And if the world doesn’t end in 2012, then what?

I find it very hard to stick to my guns about not buying books. I’ve been indulging in unrestricted purchasing for years so it’s a very hard habit to break. Although I feel that it’s worth it to show I’m actually accomplishing something by giving myself a goal in my reading and not buying unless I reach that goal. I am tackling that bane of my reading existence, the knowledge that I have all these potentially great books sitting on my shelf and yet I spend all my time reading books from the library or new books I’ve bought to pack into the limited shelf space. So 2012 has been a year of trying to accomplish something.

I was quite pleased to realize that my unread books have reached the realm of forty books. When did that happen? But then I realize it’s because I haven’t been buying books to replace what I read at such an alarming rate. Some books I probably would have read already, but I wanted to save the best for last like my Tolkien books. And there are some others that are part of series or so highly recommended that I just keep putting off for similar reasons. So that leaves stand-alone books that leave me with mixed feelings. Some of them I have been wanting to read and others I wonder why I bought them in the first place. Was it because they were cheap? I admit there were times I hated walking out of the bookstore without having bought something and I wonder why I chose this instead of that. I have a feeling that I’ll be clearing off some shelf space soon.

Yet despite all my self control, what will happen once 2013 rolls around? Do I return to unrestrained book buying binges and see myself back in the same predicament? I certainly hope not. I am thinking about putting a less severe restriction upon myself to help keep any impulses in check. I was thinking about allowing myself to buy any books I wanted to, but make a limit of five books each month. I offer five since I am usually able to read at least that many books each month. I feel that would be a reasonable limit to place upon myself until such time that I have read through all the unfinished books that I own.

Perhaps 2013 will be devoted to watching all those DVDs (movies and season boxed sets) that are langushing on the shelves. Or playing through the insane amount of unfinished video games for both console and handheld systems.

P.S. I kind of have the urge to play Marvel vs. Capcom 3 again and use Hawkeye, Dante, and Amaterasu in my party once more.

Life with an eReader

For my birthday last year I treated myself and purchased an eReader device. This was a monumental occasion as I had sworn I would never own one of these things, preferring my paper books to digital ones. I still do like my books in a paper format, but I understand the necessity for the storage capacity that an eReader can offer someone like me. Like most people who love to read I have acquired a vast quantity of books over the years that are often neglected because there’s just not enough time in the day to read as much as you want. With the other demands in life, it reduces your time as well. Since I’ve been working I do not have a lot of expenses at this point in my life that will put a drain on my finances. I’ve been able to purchase a lot more books than before and while discovering some great used bookshops within reasonable driving distance over the past few years, I have been seduced by the allure of getting several secondhand books for the price of a new hardcover. And trading in books that I know I am not going to read again has been a good way to pass along something I don’t like and hope that someone who does will give it a good home. Yet there is a problem that comes with this flow of massive amounts of books. Space becomes an issue that one must face the hard truth sooner or later. If I do not wish to sacrifice the freedom to move around then it poses a problem when I desire to have more books.

The space conflict was the reason that I finally broke down and looked into purchasing an eReader. I looked at some of the models available and finally settled on the Alura-tek Libra Pro. Online reviews at tech websites said it was a simple and basic device, and to be honest that is all I require. I do not need a lot of fancy bells and whistles when it comes to my digital reading experience. It came with 100 books installed on it and I was pleased to see that it accepts most formats, with the exception of Kindle ebooks. But I wasn’t too bothered by that aspect of its limitations. I’ve gone on a spree of downloading free titles of classics that I’ve either wanted or been meaning to read. I’ve been compiling a list of ebooks that I would like to purchase and download at some point in the future. It has grown exponentially since I discovered that the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series has been released in ebook format in the last few months, due to the release of the film version, I imagine. Some of the books on my eReader were ones that I already owned, but in a few cases I am unwilling to part with the particular editions of the books that I possess even to free up the space on my cramped shelves. Would you sacrifice a leather bound edition for a txt file?

Usually the first question that people ask me when they discover that I have an eReader is, “Do you like it?” I have failed to employ all its abilities, but as far as the books go I enjoy it a great deal. I can bookmark where I left off and at the top of the screen there’s a page count that also informs me of my percentage in completing my current read. I also like that you can change the font. Sometimes I feel like small text, but usually at night a larger size is more comfortable on the eyes.

Another practical use I can see for it arises if I ever go on vacation. I always pack more things than I could possibly need and rather than lug heavy books in my bags that I may or may not get around to reading, the Libre is small and compact so it will easily fit in my purse. It has the capacity to store 500 books without a memory card so if I’m reading something that’s a bit slow or I’m not feeling in the mood for at the moment? There are plenty of other choices! Oh, yes, I do like this idea very much!

One of the challenges I signed up for in 2011 was to read more ebooks this year so it should be interesting to see what gets finished in the next twelve months.