So this is a post about books. Specifically, buying books. Actually, it’s about buying more books than any one human could read in their lifetime. Or my lifetime, as it were.
See, the other morning, this was my status update on Facebook:
In addition to the ‘likes’, there were 20-some comments, mostly people commiserating with me. I posted that status after I saw a link from an author I like. He’d published a Christmas story on Amazon, and it was FREE for a limited time. (Jump HERE to see if “Matches” is still free.) Then I saw another FB post, about another book that’s been sitting on my Amazon wish list. The author had dropped the price to $0.99, and the sample was great, so of course…
(Jump HERE to see if Miss Guided is still $0.99)
In the space of ten minutes, I’d added two more books to my stacks. And seriously, I have stacks. Just look at these pictures! We – I’m including my husband and teenagers in this – have more books than any four people ought to.
And though I mentioned the rest of the family, I think it’s safe to say I deserve most of the blame. There are too many to count hard copy books squirreled away here at Chez Rancourt, and when I tried to count our Kindle books, I lost track at about 400. I’ve probably read half, maybe 60% of the books in our Amazon cloud. I also usually have a couple books checked out from the library, and download books from Netgalley, too.
I have a problem.
It’s just so easy. Every day I one-click intriguing links on Facebook or fascinating tweets on Twitter. There are authors who make me hyperventilate when I know they’ve got something new coming out. I love seeing what my friends are working on, and nothing gets me more excited than telling someone about an author they haven’t read before, to get them to one-click the same way I did…or do.
Because I do. All the time.
Recently I told a friend at work – who I know is a voracious reader – about The Magpie Lord, the first book in a fantastic trilogy. She sounded interested, and I asked her when she’d be back to work. I might have snickered a bit, too. She told me, and asked why I was laughing.
“I just wanted to see if you’d have time to read all three before I see you again.”
She had.
All three.
Made. My. Night.
In fact my biggest dissatisfaction with ebooks is that I can’t lend them to people the way I used to share paperbacks. I know it’s possible, but not for every book, and it’s not nearly as easy as tossing a paperback in my purse. I have (had?) a couple copies of Dead Until Dark just for the purpose of lending them out, and have lost track of the number of people who’ve fallen in love with Sookie’s world because of me.
Well, I helped anyway.
So as we’re heading in to the heart of the holiday season, know that I’m the easiest one on your shopping list. Amazon gift card, please. Or a gift certificate to ARe, or one to iBooks, or Kobo, or…
Leave me a comment if you share my one-click addiction. It’s always more fun with friends!
Peace,
Liv
Oh, and one more thing…while you’re in the one-click mood, my holiday story The Santa Drag is $0.99 on Amazon. Jump HERE to check it out!
Spellbound Scribes 
Haha I share your pain. I probably have 50 plus books I havent read and yet I keep buying them. The way I see it, there are worse habits 😉 One day I’ll read them all… One day…
Great perspective. I’ll just keep telling myself that books are a healthy choice! Or something…
😉
LOL, Liv, I’m with you, although I think you buy a few more than I do. I still love to go the bookstore. We have a cute little book store in our town, but paperbacks and hardcovers are expensive, now that we’re used to 99 cent downloads, so that keeps my shopping at the bookstore down. I hope you get a stocking full of Amazon GC’s 🙂
Me too!
😉
Yeah, I have a gazillion books bought and not yet read. I somehow doubt I’ll ever read them all, but I live in hope. At the moment, I’m taking the path of least resistance and reading the books tugging at my attention, rather than those heavier books that take a lot more work. Those I want to “have read”. Must say, though, my purchase of paperbacks has slowed right down, and I’m much less tempted by book stores these days. Time was, I couldn’t walk past a book shop without pausing for at least 10 minutes and probably buying something. Now, I just shut my eyes and think of the books I can download onto my kindle.
And I know what you mean about lending e-books. I’m close to upgrading my kindle and I’m happy with the notion that I’ll then have a means of lending those books I have on kindle – by simply lending the older model!
As an aside, I was much less taken with The Magpie Lord than similar books in that genre. The third book still awaits… actually I thought there were more than three?
Nope, she’s wrapping up Stephen & Crane’s story in three books. There’s a spin-off book coming after the first of the year – “Jackdaw” tells the story of one of the antagonists in the 3rd book. I do love the series, but I will allow you to respectfully disagree.
😉
Well, there are others I love a whole lot more, but I will go read book 3 now. 🙂