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Tsundoku

en.wikipedia.org

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Re: Tsundoku

#11

Post by jhallenworld »

jagger27 wrote: post #2

Guilty as charged. My stack is mostly out-of-date programming tomes that were worth reading when I bought them. I also have a collection of Audible audiobooks that I bought to spend my built up credits before cancelling.

Hah, this happened to me when I cancelled Audible. My solution was to use the remaining credits for the first four of the The Wheel of Time (14 novels long). But now I'm addicted and had to sign up for Audible again.

Also the credits expire, even when you are signed up.

(Also, as far as physical books, you should see my basement... Buying technical books was a business expense when I was self-employed).

Re: Tsundoku

#13

Post by noob_dev »

phenkdo wrote: post #6

I usually buy books all excited about a topic I love (history or behavioral economics etc.) but they just pile up. Work pressure and exhaustion during the week and family stuff on the weekend is overwhelming any reading time :(

totally same. Have like books ranging from bartending to philosophy and never finishing it.

Re: Tsundoku

#14

Post by pmiller2 »

newnewpdro wrote: post #7

Somewhat related; when a friend bought his first home, he filled bookshelves in the living room with books that were popular in his circles as part of decorating and a means of social manipulation. He never had and likely never will read any of them, it was primarily an attempt to buy social favor with guests. He'd just say he had a poor memory for books he read long ago whenever someone tried discussing them at a ho…

Books do make great decorations. People have been doing the same thing for decades.

“Don’t have sex with someone who doesn’t own any books” used to be somewhat common dating advice. With e-readers, it’s not as applicable, but the principle is still good.

Re: Tsundoku

#15

Post by levesque »

Niccizero wrote: post #5

May also apply to videogames, comics, digital media, hobby/craft supplies, etc.

It's weird that something that is meant to be entertainment can become a chore (videogames and hobbies for instance). Is it merely because we are tired or because there is another activity available that is so low energy that it becomes more desirable in comparison (e.g., watching Netflix, mindlessly browsing the internet)? Sometimes I wonder... if none of those activities were available in my house, what would I do instead?

Re: Tsundoku

#16

Post by bobske4 »

Me and my wife does it because we value and want to reflect to our kids and others ...there's no English word descriptive enough here... but in Greek it's called paideia, German: bildung. Danish/Norwegian: dannelse. Closest word is probably education.. but it's too narrow.

Re: Tsundoku

#18

Post by lb1lf »

agentultra wrote: post #8

Owning more books than you'll read is good for you: https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/do-i-own-too-many-books You never know where reading will take you next.

This. I try to maintain a TBR (to be read) shelf or two at home, comprising a few dozen titles, both fiction and prose.

The reasoning is that I'd rather have a choice when picking up the next book, rather than just having to read the last one I bought; as you say, you never know where reading will take you next. Often, reading a book on a subject makes me want to check out a few of the works referenced, and before you know it, the TBR pile has increased in size...

Re: Tsundoku

#19

Post by cgriswald »

I had a bedroom converted into a library when I bought my house. It's about half filled with books now. I've read about 95% of the fiction and about 15% of the non-fiction.

I get a lot out of the library. It's a great place to work or study. It's both devoid of and filled with distraction. (I also had a bedroom converted to an office... which, except for the girlfriend's sewing table, is almost exclusively used for PC gaming...) Having all those unread books around means I'm never bored, and I'm always subtly being pushed to learn the things I want to learn.

Re: Tsundoku

#20

Post by jdtang13 »

I don't really think this word is actually a thing that Japanese people really say.

The Japanese wikipedia version of this article is also a stub, and there's only 550K results in Japanese google, which is pretty much identical to the amount if you search "Tsundoku" in English. If you search for the phrase in hiragana only, the results become even less at 75K.

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