Just How BIG is My Problem?

Many of you already know that I have put myself on a book diet for the 2012 calendar year and I’ve committed to reading 100 books this year. Each time I tell someone new of this goal, they look at me in amazement. But what I try to get them to understand is that I’m trying to catch up with my book buying habits. I have way to many books in my possession that I have not gotten around to reading and it is entirely too irresponsible to continue buying when I’m not keeping up with the consumption of what I have bought.

So, how bad is it?



Sometime last year, Amazon granted us the ability to organize our Kindle books/documents into folders. I figured now was the perfect time to really sit down and figure out how many books I have unread while I organized. I really needed to do this as I also have the habit of downloading the first chapter samples so I can decide later if I want to buy the book. I needed to get all of those samples out of the way. Next year when I lift my self imposed book diet, I will start going through the growing list of samples to determine what will be bought and definitely read in the future.

For now, I have 32 unread Kindle books, 39 un-listened to audio books in my iTunes account (most bought from Audible), and 128 unread or partially read physical books in my home (as catalogued in my Delicious Library program). I also have a read again list going but I won’t even think about those books for now. For those of you quick on your feet, you’ve already added up my damage.

Yep, I have 199 books to read. Books that have already been bought or gifted or obtained for free. Most have been bought. I don’t even want to think how much money that means I have spent with no return. BUT, that return is to come soon. Unfortunately, my book diet may need to last longer than a year, but we’ll see how things look as the holiday book sales approach. And just as a comparison and to prove that I actually do read some of what I buy, my total book collection sits at 493. This does not include technical books that I’ve been holding on to. So there! I know I still have a problem.

Please tell me that some of you are just as bad.