Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Bookish Things I Want To Quit or Have Quit
Things I’ve Quit
- Worrying about whether it’s OK to read certain types of books, like YA or children’s or romance. I decided years ago that if a book is good, and I enjoy it, that’s all that matters.
- Being a print book snob. I’ll always love my print books. There’s something special about the weight, the feel, the smell of a book, whether old or new. And I love beautiful covers and illustrations, and the interesting things that authors and designers sometimes do with text. But I’ve also come to love ebooks for their portability and practicality (scalable fonts are great for my aging eyes, and I can read in the dark without having to hold a flashlight as well as a book.) And I’ve come to appreciate audiobooks, and even prefer them for some books – especially when the narrator is really good, or a full cast is used for the characters. Because in the long run, what really matters is the story.
Things I Want to Quit
- Waiting too long to write my review. This is a huge problem for me, and I really need to get on top of it. At least I’ve started jotting down notes right after I finish a book — most of the time — so when I do get around to writing the review, I have something to jog my memory about what I liked or disliked. But I really ought to write my reviews within 2 days of reading the book.
- Having too many unread books on my shelves. Thanks to library book sales, I have probably 200 to 300 books that I haven’t read yet. I want to prune these and then start reading some of them.
- Adding books to my Goodreads TBR lists without pruning or taking anything off. When your combined want-to-read and perhaps-someday lists total over 1200 books, they’re too unwieldy to do any good. I need to find a better solution. I’m just not sure what it is yet.
- Buying Kindle books and not reading them. This is something I think I should quit doing, though I’m not entirely sure I want to. Because when I buy the books, it’s because I want to read them someday… but I don’t have time right now, or I’m not in the mood right now. Only now I have a bunch that no longer appeal to me much at all.
- Feeling like I have to own every book by an author I like. As my bookshelves have started to overflow (and for the record, we have 18 bookshelves and about 11 of them are exclusively mine) I’m realizing that maybe, just maybe, keeping every book by an author is a mistake. Because, you know, as much as I like that author, there’s often that one book or series that just doesn’t do it for me. If I’m not going to re-read it, why keep it just for the sake of having a complete collection of that author’s works? (Note that this doesn’t apply to series. If I keep a series, I need to have the entire series. Except maybe long-running series where the books are kind of stand-alones. I’m not sure I need to own every Poirot novel, for example.)
Books I’ve DNF’d
- Mysteries by Duffy Brown. I’ve tried and quit the first book in two different series, and for some reason, the narrator’s voice and style just grate on my nerves. I know people who really enjoy this author, but her books just aren’t for me.
Boys Don’t Knit by T. S. Easton. Oh, I wanted to love this MG/YA book. I really did. Because knitting. And a boy knitting. But… it was getting off to a rather slow start, and I wasn’t really liking the main character, and it just wasn’t working for me. I actually do plan to try this one again someday, in hopes that it was more the wrong time than the wrong book for me.- Califia’s Daughters by Leigh Richards, aka Laurie R. King. I adore King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series, but I simply could not get into her standalone SF/F novel written under another name. I might give this one another try someday… or not.
So. . . What are the books and bookish things that you’ve quit?
Aj @ Read All The Things!
Great list. I also need to quit buying so many books. A bunch more came out today that I really want to read.
Aj @ Read All The Things! recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’ve Quit This Year (So Far)
Lola
I really like this week’s topic! I was convinced I never would buy ebooks, then about 3 years ago I changed my opinion and got an ereader and that changed everything, I love both print and ebooks now. I always write my review within a day of finishing a book, I forbi myself to start a new book until I wrote the review for the previous one. It makes for great motivation.
I totally agree on the too many unread books one, I have so many unread books and still add new ones to the pile weekly. I DNF’d four books this year. I am getting better at DNF’ing books, but it’s stil hard.
Lola recently posted…Review: A Spark of Justice by J.D. Hawkins
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review
I don’t buy books for my e-reader because I’m afraid I would end up with the same problem as you! I have a large enough pile just with the ones I get for free. With physical books I’ve bought and haven’t read yet, at least their presence reminds me that I have to read them at some point or be buried in the pile. Somehow that helps me exercise more restraint.
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review recently posted…September Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway
Greg
I was a print book snob for the longest time too, but I also have an e- reader now and buy lots of e- books. Not an early adopter I guess… 🙂
And I like to write my reviews right after I finish, or within a day or I start getting nervous about it ha ha. Although there’s probably something to be said for letting a story percolate a while and sink in, I just feel better if I review it quick before jumping into the next one.
Greg recently posted…Bloodline
Literary Feline
I enjoyed reading your list! I am right there with you when it comes to waiting too long to write reviews. I’m behind right now, in fact. 🙁 And the unread book issue–yeah, me too. Buying Kindle books, I can relate to as well. It’s easy to forget just how many of those you do buy since you don’t have physical books in front of you taking up space. E-books are sneaky that way, aren’t they? And there’s the reason you mentioned, losing interest in the book. That’s why I stopped buying paper books so often–because I got read of so many unread ones when we moved. All that money gone . . .
Literary Feline recently posted…Where Is Your Bookmark? (10/06/2015)
Kelly
I suppose this counts as a kind of book snobbery I’ve given up, but I’ve “The book is always better than the movie.” For one thing, books and movies are completely different media and should be judged by their own standards. Now, if someone says “The book is better than the movie,” I think, “Better at what?” But, secondly, because I’ve met at least one movie that I like better than the book for various reasons — I liked the characters better in the Daniel Day-Lewis version of the The Last of the Mohicans, for example.
Kelly recently posted…Arithmetic for young children, classical style
Kelly
Should have said “I’ve quit believing that the book . . . “
Carrie
Amazon one-click gets me in trouble every time! My TTT
Carrie recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: I Just Can’t Quit You
Bea @Bea's Book Nook
I can relate to many of these. I’m not going to admit the size of my TBR and wishlist shelves but I need a couple lifetimes to get through them ,all. I also need to get better at writing more reviews more promptly and taking better notes. I take notes on the Kindle but when I’m reading print, I forget or don’t want to stop, put down teh books, and make notes.
Good post. 🙂
Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Steph Reviews Doctor Who: City of Death by Douglas Adams and James Goss
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
I like this list and ideas. I’m with you on a few of those that you want to quit. I too have given up the print snob too. I will always love my prints, but I’ve started to grow to like the ebooks too. Shh. Don’t tell any one, okay? 😉
Jan
Great list, Lark! I certainly have many of these problems. I have donated many books in the past year, but I need to go through the books I kept and do another sort. And I have a problem waiting too long to write my reviews, too. That’s something I’m trying to fix.
Jan recently posted…Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley
Rita @ View From My Home
Nice list, good points! Some I had but you articulated them better.
It’s easy to have too many e-books due to one-click impulsiveness and also they aren’t staring me in the face all day on my shelves.
I also liked your point of getting over book snobbery– other people’s take on what you are reading, whether YA, kids, romance, etc. Excellent point! Yes!
Rita @ View From My Home recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday 10/6/15
Tiffany
It took me so long to get over my printed book snobbery. I’ve been reading on an eReader for a few years now, and I love it. You’re right. As you get older, sometimes it’s nice to have the ability to change the print. I also love the lighter weight of caring a book on my phone, kindle, ipad, etc versus having shoulder pain from carrying books in my purse. Still, that doesn’t mean I won’t buy print books, because they’re just awesome 🙂
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Lindsay
Oh, I am SO with you on the first three of your “want to quit”s. I have 400-some books on my Goodreads to-read list and I add more every week. It just keeps growing and growing, and I hardly even remember why I put half the books on there in the first place! And I own sooooo many books. I picked a bunch up secondhand a couple years ago when I worked at the thrift shop on our Air Force base, and I think I’ve got over 100 unread books on my shelves. Eek!
Lark_Bookwyrm
For me, it’s the library sales that cause me to come home with too many books! And there’s another one on Friday… Oh, dear.