You Have too Many Unread Books! - A Definitive Guide

#books #toomanybooks #choice #readwhatyouown

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[petssound]

Any library worth the name should contain the undiscovered country. I can't imagine living without that.

[chrisG]

That was actually beautiful.
I regularly beat myself up for having so many books unread on my shelf, usually around about the time that I think about buying a new book but you know what?
They all interest me and I DO love having the choice of reading them.
Thank you, for your perspective, that of which I rate so highly.

[susanthielen]

I believe in donating books that I have finished to others. It keeps my books from piling up and it creates a sense of community for readers especially for those who cannot either afford them or cant get out of the house to buy them. Its a wonderful way of sharing and giving. There is a bookshelf in my building where books are left for others to take. Again, its a sense of community.

[davebrzeski]

Absolutely. The only issue is the space issue, and that is a problem for me. Back in the pre-computer days when I had every book, and even short story logged on 5"X3" file cards, I would use gaming dice to randomly generate what I'd read next, and not have to try too many times to get something I hadn't already read!

[STARSHOT_]

Based Shawn. I drive around a lot for work and I love going to new thrift stores on my lunch break. I almost always end up coming home with like 10 new books lol, hard to beat the 50 cent prices on thrifted books. And when I don't know what I want to read I'll just grab one of them randomly. As you said it's nice to have options!

[anotherbibliophilereads]

I think it’s a good idea to focus on reading what is on my shelves at least for a while. 100 books can be done in a few months.

[mindysbookjourney]

I love have a good selection of unread books to choose from. My goal is to get rid of the stacks on the floor though. I want them to fit on the shelves. 🤣

[timstoomanybooks]

I started my unread book collection by collecting all the books by 6 favoured authors (Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, Patricia Highsmith, Eric Ambler and Nicholas Monsarrat)
Very quickly I found more and more authors where I wanted to collect all their books.
I will get through all of them one day. I will. I WILL

[Nicolesspace]

I need to make myself a shirt that says "The one with the most books wins"

[bookrisingisclosed]

I like having a variety of "unreads" to choose from, for sure. I am also not going to buy a book just to read it and unhaul it either. I keep the books I've read, and loved, for the very reason that I have the ability to re-read them later if I want to. And, I DO re-read books. I view books as a sacred thing. ALL books adorn my home library shelves - read or unread - and I am appreciative of them both.

[parlabaneisback]

Do we need to care?
I can't see how it matters to me if people have read all their books or not. Each to their own and all that.

[psikeyhackr]

E-books don't need shelves. Take that! LOL

[Zozette]

I have hundreds of unread books. That means whenever I want to start a new book I have plenty to choose from. That said I am on a self imposed book buying ban for the next 6 months because I want to save up enough to buy an new iPad.

[saintdonoghue]

Hah! Having choices is just fine! But when we're talking about people compulsively buying books until they reach a point where they have THOUSANDS of unread books in their home? sometimes FIVE THOUSAND unread books, when they read maybe 150 books a year? Yes, having choices is good, but surely that can be taken too far? To, say, a pathological level?