Up Close and (un)Conventional Bookish Babble
Welcome to our first Up Close and (un)Conventional Bookish Babble. As we each had done similar discussion posts, we merged the names and, voila! This is where we discuss whatever we feel like. It can be something about books or the bookish community, or it can be about something else entirely!
Hey y’all! This post was sparked when I had a dilemma last week. I had finished a book and needed to choose my next read. Sound familiar so far? 😉 So I looked at my list of ARCs and nothing really tripped my trigger. (I am nothing if not a mood reader 😛 ) Then I looked at my list of authors to read before RAREParis. But I couldn’t decide. Then I looked at my library of ebooks on my Nook. Then on my other Nook. And then I looked at those on my Kindle. OMIGOSH, y’all!! The sheer number of choices I have is overwhelming. And paralyzing. I love having a choice. However, on my 3 ereaders I probably have a total of about 7000 books! What’s that expression about too much of a good thing?!? (I believe I’ve mentioned I’m a one-click addict… 😉 )
Do y’all have this problem? Too many books to choose from? No wonder I can’t keep up! I ended up choosing a book from my ARC list – because that list is *much* smaller. 😉 But I was wondering… How do y’all go about picking your next read? Do you like having LOTS of choices? Or do you keep your libraries manageable in size? Are you a mood reader, too? How do y’all do it? I really want to know! 😉
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
I have a whole system which I will briefly describe but I’ll have to come back on Thursday. Tomorrow is I am gone from 10am-10pm and it’s a mad rush the entire day, so I have to go to bed now. I’ll be back
Anne – Books of My Heart
Thanks, Anne!
In a nutshell, yes, I’ve saled and freebied myself into trouble. There are about 2550 on the combined pile. I did a big purge last year of older freebies and sale books that I knew I wouldn’t ever read or that I didn’t want to keep and wouldn’t re-read.
But, as to how I pick to get past too much choice? I’ve got a few ways. One, I started doing a reader vote on the blog for one pick a month from my TBR pile and I also am part of a GoodReads group that has a someone else pick book now and then. I’ve also joined challenges that limit me to specific book types. And, I’ve got my review arcs on the calendar. I am a mood reader and so my reading schedule can have a few replacements now and then, but even if I only read half of them in rec’d or list order then I’m doing good.
Love your mash up title for your new discussion posts!
Yay! Um, I’m probably not supposed to celebrate that you suffer the same affliction as me, huh? Yeah, A LOT of my huge electronic library are cheapies/freebies. I hadn’t thought about purging those I no longer feel like I’ll read. That’s a good idea. I did the TBR pile vote on my previous blog – I should get back to that. And having ARCs on my calendar is brilliant…I’m a little behind on them right now so that’s the list I’m primarily working from now that I’m no longer furiously reading RARE authors. Thanks for the advice, Sophia. 🙂
And I’m glad you like our title. We were trying to come up with a new one and my older daughter, who did our graphics, said “why don’t you just combine the two?” So we did. 🙂
There is definitely such a thing as too many choices sometimes! I do the same thing. When I’m feeling overwhelmed by choice and can’t figure out what book I’m in the mood for, I just look to my ARC list and will usually just grab the ARC with the next upcoming date 🙂
#bookwormproblems, right? It’s nice having the choice but… I need to pick more from my ARC list since I’m behind on those due to reading RARE authors. So I’ll work it that way and squeeze in some personal reads in between for awhile. 🙂
I’ve got just over 100 books and they’re all physical, I’m a mood reader too so the limited choice means I know exactly what I have and I’ll usually have the next one in mind before I’ve finished what I’m currently reading. I’m not sure I could cope with 7000 to choose from!
See? Too much choice can be paralyzing! LOL It’s nice you have a smaller number to choose from that can satisfy your mood. Thanks for sharing!
Twitter: ailynk
i think there was an app i use… but i stopped because i got too depressed looking at books that I want to read but kids got in the way
ha! I understand, Ailyn. Life – kids – get in the way sometimes. 😉
Twitter: ejaygirl77
Years ago I started creating a reading plan for each month to keep track of ARCs, group reads and personal choices from my ongoing series. I’m still doing it and choosing my next reads are pretty easy when I’ve got a thoughtful list in front of me.
Wow, Jonetta. That sounds like a very organized way to do things. I’m not sure I can be that organized! LOL Maybe ARCs and book club reads though… Thanks for sharing your method. 🙂
Twitter: ejaygirl77
You’re right about those two categories, Brandee. They’re the ones I’m most concerned about.
I had this exact same problem this week. I need to get some reading in because I’ve been reading all ARCs and some of them have dates that are a few months away so I don’t have anything to review on the blog. I had to pick both an ebook and audio. So after going through GR, my phone, Audible and my Kindle, I decided that I was going to do a catch up on series that I haven’t finished. Even if the series is one I’ve fallen out of love with. One I had the physical book for, so I decided instead of spending the money on the ebook I would actually read the physical which is such a big shocker for me. I’m always scared I’ll hurt my physical books. My audio ended up being a Stephanie Plum which I am like 3 books behind. Mainly because I haven’t really had the desire to read more about her, but I can’t stand not finishing a series, so it got the download. I need to put all the titles in a hat and pick. This nonsense every time I finish a read is going to drive me crazy! Good luck with yours!
ha! I’m laughing about you *needing* to finish a series…I’m the same way but if I’ve fallen out of love with it, it’s gonna sit there for a long while. I once asked my older daughter if I could just read the last book in a series because I wanted to know how it ended but didn’t care enough to read the books in between. She told me “NO!” so I said, “Oh well, I guess I might never know…” LOL I like the titles in a hat idea. I have been known to create a numbered list and then use random.org. Yep. It does make me feel better to know I’m not alone with this dilemma. 😀
I’m not too much of a mood reader, which is probably the one thing going for me. LOL I do have a lot of book choices though. I have ARCS, both physical and e-book, I have other ebooks that I’ve owned for a while, and I have a TON of physical books that I’ve never had the chance to read yet. I’m trying to read more of those books, because I’ve had some for YEARS and I really do want to read them, but I’m often distracted by books for review or books for my book club; that kind of thing. It can be tough deciding sometimes though!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I gotta say that I’d think not being a mood reader is a blessing for a blogger, Lauren. 😉 I understand how you feel about those books you’ve had for years. I have plenty of them. 😉 And I do love having options…it’s the choosing I struggle with! LOL
I was having the same dilemma. The last three books I read were all pretty “meh” so I had a hard time picking my next read since I have so many books, physical ones and e-books. I remember there was a time when I didn’t know of any new books and I just kept rereading the same. lol
Oh no! Well, re-reads are a luxury in my opinion. Sometimes I like the comfort of one. 😉 I like having a variety of options but it just makes decision making that much more difficult. #bookwormproblems
I can relate, my friend! Like you, I’m a mood reader, and usually I have a general idea of what I want to read. However, a couple times in the last few weeks I’ve had trouble choosing my next read. I’ve been kind of overwhelmed by my options. Like you, I had a few arcs, 2 or 3 from the library, everything on my bookshelves, everything on my Kindle. That’s a whole lotta options! But it’s a good problem to have. Better too many than not enough, right? 🙂
Ha! Yes, I supposed I’d rather have too many options than not enough BUT it’s so hard to decide. *says with a whine* 😉
I’m a mood reader too, and that can get me in to trouble sometimes. Especially when I request an ARC, but then when it’s time to read it I’m not in the mood, and want to read something else. Lately, I’ve just been reading what sounds “good” in the moment, but I am trying to sprinkle some arcs in between. Great discussion post 🙂
I actually create a schedule for myself months in advance. So sometimes my reading does suffer if I’m really not in a mood to read a specific book, but that doesn’t happen often.
Twitter: Mlsimmons
I know that feeling too. I have a ton of freebies that I really want to try, but I keep putting off too, for some unknown reason. When I started my last audiobook, it was my only review book. By the time I finished, I had six more waiting on me. Not a single one was a bad choice, but I three that were really pulling on me and I had a hard time choosing. I finally picked one and I’m loving it, but I’m sure I would’ve felt the same with the other options.
I’ve also had a few times where I have review books waiting and I decide to tackle a library book or purchased book. Hell, recently, I even did a relisten when I had other books waiting on me. So, yes, I’m a mood reader too. 🙂
#BookBloggerProblems. LOL
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Twitter: Northwomn
OK so I didn’t make it back Thursday or Friday, but I am back now. I am a mood reader and I have organized my Goodreads shelves to find what I want and track challenges. Here’s how I do it:
1. I have a series of shelves to funnel things to me: 0now (read asap), 1tt (most likely Thrifty Thursday reads), 2get (need to request for review or the library at a later time), 3tbr (owned but not read), 9kfree (all freebies).
2. Next I have shelves for challenges: COYER, COYER-previous, Library, Library-love, audio, audio-2500, backlist, Newrelease, HOHOHORAT.
3. I also have a set of shelves by year: 2012, 2013, …. 2019. It’s the books I read that year.
4. I have shelves which are for genre: UF, sci-fi, romance-hist, Romance-c, fantasy, mystery, thriller, …etc
5. Last there are some classifying shelves: series-1, series, add (audible daily deal), favorites, NG-pub-author, own, audio-own, tt (completed Thrifty Thursday review), aceroc (from AceRocstar program), NOLAstorycon, prime, ar(audible romance), KU (Kindle unlimited), holiday, did-not-finish.
So then I use combinations of these to decide what to read. I might look at 0now to see my ARCS and other things I really want to read soon. I look at 1tt to pick a Thrifty Thursday book for review. If I know the genre I want I might select 1tt, and also mystery, which would give me a list of the mystery freebies I most want to read. (I do take them off the genre shelves once I have read them) I can also find out things like the library books I read in 2015 by using those 2 shelves, library and 2015. I use the various classifications for both before and after information I want to know about my reading.
I also have a one page sheet in a spread sheet which I print out. The column headings are Title, Format, Review Date, Release Date, Audio Length, NR,Setup, Publisher. I have everything for the next 3 months on the one page sheet according to the review schedule. Of course, there are blank spots and things get shuffled if I don’t get an ARC in time or don’t finish it in time, etc. The titles are black if I have the title, red if I am waiting to get it.
At the top I have a couple ARCs which aren’t yet on the review calendar. Then I basically have the review calendar in review date order. NR is in that field if it is a New Release, Setup is a field where I put an X if I have created the “shell” of the review in UBB, Publisher column is only used for Audios.
Obviously you can look at my Goodreads and see my shelves. If you want a copy of the spreadsheet I can share it with you. This maybe more than you wanted to know. But I never have any trouble finding something to read. Even being a mood reader, I just switch to a different genre if I’m being fussy.
Anne, I LOVE THIS! Of course, you are WAY more organized than I am. Maybe you can organize my GR shelves?!? LOL Just kidding. Sort of. I love that you have this system and yet can still manage to find something that suits your mood! I’ll take a look at your shelves on GR. And yes, I may even get a copy of your spreadsheet. 😉 Right now, I’m focusing on getting through the end of the school year since my kids are graduating. *sniff* I’ll have to set aside time to organize. 😀
Twitter: ailynk
I was told that if i was lucky they would leave when they turn 30