Do you have a problem like Tsundoku?

[Velocity]

According to the BBC, the "art" of Tsundoku is the habit of buying books that you seem to never get around to reading. I have a huge collection of books that I really did want to read when I bought them, but then I got more books that I was more interested in reading, the next book in a favorite series, for example. So these older books remain, stacked on flat surfaces around my home or languishing in boxes.
Does anyone else suffer from the (expensive) heartbreak of Tsundoku?

It just occurred to me that you could sing this thread title to the tune How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria from The Sound of Music.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I guess I do but they tend to be books I buy cheaply in sales. I have bought many Audible books as Daily Deals, eBooks that I have come across via Book Bub, or books I have bought from charity shops etc. most of these books have been priced under $5.

If I pay full price for a book it is far more likely I will read it some day. This is especially true if it is a physical book.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Well, it's either spend the money on books or crack cocaine. Choices, choices...

 

[Velocity]

I have begun to realize that at my age I probably won't be able to read all the books I have crammed in my house and on my Kindles. I have started to make some hard decisions about this and I've been taking bags of books to my local used book store....where I get credit to buy more books. Ok, so it's a work in progress.

 

[Kor]

I have begun to realize that at my age I probably won't be able to read all the books I have crammed in my house and on my Kindles. I have started to make some hard decisions about this and I've been taking bags of books to my local used book store....where I get credit to buy more books. Ok, so it's a work in progress.

On the plus side (sort of), if it's like the used book stores in my area, they probably only give you a paltry credit, just enough for a very small number of books, or perhaps one really nice volume.

Kor

 

[John Clark]

No. It's entirely possible that some people think I have too many books, but I do get around to reading them. (The kindle has made that a little more difficult as now I don't have to worry about physical space - but I am working on it )

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, I'm not entirely sure it relates to my problem, but I do buy a lot of books that do sit around in piles for awhile, but I do eventually read them all.

 

[Gryffindorian]

According to the BBC, the "art" of Tsundoku is the habit of buying books that you seem to never get around to reading. I have a huge collection of books that I really did want to read when I bought them, but then I got more books that I was more interested in reading, the next book in a favorite series, for example. So these older books remain, stacked on flat surfaces around my home or languishing in boxes.
Does anyone else suffer from the (expensive) heartbreak of Tsundoku?

It just occurred to me that you could sing this thread title to the tune How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria from The Sound of Music.

Sad, but this definitely describes me. I never knew such a word existed. I have amassed over the years countless nonfiction books (on science, pop culture, social studies, etc.) and graphic novels, the majority of which I haven't read. I keep thinking "Maybe when I have some downtime, I'll get to them." My downtime is already occupied with TV shows, social media, and other hobbies. Now I'm more like, "Maybe I'll get to these when I retire in 15 years," at which point, it would be pointless.

For example, I have several encyclopedia on Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Marvel and DC Comics. There were times when I started reading a book but stopped after a few chapters. If anything, most of the reading I do is "referential," e.g., what's been going on in the DC Universe, which I could easily look up on-line anyway.

This also rings true with movies, which is why I stopped buying every new release on DVD/Blu-ray years ago.

 

[Kor]

About twenty years ago when I was doing an early college program, I grabbed the novel "Strange Peaches" by Edwin Shrake, from one of those book swap/exchange tables. The book was stamped on the inside cover with the name of the book swapping program and a friendly message saying I should pass the novel on to someone else or return it to that exchange once I've read it.

I still have the book.

Kor

 

[Refuge]

I have a book, well a Kindle 'book' that I've started twice already and have left so long that I'll need to start it again. I should abandon it but that doesn't feel right.

 

[Mojochi]

Does is still count if you don't buy them, but people just give them to you? I got like 10 books in here right now that were given to me, & I still haven't gotten to. I will read them eventually, mostly out of wanting to avoid the discomfort of being asked about them by said people

Friends, don't give friends unsolicited books. It's like assigning homework

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I have about 25 books I haven't read yet. Out of approx. 8,000 books in total. If you include ebooks it's about 30 out of 10,000.

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Slightly.

I have one book that I received as a gift that I will get around to reading...someday.
I have a couple of books by Stephen Hawking that I haven't gotten to because Stephen Hawking deserves my full attention.

But everything else I own, I've read at least once, with the exception of the two books I am currently mid-read on.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have about 100 books on my shelves that I haven’t read and about 250 eBooks/audiobooks. Some of them are on my TBR list for this year and some of them I will get to next year. I would hate to have less than 100 books to choose from. I like to have a wide range of choice at any given time.

 

[flandry84]

God yeah.
I cleared the huge stockpile of books from my house a couple of years ago and I am now a kindle fiend with about twenty books getting pushed further and further back in my “yet to read “ pile.
Is there any phrase as dangerous as “you might also like...”?

 

[Velocity]

Does is still count if you don't buy them, but people just give them to you? I got like 10 books in here right now that were given to me, & I still haven't gotten to. I will read them eventually, mostly out of wanting to avoid the discomfort of being asked about them by said people

Friends, don't give friends unsolicited books. It's like assigning homework

I totally agree about unsolicited books and/or movies. My friends often want me to read/watch what they enjoyed but we do not enjoy the same genres. I always ask:

Me: Does it have zombies?
Friend: Noooo.....
Me: Are there bug-eyed monsters or dinosaurs?
Friend: No! (impatiently)
Me: Space ships, aliens, or time travel?
Friend: No, of course not. There is romance, cute meet-ups, and Edwardian drawing rooms.
Me: uh....pass.
Former Friend: Oh, you'll love it because I did.
Me: Sigh, I'll read/watch it when I have time. (Throwing it in the back of a closet)

 

[Mojochi]

I totally agree about unsolicited books and/or movies. My friends often want me to read/watch what they enjoyed but we do not enjoy the same genres. I always ask:

Me: Does it have zombies?
Friend: Noooo.....
Me: Are there bug-eyed monsters or dinosaurs?
Friend: No! (impatiently)
Me: Space ships, aliens, or time travel?
Friend: No, of course not. There is romance, cute meet-ups, and Edwardian drawing rooms.
Me: uh....pass.
Former Friend: Oh, you'll love it because I did.
Me: Sigh, I'll read/watch it when I have time. (Throwing it in the back of a closet)

I don't have it that bad. lol. Sometimes I get bad suggestions, but sometimes it's actually something fitting, but it's just not bumping to the front of the line, or it might in one sense be a fitting thing, but it isn't something I want to spend my time on

For example, some of my atheist friends, that clearly know I'm already atheist, keep giving me these books written by atheists, about atheism. Why do I need this? Why do I need to read hundreds of pages about something I already get? I'm already there dude!

And they're always such an overly verbose, stale read, with overblown philosophical, historical, or scientific concepts. I never get through them. It would be like a non-smoker giving me a book about not smoking. Already don't dude. Don't need an education on it. I got this.

I'm getting off topic here, but it just smacks of inclusionary mob mentality. Everybody wants a group to belong to, even people who define themselves by what they don't do

 

[TorontoTrekker]

Does anyone else suffer from the (expensive) heartbreak of Tsundoku?

I wouldn't say I suffer from it, per se. I mean, I must actually enjoy it, because I'm a master of it. I have about 80 books in a half dozen piles on my dining room table, another 20 or so piled over by the bookcase, and there are probably something like 100 on my bookshelves that I haven't gotten to yet.

It was actually kind of embarrassing a couple of weeks ago, when I was at a con and getting a couple of books autographed by Sylvain Neuvel. He asked me if I'd read them yet (I try to keep my books in impeccable condition, so you can't tell if they've been read or not), and I said, "Well, I suffer from a little problem..." He grinned and said "The 'pile'? Me too." I didn't admit to him that there are multiple piles.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Is there any phrase as dangerous as “you might also like...”?

LOL indeed! That's why I switched that function off on both amazon and audible. Well, indirectly I did. As one can't do it directly, I tell both sites to ignore every single one of my purchases. This way I only get recommendations that don't interest me at all and therefore are easy to ignore.
The "what are you reading" thread in this forum is dangerous ground for book addicts, though. Way too inspiring

 

[Doom Shepherd]

I wish Amazon hadn't gotten rid of the "I own this" button. It keeps recommending things I already own, because I've picked them up elsewhere or were given them as gifts. If I can't add those, it has an incomplete picture of what I want.