I suppose it was inevitable. After all, my “To Be Read” piles in print have grown to mammoth proportions over the years. For a while, my Kindle TBR….”list?” was manageable. No longer. I turned the device on a moment ago and it showed 129 items. That’s not counting archived items, of course. Lately I seem to be downloading at a rate of about 3 pieces a day. A majority of these have been books by friends or folks I know through blogging and facebook. A fair number of these have been ‘free’ works given away for promotional reasons. Honestly, I’d probably eventually “buy” most of the free works I’ve gotten from friends this way, but it’s kind of hard to turn ‘em down for free when I know I want them. Here are some of the books loaded on my Kindle from friends and colleagues.
The Red Reef – James Reasoner
Uncle Mildred and other Stories – Ian Ayris
The Prairie Chicken Kill – Bill Crider
Hallam – L. J. Washburn
Shooter’s Cross – Colby Jackson
The Golden Amulet – M. M. Fahren
Mindjacker – Sean Patrick Reardon
Ghosts of the Asylum – Ty Johnston
Malcontents – Has authors I know
American Horror – Has authors I know
Matters of Honor – Channing Hayden
Scars and Candy – Sidney Williams
Cold Blooded – Bernard Lee De Leo
Tractor Girl – James Reasoner
The Dishonored Dead – Robert Swartwood
No Shelter – Robert Swartwood
Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled - David Cranmer (ed)
The Paths of Righteousness – James Reasoner
Battle Kiss – O’Neil De Noux
City of Rouges – Ty Johnston
Monkey Justice – Patti Abbott
Hard Bite and Others – Anonymous-9
Bayne’s Climb: Part 1 – Ty Johnston
Discovery of Death – A.P. Fuchs
Calling 666 – Akasha Savage
Drunk on the Moon – Paul D. Brazill
Yesterday’s Flame – Livia Reasoner
Axiom Man – A.P. Fuchs
Deadly by the Dozen – Has authors I know
Monsters and Mormons – Has authors I know
Laughing at the Death Grin - has authors I know
Collateral Damage – has authors I know
L. A. Noir – has authors I know
8 Pounds – Chris F. Holm
Sever, Slice and Stab – Ty Johnston
More than Kin – Ty Johnston
Here are two still on my Kindle from friends that I have read:
The Hunt – Shauna Roberts. An excellent novella. I’d call it space opera. I did a further review on Goodreads and Amazon.
Night Games – Sean Patrick Reardon. An intense and fun short story.
I want to read every one of these. I’m sorry some of them have been languishing unread on my Kindle for quite a while now. So far in 2012 my writing has gone pretty well, but my reading has dwindled even further. I sure wish I could download some reading time for free. Heck, I’d even pay for it.
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So many books, so little time. My nook isn't overloaded like your kindle, but I feel your pain. Many titles stacking up waiting for reviews, but most of all waiting to be enjoyed. I have begun a policy of reading short story collections, which I can do one at a time each night before slumber attacks my consciousness. Last night I started Chuck Tyrell's collection BIG ENOUGH. Little by little.
ReplyDeleteMine is full of my blogger buddies' books. Every time one of them announces a new book, I add it.
ReplyDeleteOi Veh!
ReplyDeleteThe Minstrel will have to tote his lute a few more towns about, Gramlich. . .Heh. I'd faint. . .Haven't seen that much reading since I was lined up my 18th c. "Birth of the Novel" semester. I said, you a r e kidding, right? Don't worry, Charles. It is not about have to's. We writers, despite all who may castigate us, have precioius little time to write and less to read. . .Any writer friend of a writer knows that. . .unless of course they are on a paid vacation from Random House, with extended leave. Dance happy.
You sure have lots of friends!
ReplyDeleteI'm honored to be among them Charles
Warm Aloha from Hawaii
Comfort Spiral
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I have quite a few of those on my Nook. Fortunately (?) there are a number of authors/titles I'm not familiar with. Book addict that I am, I'll have to check them out. (You do, of course, know what an enabler is.)
ReplyDeleteRon, I may go back to doing that. I have read short story collections at other times when I'm overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteAlex, it fills up pretty quick. I've got lots of print books from friends as well, including yours.
M.M.Fahren, an extended leave sounds nice. I'd like a sabbatical where all I had to do was read.
Cloudia, but of course, my friend. :)
Keith, I do. Why should I be the only one with too many books to read. :)
Can't decide? use a dice ;)
ReplyDeleteCharles, I understand your predicament. Mine is no better. I never had a TBR list till about three years ago. I used to read anything that caught my fancy. And now suddenly I have a pile of books I want to read. So what I am doing is reading a minimum of three books by each author on my list. That way I am neglecting none. But it doesn't always work that way. Last evening, I returned home with six novels by Tom Sharpe, the satirical writer famous for his WILT series. The lot cost me under $2. I am also reading more short stories and novellas - that's a good idea, Ron.
ReplyDeleteI have pretty much the same problem, just not in the way of books to be read but more in the way of really no time to read unless I bring the item to work and read it on my slow days, which won't be happening anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteDeka, I never thought of that.
ReplyDeletePrashant, I've definitely been trying to spread the love around and that helps me get to reviews.
G., I haven't had a slow day at work in a long time now. I miss them.
Time is the problem, Charles. Never enough time and we can never catch up, because we keep adding on.
ReplyDeleteComin' onto February blues.
ReplyDeleteNot really up to snuff. Backblow from too much John Barleycorn. I think I heard the doc say my ass nearly fell off. "Lay off that stuff...But you won't, I know."
Sleepy. Don't read much in February.
Playin' my guitar.
Blues song from suburbia.
"Woke up this morning
"Both cars were gone..."
Ever try to write a song besides composing a short story? It's impossible!
Those are a lot of books!
ReplyDeleteI don't have an e-reader, but I do have a long list of books I'd like to get around to reading--at some point. The blogosphere is excellent at making it longer. :P
Me, also, on my Kindle. I don't know what the count is. Also, I have alot on the computer that I did not get through Amazon, so those will only get loaded when I read them.
ReplyDeleteI've been grabbing sales and free through online acquaintences and by following some publishers.
November was a banner month, I grabbed more than ten titles that month alone.
I thought with e'books I'd be able to buy them when I was ready to read, and not worry about books going out-of-print. But with all the deals, I can't resist stocking ahead of time like I used to do with print.
Oscar, I've finally begun to realize that. It's a hard thing to accept.
ReplyDeleteIvan, I wrote a couple of songs once upon a time. they weren't any good.
Golden Eagle, you said it, for sure.
Paul, that has happened to me too. when I see something for free that I know I want to get anyway eventually, I quickly download it. That's part of the build up for sure.
I feel you, my friend. I'm in the same predicament. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours anymore.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived a decade in Utah, I want to know what "Monesters and Mormons" is about.
ReplyDeleteI've read a few books on my nook, but I have picked up a lot of older and cheaper ones--currently reading a John Muir book that I picked up for 1.99 along with Dostoevsky's "House of the Dead" which I got a 1911 digitalized translation for free
Now that's a great idea to download extra free time. Let me know if you figure out how to do it- I'd like to download some, too.
ReplyDeleteBernardl, They say that that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Not sure if that works for lack of reading time.
ReplyDeleteSage, Monsters and Mormons is a collection of stories set mostly in the early Mormon period. I've only read one story so far, by DAvid J. West, but I liked it a great deal.
Rick, if I figure out how to download extra free time I will 'sell' the idea to any one who can pay! :)
I have a lot on the kindle too and if it's a collection, I try to read one or two stories and then let myself off the hook. House-wise I am sure I have over 500 books waiting to be read. Horrible, I know.
ReplyDeleteMan, maybe being stuck on an island a while is an effective way of seclusion for reading . . . that or light security prison, I guess . . . Holy Mother of God that's quite a virtual stack.
ReplyDeleteI've been able to maintain my discipline and not download anything to m Kindle that I wasn't prepared to immediately read. For the stuff I want to read at some point, I use the Amazon wish list.
ReplyDeleteOr I do the old fashioned thing and write it down in my notebook.
I find I'm getting through my wish list pretty well this way.
I'm honored to be on your list, Charles. BTW, your print book "Writing with Fire" came from Amazon a few months ago and it's a very good book with lots of good stuff for writers in there. When I'm stuck, and it happens often, I peruse a few pages and manage to slip back into first gear.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah... fb steals hours of my time, more than blogging ever did... google+ needs attention, too
ReplyDeletecan't recall last time i even looked at twitter...
when i look at the alerts i get from fb, 1,000+ daily, anywhere from 3 to 30 posts each, no way i can get to all even if i sat here 24 hr/day ...3,000+ end up getting deleted...
learned to respond to only those directed at me; quickly found even those are too many... so forced to answer those who i know best... likely alienating new friends... even then, i gotta ignore the majority, or go cross-eyed... can't win!
still not overcome whatever's stopping me from getting back in the writerly groove... even reading is inhibited
enjoy your endeavors!
Patti, I just read a blog post by John Connolley where he talks about all his tbr shelves. I guess it's a habit among us readers.
ReplyDeleteErik, I could definitely go with some island time, man. You own one I could use?
Travis Cody, Dude, you da man. I wish I had that discipline.
Anon-9, I'm glad you are enjoying Write With Fire. There's a wide variety of things in it. I am going to start listening to books on my kindle again so maybe I'll gain ground on my pile.
Laughingwolf, I'm probably spending time evenly between blogger and facebook. I've stayed off the others for now. I hear you about how crazy this new net world can be.