it improves my selection. When it's time tor pick my next book I have another one to choose from that seems a likely candidate.

Yes I waste money on books I'll probably never get to but it's pretty hard to feel bad about that. If it is a sickness it seems to me to be a good one that I hope I don't get over.

Also as Nicky said, when something I think I'll probably read goes on sale I'm likely to buy it. I've read all the 87th Precinct books, for example, mostly decades ago and I'm sure I'll eventually read them all again. I have several and when another goes on sale I buy it. I'm reading them in order now, about 3 or 4 a year. I'm only 76 so I'm pretty sure I'll have time to get through the next 40 or 50.

Barry

Barty · 05-08-2016, 07:35 PM

There are plenty of ways to rationalize it. Like: it's something you want to read NOW. It's on sale. Nice to have choices when deciding what to read next. Etc.

Then there are the sub rational reasons, which may be the real driver for most of our behavior.

Like: Hoarding instinct. It makes sense when you come across something to collect it as you don't know if it'll be there when you need it. From there, it is easy to lapse into just acquiring things.

Like: being over optimistic in estimating how much you can read, or for that matter, how long you'll be around to read it all. Maybe it's a hedge against mortality. (I always think of the scene in Moonstruck where the Olympia Dukakis character tells a womanizer something like "you know no matter how many girls you sleep with, you're still going to die, right?")

Like: we're socially conditioned to take what's given and then more. Up until age three or so, children will just stop eating when they're full. If you try to give them more food, they'll turn their face away or spit it out. When they get older they'll tend to eat what's put in front of them. A good way to trick yourself into eating less is to just use smaller serving dish.

Like: your brain digs it. We're always hearing how X is like heroin. Chocolate is like crack. Shopping is like crack. Which is ridiculous and of course not true, except in so far as chocolate and crack both light up some of the same reward pathways in your brain. Point and click shopping just makes it too easy to get that little dopamine hit. Having it pop right up into your reader? Potent. And if that isn't enough for you, throw in 3G so you can get your fix anywhere any time

cats2books · 05-08-2016, 08:08 PM

I have become much more selective in my ebook purchases. I found that when I had too many books to choose from it was difficult to make a choice. It's just easier to make a decision when there are fewer choices.

4691mls · 05-08-2016, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't have a formal TBR. I acquire* ebooks to immediately read--one at a time, usually.

*That's not code for "steal." I mean buy or download for free legally.

Same here. I have only a few (less than half a dozen) purchased but as yet unread ebooks.

The rest of my TBR is in the form of wishlists on Overdrive and ebook stores. I won't buy or borrow them until I'm ready to read them.

Hemmi · 05-08-2016, 09:24 PM

I consider ebooks a much better addiction than paper books. They take up no physical room in my home and I can delete them from my ereader and forget them if they're bad. Unlike a paper book where I used to regularly haul home boxes and then haul boxes of them out to Goodwill or the library booksale. Much less effort with an ebook.

I only buy books on sale or with a gift card. Freebies, I'll pick up if they sound interesting but I don't care if I read them or not. I never know what I'll be in the mood to read next, nothing better than having 300 books at my fingertips to choose from.

cromag · 05-08-2016, 11:31 PM

I have a pretty modest TBR, most of which are freebies -- I do read even the freebies.

If I see something I want to read right now and it's on a limited time sale I'll buy it. Otherwise, I'll only buy a book if it's at a good price and I either specifically want that book or it's part of a series I'm interested in.

05-08-2016, 04:56 PM	#1
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Why do you keep buying more e-books? As with most of us here, my TBR is big enough for at least the next 25 years, or if I would read everything I bought (thus reading each and every novel, play, and biography in the Delphi Classics, for example), my TBR would probably extend beyond my projected life span. Still, I sometimes buy a new book, or start reading a public domain book that was previously not on the list. I can understand that: monkey see book, monkey read book (if it's interesting), moving it to the top of the TBR pile. However, there probably are people around here who have thousands of books already, one or more subscriptions such as Baen or Robot Trading Company, AND library cards, who are still actively buying and seeking out new books. What I'd like to know: if you have so many books already that you can't possibly read all of them, why do you still buy more? (And I don't mean one book to read right now because you feel like it, but by the batch; be they free or paid, that doesn't matter.) And there are people around here doing just that, or there wouldn't be an e-book addiction self-help thread Does e-books set people to hoarding, in a way paper books (mostly...) don't, just because they don't take any extra physical space?

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05-08-2016, 05:12 PM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,545 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I don't have a formal TBR. I acquire* ebooks to immediately read--one at a time, usually. *That's not code for "steal." I mean buy or download for free legally.

05-08-2016, 05:36 PM	#3
NickyWithNook Guru Posts: 748 Karma: 3942770 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite (Don't use Nook anymore)	If one goes on sale cheap that I've been wanting to read, I get it, even if it might be a while before I read it. Hmm, not so much now because I have Scribd but sometimes. Free ones I just get if they look like I would read them regardless of my TBR list. I read what I want when I want. I don't care about the list.

05-08-2016, 05:53 PM	#4
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	I've slowed down on my acquisitions a lot. Now I only buy a book if I really, really want to read it, and it falls under $5.99. I used to grab anything from my wishlist if it came below $5.99, now I re-read the description and think about the odds that I'm ever going to actually read it. I don't think I'm going to outlive the TBR pile I have of books I already own.

05-08-2016, 05:58 PM	#5
murg No Comment Posts: 3,238 Karma: 23878043 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!	It's a sickness, I tell you, a sickness.

05-08-2016, 06:21 PM	#7
poohbear_nc Now what? Posts: 58,794 Karma: 135181808 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Ebooks are the ultimate 'impulse buy' for readers -- they take up no room in your house, your ereader doesn't get too heavy to carry around, and you never have to hunt for something to read. Plus those annoying comments from jealous friends/relatives about your 'decorating with books' become fewer ...

05-08-2016, 06:24 PM	#8
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,208 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	The triumph of hope (i.e. that I'll actually get to them) over experience.

05-08-2016, 06:58 PM	#9
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	I would say that my new purchases fall into a couple of categories. First, new books that I read right away. Second, replacing dead tree books with ebooks. The vast majority of my purchases right now are the later. I read a lot faster than my favorite authors can write. Of course, I still have a day job as well as teach at night, so I expect that once I retire or stop teaching, I'll have a lot more time to read. I don't think that having too many books to read will be an issue.

05-08-2016, 07:08 PM	#10
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I have a lot of books already, more than I can ever read, so when I buy one it's usually because it improves my selection. When it's time tor pick my next book I have another one to choose from that seems a likely candidate. Yes I waste money on books I'll probably never get to but it's pretty hard to feel bad about that. If it is a sickness it seems to me to be a good one that I hope I don't get over. Also as Nicky said, when something I think I'll probably read goes on sale I'm likely to buy it. I've read all the 87th Precinct books, for example, mostly decades ago and I'm sure I'll eventually read them all again. I have several and when another goes on sale I buy it. I'm reading them in order now, about 3 or 4 a year. I'm only 76 so I'm pretty sure I'll have time to get through the next 40 or 50. Barry

05-08-2016, 07:35 PM	#11
Barty doofus Posts: 2,517 Karma: 13036221 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	There are plenty of ways to rationalize it. Like: it's something you want to read NOW. It's on sale. Nice to have choices when deciding what to read next. Etc. Then there are the sub rational reasons, which may be the real driver for most of our behavior. Like: Hoarding instinct. It makes sense when you come across something to collect it as you don't know if it'll be there when you need it. From there, it is easy to lapse into just acquiring things. Like: being over optimistic in estimating how much you can read, or for that matter, how long you'll be around to read it all. Maybe it's a hedge against mortality. (I always think of the scene in Moonstruck where the Olympia Dukakis character tells a womanizer something like "you know no matter how many girls you sleep with, you're still going to die, right?") Like: we're socially conditioned to take what's given and then more. Up until age three or so, children will just stop eating when they're full. If you try to give them more food, they'll turn their face away or spit it out. When they get older they'll tend to eat what's put in front of them. A good way to trick yourself into eating less is to just use smaller serving dish. Like: your brain digs it. We're always hearing how X is like heroin. Chocolate is like crack. Shopping is like crack. Which is ridiculous and of course not true, except in so far as chocolate and crack both light up some of the same reward pathways in your brain. Point and click shopping just makes it too easy to get that little dopamine hit. Having it pop right up into your reader? Potent. And if that isn't enough for you, throw in 3G so you can get your fix anywhere any time

05-08-2016, 08:08 PM	#12
cats2books Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 140 Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: New York, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 11, iPad Pro 12.9 and 9.7	I have become much more selective in my ebook purchases. I found that when I had too many books to choose from it was difficult to make a choice. It's just easier to make a decision when there are fewer choices.

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05-08-2016, 09:24 PM	#14
Hemmi Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,348 Karma: 15987608 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: Sonys, Nooks, Kobo Libra, Forma, Mini, Paperwhite	I consider ebooks a much better addiction than paper books. They take up no physical room in my home and I can delete them from my ereader and forget them if they're bad. Unlike a paper book where I used to regularly haul home boxes and then haul boxes of them out to Goodwill or the library booksale. Much less effort with an ebook. I only buy books on sale or with a gift card. Freebies, I'll pick up if they sound interesting but I don't care if I read them or not. I never know what I'll be in the mood to read next, nothing better than having 300 books at my fingertips to choose from.

05-08-2016, 11:31 PM	#15
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 24,272 Karma: 459220161 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	I have a pretty modest TBR, most of which are freebies -- I do read even the freebies. If I see something I want to read right now and it's on a limited time sale I'll buy it. Otherwise, I'll only buy a book if it's at a good price and I either specifically want that book or it's part of a series I'm interested in.