Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and is a weekly feature with a different bookish topic every week! Today we’re talking about our Top Ten Book Related Problems. I’m usually an optimist when it comes to books, because BOOKS! They’re awesome! But I do have some issues, and I’ll bet that a few of these are on a lot of lists this week:
1. Too many books.
This just goes without saying, right? There are just TOO MANY BOOKS out there that I want to read, and it’s impossible to read all of them. There was a time about 15-20 years ago when I knew EVERY SINGLE FICTION TITLE COMING OUT! I mean, I had heard of everything. That isn’t the case anymore. And I’m not even talking about independently published books. I’m talking about legitimate publishers. There are so many new small publishing houses these days that are putting out top-notch books, and I want to read them all too, in addition to the titles from the bigger houses. Why has publishing exploded so much?
2. Too little time.
By the time I finally finish everything that I HAVE to do during the day, there is precious little time left to actually read. Most days I only get about an hour or so, mostly because the only time I can read is in bed at night, right before I fall asleep. I get up early, check my email and visit blogs and leave comments, get ready for work, take the kids to school, go to work, come home, walk the dogs, make dinner, clean up dinner, help kids with homework or projects, and go to bed. On the weekends I spend a lot of time doing crappy stuff like laundry and housework and grocery shopping, all that time-suck stuff that I can’t do during the week. Then I have to spend hours actually blogging! Cause you know, blog. If anyone out there is working on inventing a machine that can stop time, please let me know! I’m happy to help you test it:-D
3. Too little space.
Some readers I know have a finite amount of bookcase space available, and they actually give books away when they start to run out, so they can fill the bookcase up with new books. I am NOT one of those people. I don’t really care if I don’t have enough bookcase space, nothing is going to stop me from buying a book I really want. Thus, my house is a veritable pile of books. Luckily, my husband has learned to put up with it:-D
4. Too little money to buy ALL the books.
I may be working full-time again, but I don’t have the kind of disposable money I used to have, back before I had a family and a house. So I do have to pick and choose. I’m the type of book hoarder that doesn’t feel bad if I haven’t read every book I’ve ever bought, so there will always be way more books that I want to buy, even if I know I’ll never have time to read them.
5. eBooks – Out of sight, out of mind.
I only read ebooks for review purposes, which I know is a little weird. I don’t think I have ever PURCHASED an e-book (well, maybe once!). If I’m reading a book for pleasure (non-review), I’m always going to buy a physical copy. So what happens when I love a review book? It stresses me out not to have a physical ARC or finished copy to sit on a shelf (or in a pile) so that I can see it and remember how great it was. If I had unlimited funds, I would certainly buy a copy of every eARC I read, but…see #4 above.
6. Separating the potentially amazing from the potentially awful.
It’s a problem all readers face: if you only have so much time to read, you want ALL of the books you choose to be the best book ever. To feel as if you wasted hours of your life reading something disappointing can be a real downer. I know lots of readers are able to DNF books that they know aren’t going to be for them, but I have a hard time not finishing something I’ve started. I’m very careful to select books from authors that have good track records and good reviews on Goodreads, but sometimes you want to take a chance and try something new. And sometimes, even books that have glowing reviews from other readers don’t always work for you.
7. Review books vs. “me” books—what to do?
I’ve struggled with this from the day I started blogging, or at least the day I accepted my first review request. I find myself reading nothing but review books, and I never seem to make time for all the other books I want to read. I’ve vowed to cut back on review books several times over the years, and I can just never make it happen. I guess I have a hard time saying “no” and I always feel bad when I do. If you have this problem, I’d love to know how you keep review books under control!
8. Getting to the end of an amazing book.
Also known as the “book hangover,” this actually isn’t a bad problem to have! Some books are so emotionally immersive that it takes hours for me to come back to the real world after finishing them. These books are rare, but I know we’ve all had this experience at one time or another. A book’s ending leaves you stunned and uncommunicative, and all you can do is stare into space until the drug of the book wears off.
9. Time lags between books in a series.
This is one of those problems that can’t really be fixed—unless you wait until the entire series is published before you start reading. And who among us is that strong? I think authors and publishers invented series just to torment their readers:-D
10. When a book’s pub date keeps getting pushed back.
Has this ever happened to you? You hear about a book coming out that you can’t WAIT to read (Armada) and it’s got a reasonable release date. And then, the next thing you know, that date is changed and it’s WAY far away. Or a book you can’t WAIT to read (The Hellsblood Bride) has a release date and then the author says NO THAT BOOK ISN’T COMING OUT YET, I’M HAVING A DISPUTE WITH THE PUBLISHER. What?? These things just kill me.
Do we share any of these book related problems? I’d love to hear yours:-D
Haha, I actually just nodded in agreement throughout this post!
Rhoda K recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #2: Book Related Problems
That doesn’t surprise me, these are universal book problems!
When I saw your title, I thought, “TEN book problems? There’s no way there can be that many,” but there they are and they’re all legit probs! 1, 2, 6, 7, & 8 are all big problems for me.
I didn’t think I could come up with ten, but it wasn’t that hard:-D
Fantastic post Tammy! You definitely need to find time for reading, with kids and work and everything! I’m one of those people who run out of space and have to donate/give books away, we only have a small unit so it gets pretty stressful. I’m the same with eBooks as well, I tend to forget they’re there.
Jeann @ Happy Indulgence recently posted…Contemporary YA Reviews #5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart & A Small Madness by Diane Touchell
I really admire you for being able to give books away, it’s so hard for me!
Are those your shelves and piles of books?
booksbrainsandbeer recently posted…Closed for Business
Yes, um, those are all mine. *cringes* And that’s not all of them. Here are more piles.
O_O
booksbrainsandbeer recently posted…Closed for Business
Yes, I hate book hangovers. Though, I don’t know that I agree with “too many books”, I just think it emphasizes the “too little time”, so that one needs to be repeated! 🙂 And balancing review books versus me books can be a challenge (though, luckily a good number are usually both me books and review books!)
Lisa @TenaciousReader recently posted…Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (The Inheritance Omnibus Part 1)
You are one of those bloggers I admire because you DO read lots of “me” books. Seriously, I always think, “I want to be like Lisa!”
Love this! So true. If you’re a writer you can add in book critiques.
Oh good one, Eliza!
I can sympathize with every single item on all of the top 10 lists that I have checked out so far today, your top three especially. Ooh, and #10, gawd how I hate that! It’s happened to be several times in the past month or so, and is driving me b-a-n-a-n-a-s!
Carmel @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Fresh Meat: February 15-21st Speculative Fiction Releases
It’s so disappointing, isn’t it? When that book you are dying to read just never comes out… GRRRR
I can relate to pretty much all of these. Since I don’t regularly accept books for review (only those I personally request), I don’t have as much of an issue with the Review Books vs. Me Books…although I have had moments where I wanted to review a book, only to find that the desire passed by the time the book arrives and then I deal with those guilt feelings.
I like what you had to say about ebooks as I have that same experience. I actually like reading ebooks just fine, but they just don’t stay on my radar the way a physical book does. I may read several ebooks in a row, but then weeks, sometimes months, go by where I don’t even pick it up and I quickly loose perspective on what books I have loaded on there waiting for me.
Carl V. Anderson recently posted…Galactic North ~Alastair Reynolds
I think in general I want to start requesting/accepting less review books. This is the year I’m gonna do it!
I’m also with you on all of these. Particularly the work/life balance one. It is really difficult fitting it in – and made even more difficult because I would actually prefer to be reading or blogging than doing chores! Although I do enjoy cooking I must admit. Still, it’s not an easy balance to strike. Your evenings sound very similar to mind. I work full time. I’m thinking about tea on the way home, then I walk the dog and a whole bunch of other chores so I don’t even sit down for another 2/3 hours after I get home! Bring on the time turner.
Lynn 😀
Lynn recently posted…Books, books, books and… books
Sounds like we have similar lives, Lynn! A time turner sounds good to me:-D
I agree with #10.
I get all pumped knowing a book will be out next month, then while getting my Out Today post ready, i notice it isn’t on there. So i click on it on Goodreads and now the date is like 8 months away now!!!!! *le sigh*
booklife4life recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday! (5)
Ha ha, it is frustrating, right?
Oh, your #7 is also a BIG problem of mine. I also have a hard time saying no and my own purchased books sit and wait oh, so patiently. The GUILT I feel is extreme!
Becky LeJeune recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Problems
I’m glad I’m not the only one with problem #7!
Um, all of these!
Check out my TTT and my newest giveaway.
Lauren recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Book Related Problems I Have
I believe it was last year or the year before my husband told me wanted to build me a whole set of floor to ceiling shelves for our front room…anyway, that was ages ago. Now just the other day he was telling me how my books stacks were out of control, and I had to show him the books that I was already storing in all these plastic bins because I just don’t have any more shelf space and reminded him I’m still waiting for the shelves he promised he’d make me. That shut him up 😛
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: Your Servants and Your People by David Towsey
Ha ha! You need to get him on that project! It sounds like he must have some carpentry skills to even offer that, I would love to have skills like that myself. Can you imagine just being able to build built-in a bookcase yourself every time you needed a new one??
Yes he has his own shop and tools and everything in the basement…but he’s a procrastinator 😛
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: Your Servants and Your People by David Towsey
Nice list of book related problems!! Waiting for another book in the series does suck!
Lisa @ Captivated Reader recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday — Ten Book Related Problems I Have
If it wasn’t for the library and the $1 paperback wall at Goodwill, I don’t know how I’d afford to read. I just don’t have disposable funds for the bookstore (sadly)!
I hate the feeling of having wasted several hours on a terrible book. I do DNF more than I used to but sometimes I keep going because I really want to believe a book will get better, and when it doesn’t, I hate myself. 😛
Martha @ I’d Rather Be Reading recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: top ten bookish problems I have
I really need to DNF more often, too. Although I have had experiences where I started out hating a book but loved it by the time I finished, so maybe that’s why I’m always finishing everything!
There are a LOT of things on this list I can really relate to. DNFing (unless you are really hating something) and saying no to someone giving you a book are definitely hard but are probably good habits to get into if the alternative does make you stressed or unhappy from time to time. Number 9 and 10 make me so frustrated to the point that I think I need to stop picking up series until they are finished.
Stephanie recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Book Related Problems