To ask how many books you have waiting to be read

[19990party]

I have about 50 but stilll buy more

Those of you who read quickly- a book a week or more - how much do you remember from them?

In the house, no more than 20, which I thought was a massive stack until I read through this thread. I don't use a Kindle much but I've got one and a half unread books on there. On my wish list but not yet purchased, at least 100.

I actually added up the other week - between real books and Kindle it was around 130.

ezekiela it depends on how impactful the book was. I've ready many brilliant ones this year that have really stayed with me.

I do find there's often an inference that you can't possibly be reading properly/are speed reading if you read a lot of books.

I simply love reading so much that I prioritize it very highly. For example my husband prefers to scroll Facebook for an hour in bed each night. I would much much rather read a book.

Also in terms of tracking what I read, I use the Good reads app. I log each and every book I read and have shelves for books I've read in each year. Sometimes some of the more forgettable thriller types do need checking to make sure I haven't read them before!

Highly recommend Good Reads.

I use Goodreads to track too - I don't think I'm a very good example as I don't have the best long-term memory anyway (eg don't remember lots from my childhood). I think I put stuff into 'don't need to keep that info' piles and let the memory fade away. So if you have a long-running crime series, it's quite common for me to forget which ones I've read. Individual books I'm more likely to remember well.

When I'm reading a trilogy etc and I start book 2 years after book 1, the details usually come back to me fine. But if I'm watching a movie version of something I've read, I won't catch little mistakes (big ones yes), in the way that my kids can.

I remember the book in detail in the moment, as I need to - but can't rely on knowing it forever. But I think how fast or slow I read hasn't got anything to do with it, it's just my dody memory.

For the record, I think I'm an average 'fast' reader. I read about 70-80 books a year but can read a book in a few hours or go a few weeks without reading any. Literary books can take me ages to finish, but a thrilling page-turner compels me to read as quickly as possible.

I do have loads of unread books - mostly on kindle as I tend to be more particular about things that actually take up space now. I never used to be and when I worked in bookshops I would buy hundreds. But I realised that even at a good speed it's going to take decades to read everything that's already on my want-to-read list!

I tend to read as I buy, but I am behind at the moment. I think I have got about 20something waiting to be read.

2 😌

Fair enough. We spend time together in the evenings interacting together, so that doesn't really leave room for much evening reading. I guess we all just have different demands on our time and lifestyles. Then I have five kids who want attention too.

This is where I find Audible helpful, while cooking, driving, doing housework... I get through about one audiobook a week. The physical book takes longer.

Are some people misreading the question? Surely if you had a "to read" pile in the hundreds, you'd stop buying until you'd put a dent in the pile?!

Why would anyone ever have 1000 unread books?

My very largest bookcase doesn't quite take 1000 titles. I mean...

Agog here.

Anyway. I must admit to a "to read" stack of 35ish, which I thought was hedonistically lavish.

I bought a two tier book trough to house them as I was always knocking piles over. I think that just encouraged me though. I should get organised and follow the "good reads" virtual list method.

I have quite a few titles in my bookmarks to potentially purchase. Maybe some people have that sort of thing in their numbers? I have about 40+ physical books with a shelf dedicated for 'to read' books, but I do have more bookmarked for future. But I am making a dent on those first.

Maybe that's it @NotSoSimpleHere

I feel better now about my trough-full, anyway!

I've read 12 books already this year

This is the most I've managed to get through for years!

notsosimplehere 5 children my goodness you are a warrior. Bedtime must take up most of your evening. I only have one child so a lot less demands on my time.

I like audible purely for the French and Saunders podcast 🤪 I prefer the real feel of a book. But i understand why it's popular.

Out of interest, what do you do that's 'interacting' all night with your husband 😃

Sadly for mine he just can't compete with a good book after a hard day's work 🤪

I have nearly 3000 on Kindle plus about 70-80 physical ones. I read two a month for book clubs and two to three more for myself. So I do go through them. I still buy more. I doubt I will get to read them all. It would make perfect sense to stop buying them, but, if you are a book nut, logic goes out the window. Only other book nuts understand.

It's not so bad and they're a bit older now. Interacting = talking and watching tv or a movie. I like movies too. :-)

Audible is more a necessity if I want to get through a wider range of books. I usually do one of those a week, sometimes more.

I haven't got into podcasts but I like the idea.

Hundreds. And hundreds. There's even more in the loft. Just cannot resist a pristine 50p charity shop paperback! When I spot that uncracked spine..... bliss!

Ah, you poor misguided soul 😆.

Buying books is a hobby in itself. I don't spend money on any other luxuries. I love looking at my shelves, it really gives a feeling of comfort and joy.

People like me suffer from 'abibliophobia' - the fear of running out of something to read. We practise the art of 'Tsundoku' - obsessively buying books and piling them up around the house. We're all 'bibliobibuli' - drunk on books.

There's no hope for us! 📚📚📚📚

Wow. Thanks for explaining.

The thing is, the thought of my unread books getting shelved in with the read ones makes me itchy. I have to have them separate. Which was a side table, now, as I say, a trough.

How do you physically manage them? Is there a system? Or do they all mix in?

This is where I find out people have reading spreadsheets and other magic to manage their physical book collection, isn't it? Bracing myself.

Can’t believe I have just seen this thread. I am planning a major book sort today!

I have thousands of books and probably 100+ to read. Not counting Kindle or Audible which both have plenty waiting for me too…

I need to let some go. We have a great local charity bookshop which makes me feel less guilty and that it is a positive act, as noted by others above. If there are some duplicate classics I plan to donate to the school library.

Wish me luck!

Some people have them beautifully displayed in several bookcases, sometimes they split by read and unread. Occasionally they shelve by colour 🤣. Some people collect the same book in different editions! I definitely don't do any of these 🤣.

Others have stacks and stacks around the house. With me, I have a few bookcases in different rooms and they are all a mess. One is double stacked. I really wish I could organise them better but as the bookshelves are all different sizes they get all mixed up.

I do find having lots of books overwhelming too, I have to admit it makes it difficult to choose. BUT mainly I love it.

And yes some people do have spreadsheets etc! I use Storygraph which is a bit like Goodreads.

Some people definitely take it too far - they number all their tbr books, then put the numbers in a jar and randomly pick them out. I saw one Instagram account the other day that was ridiculous. She numbered all her books, folded the numbers into little origami pouches, put them in a jar, and then WRAPPED all her books in brown paper so she gets a surprise when unwrapping them! She has posted photos of her bookshelves with all the books in brown paper 🤣🤣🤣

Well at least you don't shelve by colour @Readingallthetime

I must admit when my physical TBR places fill up, I switch to downloading sample chapters on kindle instead. So I'm just keeping the issue online.

I'm going to look at storygraph. Thanks for the tip.

Good luck!! I regularly unhaul books when I realise that my stacks are out of control 🤣. But be careful not to buy any more books at the charity shop after dropping them off!

LiterallyOnFire i also cannot have my books mixed. i have shelves for brand new books, shelves for second hand, then piles that i am curating for friends that get moved into tote bags when the piles get too big.

I also run a little free library from our house - that's a whole separate system involving bookshelves in the garage for big deliveries!

StoryGraph is really good for logging books, it's a new competitor for Goodreads and I like it because it's run by a woman entrepreneur, not a big corporation.

It can look a bit confusing at first. But yeah you can add all your books in the same edition that you have, tag them with various things eg unread, and they have various book challenges. They also organise their books by things like 'mood' which is fun because you can get overviews of the kinds of books you like to read.

Ps and if you want to see the wonder / madness that is bookstagram, go to Instagram and search the hashtag bookstagram. It's this that really set my book buying addiction on fire, I started following a few accounts in 2018 and it's been a slippery slope from there. I can point to some lovely accounts.