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Bought and Unread Books

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Re: Bought and Unread Books

#21

Post by alok-g »

benatkin wrote: post #12

I try to do the opposite. I ignore the books I have when selecting the next book to read, and try to determine what's most important. Then, if I already have it, I'll read it, and if not, I'll get it. It takes a relatively long time to read a book, so it's worth it to me to get the one I want to read most, and pay for it if I have to.

Totally. The cost of the book is often so much less than the cost of the time spent reading it (am assuming a developed country's perspective here). So one should optimize for the time rather than the cost of ownership of the book.

I have a huge library of books (and I have read many of them), and still find pressing topics I need to know which are not covered by any of the books I have (and neither seemingly by the Internet at least till I discover some relevant keywords).

An additional thing is that I have read through the introductions of a lot more books, and that by itself gives a first understanding of the subject.

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#22

Post by trendoid »

benatkin wrote: post #12

I try to do the opposite. I ignore the books I have when selecting the next book to read, and try to determine what's most important. Then, if I already have it, I'll read it, and if not, I'll get it. It takes a relatively long time to read a book, so it's worth it to me to get the one I want to read most, and pay for it if I have to.

I think the main issue is that people ge excited about a topic and buy the book. They enjoy few chapters but soon they come across something more interesting on internet and then buy that book too. Almost all non-fiction has some boring bits which you just have to struggle through to reach interesting parts. Its in this struggle stage I find myself most vulnerable to start reading another book and leaving the current one. Do this for years and you end up having lots of unread books. I thought this is what OP was referring to.

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#24

Post by lesterbuck »

alok-g wrote: post #21
benatkin wrote: post #12

I try to do the opposite. I ignore the books I have when selecting the next book to read, and try to determine what's most important. Then, if I already have it, I'll read it, and if not, I'll get it. It takes a relatively long time to read a book, so it's worth it to me to get the one I want to read most, and pay for it if I have to.

Totally. The cost of the book is often so much less than the cost of the time spent reading it (am assuming a developed country's perspective here). So one should optimize for the time rather than the cost of ownership of the book. I have a huge library of books (and I have read many of them), and still find pressing topics I need to know which are not covered by any of the books I have (and neither seemingly by the…

There is the old quote about

"We can buy books but we can't buy the time to read them."

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#25

Post by salvadors »

brudgers wrote: post #19

"Many years ago," Gaspar said, taking out a copy of Moravia's The Adolescents and thumbing it as he spoke, "I had a library of books, oh, thousands of books -- never could bear to toss one out, not even the bad ones -- and when folks would come to the house to visit they'd look around at all the nooks and crannies stuffed with books; and if they were the sort of folks who don't snuggle with books, they'd always ask t…

See also Umberto Eco's Anti-Library, c/o Taleb:

“The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and non dull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with 'Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?' and the others - a very small minority - who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight read-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.”

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#26

Post by prawn »

WalterBright wrote: post #20

I have maybe 5 to 6 thousand books. Of course it's quite impossible to read them all. But it's fun sometimes to just poke through them, and there's never a shortage of "what do I take on the next airplane ride". I have maybe half of them scanned in. It's marvelous that I can carry this library with me on a trip, as it's about 75G.

Can you explain your scanning process? Are book scanners affordable?

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#27

Post by edanm »

I used to have a stack of unread books. I still do, but now everything is on the Kindle.

In fact, the Kindle has the best solution for this ever - every time I come across a book I want to read, I simply go to Amazon and click "Send Sample to Kindle". Then, I have a sample of the book on my Kindle.

Whenever I decide I need to read a new book, I open the Kindle and choose from the hundreds of samples that are there. If I like it, I also buy it.

This way, I don't have to pay so much money on books that I'll never read, but I still have them available for whenever I do get need to read a new book. Best of both worlds.

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#28

Post by prawn »

I don't buy as many books as I am gifted books. My in-progress pile is daunting and the count of unread books in the house dwarfs that.

Sadly, I don't think I've completed a book this year, only started more. When do people find the time? I drive, so the daily commute is out unless I turn to audiobooks. I have a young child, so the mornings and any time before 7pm are gone. Cooking and cleaning chew up a bit more time in the evening and I'm increasingly keen to get to sleep earlier than past years because the cat will wake me at 4-5am and then my son from about 6am. Not to mention social engagements and then weekends given to gardening, fixes around the house, etc. I don't really watch much TV, so there's little time to regain there.

I am interested in all the books in-progress and don't want to abandon any, so Fogus' tips don't help. I know someone who gets through audiobooks faster by playing at 1.5 speed, so maybe that would help...

Reading of people who get through a book every day or even a book a week absolutely amazes me.

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#29

Post by kabouseng »

prawn wrote: post #28

I don't buy as many books as I am gifted books. My in-progress pile is daunting and the count of unread books in the house dwarfs that. Sadly, I don't think I've completed a book this year, only started more. When do people find the time? I drive, so the daily commute is out unless I turn to audiobooks. I have a young child, so the mornings and any time before 7pm are gone. Cooking and cleaning chew up a bit more tim…

I am in much the same predicament as you. The only time I get to read my books is during holidays, and as such much of my holidays turns into reading holidays (even when not at home). Though with kids even that can get difficult.

Re: Bought and Unread Books

#30

Post by WalterBright »

prawn wrote: post #26
WalterBright wrote: post #20

I have maybe 5 to 6 thousand books. Of course it's quite impossible to read them all. But it's fun sometimes to just poke through them, and there's never a shortage of "what do I take on the next airplane ride". I have maybe half of them scanned in. It's marvelous that I can carry this library with me on a trip, as it's about 75G.

Can you explain your scanning process? Are book scanners affordable?

I use a fujitsu fi-5120c hopper fed scanner. It's a destructive scanner, i.e. you have to slice the spine off. 400 dpi gives a satisfying result.
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