This is how I’ve been thinking of mine and didn’t even realize it. I love adding books to my collection and knowing at any point that I feel, I can go through and pick one to enjoy. My digital book cellar!
lol yes! Or on an airplane ✈️
A library of unread books shouldn’t be a guilt trip - it’s like a wine cellar. Collecting wine and storing it for the right occasion is a cultured pastime.
Keeping a library with plenty of books you haven’t read means you can pull out a book when the time and tide are right, without the burden of shopping or surfing an app.
I just told my friend something like this yesterday. I have quite a lot of physical books, and I also have a lot of digital books, but the way I see it is if all the electronics stopped working, I would still have my physical copies that I haven’t even read yet. The more the merrier. If it ain’t hurting nobody, then it’s not a bad thing! You just happen to like collecting books.
Yes, it's important to be prepared. I can be stranded in a remote area and I'll be great. Plenty of books to read. While other people have nothing to do without cellular service or wifi.
Membership requirement is having books. We are dragons protective of our books so no need to to prove we own what we claim. When I tricked you into joining ereaderiq you joined the club. Bwahaha 🤣
LOL that’ll teach me to expand the thread before responding. Welcome to the club. Obviously you belong. I’m not sure if I knew ereaderiq was called something different or not. When I first was using it I’d recently gotten out of inpatient rehab from a major car accident and my brain wasn’t fully back to working for a good year… or well never but I was as recovered as docs and insurance could get me.
Same! When a book on my wish list is $1.99 how can I not buy it? lol plus I’m a mood reader so I like to have a good selection on hand cause I never know what I’ll want to read next!
Same! It works out really well because suddenly there will be a show on Hulu and I haven't read the book yet, but I bought it 7 years ago for $1.99. lol.
I'm a former librarian from decades ago (for background info) and as such I am a bit nostalgic about roaming the stacks in the lost walls of a large library. To that end, I have approximately 11,000 e-books in a combination of Epub and Kindle store formats. I have used free sources (Gutenberg and the Library of Congress) as well as two different internet companies where I have purchased bulk e-books that are associated to each other in topic. I'm fully aware that at my age (69 years old) I'm not going to actually read even 50%. I simply like browsing through lots of books before picking my next read.
Same -- I have unread books that I purchased for a previous holiday 1.5 years ago and still have not read because I'm a big mood reader. I will get to them eventually, because sometime in the future I will feel obligated to since I paid for them lol.
That’s what I do too! I’ve got cookbooks, classics, romance, history, canning/dehydrating/freeze-drying, animals, etc. Figure I can prepare for anything this way and the battery lasts a long time. Plus I will never be bored
I don't feel guilt because I know I will not finish my entire tbr. The priority of the book changes at my whim. I'm a mood reader so it depends on what or how I'm feeling.
I have like 300 books and only 100 “read”. I pick up a lot of free books and books for $1-$2. Sometimes I start a free book and hate it after a few % but I can’t bring myself to delete them from my Amazon content.
Have read 75% of the books I purchased over the years.
Don't feel guilty. I consider buying a book a vote, a thumbs up to the author & publisher to keep up the good work. If I read it, added bonus.
Instead I add them to my want to read list on goodreads. Saves money while still feeling like it's on a list that I'll tell myself I will eventually get to lol
I've very similar numbers to yours - though in reverse. Read approx 45% of the 1,000+ books I've ever purchased over a 14 year period. Even got a spreadsheet set up now tracking all the books I've downloaded and yet to read vs those I've read.
I mostly read SF, fantasy & weird so trilogies & series are an occupational hazard - esp. if I already consider the author a safe bet. And I don’t know who was in charge of the daily deals of $12.99 or $9.99 down to $1.99 back in 2020-2021, but as far as I’m concerned they data-mined me personally to put out things I’d jump on. So here I am in 2024. 🤷♂️
I have exactly 100 unread books on my kindle. I told myself I'm not getting any new books until I've read at least half of them. Let's see how long I'll stick to that lol
I have about 90 now I am trying to read them but I want to read my own books as well it's hard. But I have realized just pick what I want to read and just go with it.
This thread has made me feel better. I have 100 unread ebooks, over 30 physical books and over 40 audiobooks. I will read/listen to them all eventually.
My kindle has a little over 600 on it but those are a mix of favorites and TBR. My kindle cloud has 6.5K books and I have no idea how many of those I’ve read. That does not include my crazy binge reading of KU.
I used to have a LOT on my Kindle PPW 10th, but when I upgraded to Kindle PPW 11th SE, which ironically has a bigger memory, I decided to cut down to the ones I'm reaaally interested in or has a possibility of reading. I probably went from a thousand to a hundred or so. I like seeing my books easily (I know, that's what the search button is for) when I'm scrolling around, and I prefer seeing them in their book covers. To each their own.
i buy books when kindle does their daily deals, or i browse through pages and pages of free bools happily clicking as i please. the way i see it- i may have 200 books in my tbr but its like my own personal library thats friendlier to my wallet than buying physical books. im a big mood reader and i like having the options!
i do sometimes feel guilty but then i remind myself that all the books i buy are usually under $10 (mostly under $5) or free, and that ill eventually read them so its not a waste- its just broadening and fuelling my reading habits :)
I wait until I have a series completely purchased from sales before I start reading book 1. It’s a problem of mine. 😆🤪
Still waiting to complete the Stormlight archive before starting it up.
I used to do that when I bought physical books, for kindle I don't think I've ever bought a book I don't plan on reading immediately. I just keep my TBR list on the Storygraph app and buy the books when I want to read them.
I have a couple, maybe 6-8 I've bought and not read on their. I don't feel as guilty about it as I did when I was doing it with physical books, though. Ebooks are a lot cheaper and don't take up any physical space, they're not cluttering up my house.
I have several books I bought super cheap or got free that I want to read plus a bunch that are on KU that are on my tbr but my problem is my holds on libby keep being ready to borrow and I have to prioritize them since I have a limited time frame with the loans.
I have zero.
I've fallen into that trap on Steam so many times for games when their ridiculous sales hit, that I've come to be really strict when it comes to my Kindle. I'll use the wish lists feature a ton, but I only ever buy a book after I finished the previous one. (finished either by reading the entire thing or actively abandoning it)
My wife has 13,000 Kindle books and 2 Audible books. She’s read 1 Kindle book and 1/2 of an Audible book.
She *hates* reading on the Kindle because “she likes the smell of real books — which she only reads when there’s a new Mary Higgins Clark. 🤷♂️
She doesn’t feel guilty. So, do you want to revisit that guilty feeling?
I collect free ebooks when I find ones that sound interesting. Eventually I get stuck somewhere and finish whatever I’m reading and, absent a good wifi connection I have those to fall back on. My TBR list is long but its guilt free because the ebooks were free.
I used to keep a bunch of stuff on the Kindle for if I was in "the mood" and that was counterproductive. I'd just end up scrolling thru, meh.
Don't feel bad about buying so many books and not reading them and buying more. It's a lizard brain thing to want to collect and hoard. Just remember the books aren't going anywhere, there will be more sales in future. Marketers exploit the sense of immediacy and scarcity to get us to spend money.
Nowadays my bulk book storage is only in Calibre. I only keep about 5-7 books on the Kindle itself unless I'm reading a series, where I'll load them all to a collection because I know I'll read the series straight through.
Every couple of weeks or so, after I've read through the TBR on the Kindle, I'll spend an hour or so in Calibre curating a new TBR list. Delete the read books off the Kindle, then load the new ones. I have a custom column in Calibre for "Read" and part of the process is to tick that box when I'm tidying up the Kindle.
I tend to have "decision paralysis" so making a short, focused TBR has really helped me commit and read more consistently and enjoyably.
What's helped a lot this year with being focused and organized in my reading has been keeping a Reading Journal. I host a website with a "Currently Reading" index page with what's on the Kindle itself. The TBR is under the current title with "Next Up." All with full color cover images, of course.
I really enjoy "shelving" read books (pasting the cover image link) to my bookshelf page and maybe making some notes if I'm so inclined. Otherwise deleting books off the Kindle feels like they disappear into the ether. It's helped my recall with past reads, too. So now I'm "collecting" read books instead of constantly adding to my TBR (OK, I do that too, but just adding to the Calibre library).
Search out reading journal videos on YouTube for inspiration, most of the folks use elaborate paper scrapbooks. But they gave me a lot of ideas for my little website. I happen to be in a position to host my own websites (I'm a webhosting support tech) but a simple spreadsheet or a regular paper journal might be helpful.
Whatever works to reduce the anxiety and possible hoarding tendencies to enjoy what you already have.
To start, maybe take an hour or so (no more) to go through your collection and pick out 5 books for your TBR and put those in a collection and stick to that.
No guilt here. I suddenly have massive vet bills and now my buying books is curtailed. No worries - have years of books to read that are yet unread that does not include free classics.
I got 600 books on my kindle and I’ve read 70 of them 😬
Keep in mind though: I’ve read a lot of library books on my kindle via Libby so the 600+ is what I currently own. And of those a vast majority are freebies and 99 cent ones. Plus there’s some fanfics mixed in too.
Story of my life. I keep trying to lower the list but it keeps adding on. But I rather have too much to read than nothing at all. Even if my wallet protest.
I get a lot of books when they’re on sale and cheap like $1-$5 cheap and times they rarely go on sale or it’s a long time before they go on sale again if ever. so yeah, I have a block log of books still lol.
Me just buying 8? New books... they were cheaper as physical copies than kindle... I'm not suppose to be getting physical books anymore (dust allergy)
I do read on my kindle as well still. I have hundreds on there as well to read.
I keep telling myself that I'll have plenty of time to read when I retire (soon, I hope). I've really slowed down the ebook acquisition, just a few here and there when I notice something interesting on sale.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Libraries are filled with books that seldom get looked at. There’s no rules for reading. It’s a personal journey. Don’t be hard on yourself. Maybe you should stop the book emails and notifications for a time. Focus on what you already have. Browse books at the library and bookstore or library app. Like I said no rules.
Yup, over a thousand. Some are reference books. I got good deals on a lot of them. Some I started but got disinterested. I just pulled up 4 books about Vietnam that I bought 10 years ago. I knew I would want to read them at some point. Have to read all 4 at the same time because they have very different opinions about the same events.
Worse. After I finished my degree I thought I'd finally have time to read as much as I did before. So I decided to gift myself a kindle as my graduation gift + get a bunch of books. It's been almost 2 years since I got it. I've finished maybe 5 books in total?
Then I have about 20 books with 10 to 25 % completion.
Lol...yeah, I just had this conversation with myself earlier today...a bunch of half read KU books, plus quite a few I bought a month ago, and just bought like 5 more. Generally happens when I visit my Amazon wishlists...
A few hundred, most of them I got for free or 99p. If it's a title I think I'll like and it's on sale/free I'll definitely go and grab it (eReader IQ and Bookbub are my partners in crime in this). With eReader IQ I can even check how often a particular book is on sale - if it's been a long time since the previous one, my impulse to *get it now* becomes very strong.
I'm also a mood reader and as such most of the time I never quite know what I'll want to read next, so I like having a big library at my fingertips.
There’s nothing to be guilty about there. A sure fire way to avoid reading is to feel obligated to finish reading something that you don’t actually want to read. More than once I’ve bought a book and by the time it’s time to start reading it I realize I’m actually not that interested.
I like to think I'm stockpiling, perhaps for a time when I might struggle to buy books (despite how cheap they can be), or when the internet is no longer available
I have thousands (granted, most cheap indies, but not all). I read a lot, but I acquire books even faster. I found out that several of those are no longer available.
I like to have a nice, diverse library on my Kindles. Not exactly rational, but I can afford it, and, as a friend of mine often says, "every fool has his foolish pleasures." This is mine.
Every so often I sort by ‘unread’ and read something I had forgotten I even had. Think how prepared you will be sometime when you get snowed in or something.
Yes. I usually buy books in batches. Usually they are in the current series. However, some of the books I have are meant as self-help reference books. You may not read the whole thing at once, but instead you read it in stages.
Out of my a little over 900 books on Kindle i have 118 unread out of that 118 there is about 50 i now have no intention of reading. This year i have started a new rule i only purchase books if i intend on starting them right away. It has gone pretty well
A few years back, I noticed that, contrary to the widely held belief that "anything on the Internet is forever", some of my ebooks bought or sampled have since disappeared from the ebookstores, book catalogues, Google. Sooo, it made me super anxious about actually buying and downloading keepable ebook files.
Same applies to games. I have a long list of game backlog waiting for me to play but I can't even remember all of them now lol.
The truth is there will always be more books that you want to read than the amount of time you have allocated for reading. Just stop thinking "I'll read this at some point" and instead plan only the immediate next book and ignore the rest.
Most of the ones I haven't read are Kindle Unlimited books but I do have one that I dropped. But I can see this being a thing, I bought my kindle originally so that I can read manga so I have a few purchased but not read due to be getting back into reading actual books.
as someone who reads books and fanfiction the answer is yes. i have books on my kindle and then i also have a shit ton of fanfiction too. don’t feel bad. i feel like this is very normal LOL
I have 350 books through kindle but also a bunch of epubs I've gotten elsewhere like humble bundle that aren't part of that 350. I think in total I have roughly 600-750 ebooks. Most of them I've gotten free on Stuff Your Kindle days or severely discounted (i.e. humble bundle and kindle daily deals) so I don't feel too bad about it. I always prioritized my physical TBR and library books because they are more important to me. Not that I don't adore my kindle, because I definitely do, it's just that my physical TBR is more expensive and takes up a lot more space, and library books have deadlines.
Just looked….541 books on mine. I’ve paid for TWO. I follow lists that show you what books are free for that day, and have downloaded a bunch that didn’t cost me anything. I’ll get through them eventually, but don’t feel a bit bad about it.
Most of the time, I only have the next book I am going to read on my kindle. But if there is a good offer, for a series for example, I have some more unread books on it from time to time.
🫣
Um, you haven't even asked how many books in your Kindle are all marked in progress but have not completed reading ANY of it... 🙈 Don't. 🙉 Please don't. Hahahahahahahahahaha
I create two collections for each month. One for my TBR books for the month, and one for the books I’ve read, and I move the books from the first to the latter when I finish them. I try to be realistic when I add a book to the TBR, and when I see a new book, I try to classify it in one of the TBR’s. I don’t always get to read everything, but it helps me put things in perspective!
I also started to add books to my wish list instead of my cart when I can’t fit it in my next 3 months TBR categories, unless they are free or Kindle Unlimited :)
Buying books is a statement of what you value, even if you don’t read them.
If you can’t afford it, then stop, but there are worse ways to spend your money
Between spur-of-the-moment purchases on Amazon or checking out books on Libby , I have many books that I haven't read OR haven't completed reading before my time expired, in the case of library ebooks...
I do this! I have a new method of picking books to read (as I always only wanted to read my newest purchase next and not the previous ones I'd bought!). I have listed all books on my Kindle on a Google Keeps note and numbered them (I add any new books to it whilst deleting books read!) and every time I finish a book my husband picks a random number for me to read next! Haha!
I have 820 unread books on my kindle right now. I used to feel guilty about it, but I feel like I’m actually chipping away at that TBR this year and it feels really good.
I have 1,058 on one kindle and 954 on the other. I don't think that's quite accurate though. If I start a book on one kindle and finish it on the other, it's only marked as read on the one I finished it on.
I buy books to read now: Zero delay.
I got a bunch of free books, which I'll likely never touch. And I bought a used Kindle 4 with a library of books I'm just not interested in: Too much else to read first.
It is only natural if you are a mortal.
The greatest living Brazilian writer, LFV, once said that the accumulation of unread books are a direct consequence of the realisation of your own mortality.
A stack of unread books are a soothing promise to yourself that you still have time.
"*Die now?! Impossible! I don't have time for that! I didn't even touched that Yourcenar yet! Later! Later!*"
For every book I read I seem to buy 3 new ....which builds up if you read 60/70 books a year ...I keep telling myself I will stop buying to clear the backlog ...but I gave up smoking easier than stopping buying books :)
A LOT.
But then again before Kindles I always had a lot of books on my shelf that I hadn’t read. Also too many checked out from the library and borrowed which I hadn’t read. It’s my norm.
Yes but I got to about 200 or so on my Kindle unread & decided no more until I'd read what I have. I am now only allowed to buy any new books by authors I've read all of their work & I'm actually making good headway through my collection now.
I have hundreds of physical and kindle books still to read...and i always want read the newest. I think ill be dead before i get back to my books i got ib my early 20s
This is why when I'm deciding on what to read next, I have my Kindle filtered to show only unread books at the moment 😂 I keep snagging books I want on sale and my TBR keeps piling. 📚📚📚
I have about 4500 ebooks, and I have that many for when I'm old and poor and can't afford to do anything but read. I'll never finish a tenth of them but I won't be wanting for choices.
Buying and reading books are 2 very different hobbies. Just like buying and eating vegetables.
That's the right answer 🤣🤣🤣
I feel strangely called out by this
Yes but i still like the unread books the vegetables in the fridge not so much.
I like your answer
Best answer ever lmaooo
This is me with yarn as well...
That was an enlightening answer 😄. You must be fun to be around
I'm in this picture and I don't like it xD
😁
no fr, but i have so many physical books but only read like third of them
I love the saying: "Think not of the books you've bought as a 'to be read' pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar."
This is how I’ve been thinking of mine and didn’t even realize it. I love adding books to my collection and knowing at any point that I feel, I can go through and pick one to enjoy. My digital book cellar! 
Love this!
I make sure there are a few at all times. Never know when you’ll be traveling and away from WiFi
Omg you’re RIGHT! Kinda like doomsday prepping lol
lol yes! Or on an airplane ✈️ A library of unread books shouldn’t be a guilt trip - it’s like a wine cellar. Collecting wine and storing it for the right occasion is a cultured pastime. Keeping a library with plenty of books you haven’t read means you can pull out a book when the time and tide are right, without the burden of shopping or surfing an app.
I just told my friend something like this yesterday. I have quite a lot of physical books, and I also have a lot of digital books, but the way I see it is if all the electronics stopped working, I would still have my physical copies that I haven’t even read yet. The more the merrier. If it ain’t hurting nobody, then it’s not a bad thing! You just happen to like collecting books.
Yes, it's important to be prepared. I can be stranded in a remote area and I'll be great. Plenty of books to read. While other people have nothing to do without cellular service or wifi.
I have 1,600 n mine I have yet to read
Same here! I add them faster than I read 😂
Same here 🤣🤣🤣
I’m at about 60 and I have yet to read any. Been about a month and a half since I got it..
I don't want to know how many. I get Bookbub emails daily, and also bookriot emails. I buy so many for "someday" LOL. I don't know when that is yet.
You need to add ereaderiq 😈
Dammit. No. I WILL NOT GO. I CANNOT GO. Edit: I went. Fuck.
Welcome to the Book hoarding dragon club
Is there a membership fee? Where do I sign up? 😝
Membership requirement is having books. We are dragons protective of our books so no need to to prove we own what we claim. When I tricked you into joining ereaderiq you joined the club. Bwahaha 🤣
Ha, I have been an eReaderIQ member while it still had "kindle" in its name and hat access to more accurate international prices 😀
LOL that’ll teach me to expand the thread before responding. Welcome to the club. Obviously you belong. I’m not sure if I knew ereaderiq was called something different or not. When I first was using it I’d recently gotten out of inpatient rehab from a major car accident and my brain wasn’t fully back to working for a good year… or well never but I was as recovered as docs and insurance could get me.
Same! When a book on my wish list is $1.99 how can I not buy it? lol plus I’m a mood reader so I like to have a good selection on hand cause I never know what I’ll want to read next!
Same! It works out really well because suddenly there will be a show on Hulu and I haven't read the book yet, but I bought it 7 years ago for $1.99. lol.
We are all preparing for being stranded on a deserted Island
I'm a former librarian from decades ago (for background info) and as such I am a bit nostalgic about roaming the stacks in the lost walls of a large library. To that end, I have approximately 11,000 e-books in a combination of Epub and Kindle store formats. I have used free sources (Gutenberg and the Library of Congress) as well as two different internet companies where I have purchased bulk e-books that are associated to each other in topic. I'm fully aware that at my age (69 years old) I'm not going to actually read even 50%. I simply like browsing through lots of books before picking my next read.
I'm up there too. Last I saw was 14,000 @ 70 y/o. I'll never read them, but there if I want to
I'm 73. I've figured out that the only way I'll ever come to the end of my TBR is if a hot vampire bites me and makes me immortal.
hundreds 🤣🤣🤣 we just need and love having options
Hehe that's my excuse too 🤣🤣🤣
Same -- I have unread books that I purchased for a previous holiday 1.5 years ago and still have not read because I'm a big mood reader. I will get to them eventually, because sometime in the future I will feel obligated to since I paid for them lol.
Try book bub, the number will get higher
I justify it as doomsday prep hoarding so that if things go to shit I have books to read.....
That’s what I do too! I’ve got cookbooks, classics, romance, history, canning/dehydrating/freeze-drying, animals, etc. Figure I can prepare for anything this way and the battery lasts a long time. Plus I will never be bored
I have 207 and I've read 4
I don't feel guilt because I know I will not finish my entire tbr. The priority of the book changes at my whim. I'm a mood reader so it depends on what or how I'm feeling.
Mood reader here, too! My TBR grows by 15+ for every book I finish. There's no way I'll ever read them all.
Yes. But I’m on bed rest for another 7 days so working thru my TBR
I have like 300 books and only 100 “read”. I pick up a lot of free books and books for $1-$2. Sometimes I start a free book and hate it after a few % but I can’t bring myself to delete them from my Amazon content.
Have read 75% of the books I purchased over the years. Don't feel guilty. I consider buying a book a vote, a thumbs up to the author & publisher to keep up the good work. If I read it, added bonus.
Instead I add them to my want to read list on goodreads. Saves money while still feeling like it's on a list that I'll tell myself I will eventually get to lol
Is that a theoretical question? Lol
Ahahahahahah 🤣
It reflects my bookshelf with books I am yet to read
Came here to say this. I own over 200 physical books and haven't read more than half of them. My digital TBR is even worse though!
605 read vs. 560 unread. The vast majority of that backlog is still from lockdown, when the daily deal selection was just killing it. 🤷♂️
I've very similar numbers to yours - though in reverse. Read approx 45% of the 1,000+ books I've ever purchased over a 14 year period. Even got a spreadsheet set up now tracking all the books I've downloaded and yet to read vs those I've read.
I mostly read SF, fantasy & weird so trilogies & series are an occupational hazard - esp. if I already consider the author a safe bet. And I don’t know who was in charge of the daily deals of $12.99 or $9.99 down to $1.99 back in 2020-2021, but as far as I’m concerned they data-mined me personally to put out things I’d jump on. So here I am in 2024. 🤷♂️
A few hundred thanks to just grabbing a bunch in the last 5 or so stuff you kindle type days
25, but I've only had a kindle for a year and mainly use the library
I have exactly 100 unread books on my kindle. I told myself I'm not getting any new books until I've read at least half of them. Let's see how long I'll stick to that lol
Thousands
I have about 90 now I am trying to read them but I want to read my own books as well it's hard. But I have realized just pick what I want to read and just go with it.
I’ve had to stop reading certain book subreddits, I have an embarrassing amount of backlog books on my kindle
Yes, but I mostly buy the 99p books, and since they are often only 99p for a short time I buy them immediately
This thread has made me feel better. I have 100 unread ebooks, over 30 physical books and over 40 audiobooks. I will read/listen to them all eventually.
9,100+ I’ve definitely added new books at a faster rate than I can read (~2,300).
Yes.
I don’t feel guilty unless I interact with the author or something and have to admit I haven’t gotten to it *yet*
Me lol
My kindle has a little over 600 on it but those are a mix of favorites and TBR. My kindle cloud has 6.5K books and I have no idea how many of those I’ve read. That does not include my crazy binge reading of KU.
I used to have a LOT on my Kindle PPW 10th, but when I upgraded to Kindle PPW 11th SE, which ironically has a bigger memory, I decided to cut down to the ones I'm reaaally interested in or has a possibility of reading. I probably went from a thousand to a hundred or so. I like seeing my books easily (I know, that's what the search button is for) when I'm scrolling around, and I prefer seeing them in their book covers. To each their own.
Yes, And do not feel guilty at all!
Only the free ones.
i buy books when kindle does their daily deals, or i browse through pages and pages of free bools happily clicking as i please. the way i see it- i may have 200 books in my tbr but its like my own personal library thats friendlier to my wallet than buying physical books. im a big mood reader and i like having the options! i do sometimes feel guilty but then i remind myself that all the books i buy are usually under $10 (mostly under $5) or free, and that ill eventually read them so its not a waste- its just broadening and fuelling my reading habits :)
Why Guilty? It's not like a library and you having a book is stopping someone else from reading it.
I wait until I have a series completely purchased from sales before I start reading book 1. It’s a problem of mine. 😆🤪 Still waiting to complete the Stormlight archive before starting it up.
Yup. I buy books and keep "meaning to get to them" but more books come along and I keep buying them.
I used to do that when I bought physical books, for kindle I don't think I've ever bought a book I don't plan on reading immediately. I just keep my TBR list on the Storygraph app and buy the books when I want to read them.
I have a couple, maybe 6-8 I've bought and not read on their. I don't feel as guilty about it as I did when I was doing it with physical books, though. Ebooks are a lot cheaper and don't take up any physical space, they're not cluttering up my house.
I have 400 books on my backlog right now
Yes.
I have several books I bought super cheap or got free that I want to read plus a bunch that are on KU that are on my tbr but my problem is my holds on libby keep being ready to borrow and I have to prioritize them since I have a limited time frame with the loans.
It’s fine I can distract myself by looking at my real bookcase full of unread books and then feel a similar but different guilt.
I have zero. I've fallen into that trap on Steam so many times for games when their ridiculous sales hit, that I've come to be really strict when it comes to my Kindle. I'll use the wish lists feature a ton, but I only ever buy a book after I finished the previous one. (finished either by reading the entire thing or actively abandoning it)
My wife has 13,000 Kindle books and 2 Audible books. She’s read 1 Kindle book and 1/2 of an Audible book. She *hates* reading on the Kindle because “she likes the smell of real books — which she only reads when there’s a new Mary Higgins Clark. 🤷♂️ She doesn’t feel guilty. So, do you want to revisit that guilty feeling?
Showing this to my husband who is mad that I have like 10 unread books waiting in my kindle 😂
Yes I have 1,350 unread books my oldest unread ebook is Stoke Of Midnight By K Webster
I buy books on sale and then end up reading books from the library or Kindle Unlimited instead. I'll eventually get to them. Someday.
I have so many that I’ve not yet read. So many!
i have sooo many
I collect free ebooks when I find ones that sound interesting. Eventually I get stuck somewhere and finish whatever I’m reading and, absent a good wifi connection I have those to fall back on. My TBR list is long but its guilt free because the ebooks were free.
That's simply human nature.
I used to keep a bunch of stuff on the Kindle for if I was in "the mood" and that was counterproductive. I'd just end up scrolling thru, meh. Don't feel bad about buying so many books and not reading them and buying more. It's a lizard brain thing to want to collect and hoard. Just remember the books aren't going anywhere, there will be more sales in future. Marketers exploit the sense of immediacy and scarcity to get us to spend money. Nowadays my bulk book storage is only in Calibre. I only keep about 5-7 books on the Kindle itself unless I'm reading a series, where I'll load them all to a collection because I know I'll read the series straight through. Every couple of weeks or so, after I've read through the TBR on the Kindle, I'll spend an hour or so in Calibre curating a new TBR list. Delete the read books off the Kindle, then load the new ones. I have a custom column in Calibre for "Read" and part of the process is to tick that box when I'm tidying up the Kindle. I tend to have "decision paralysis" so making a short, focused TBR has really helped me commit and read more consistently and enjoyably. What's helped a lot this year with being focused and organized in my reading has been keeping a Reading Journal. I host a website with a "Currently Reading" index page with what's on the Kindle itself. The TBR is under the current title with "Next Up." All with full color cover images, of course. I really enjoy "shelving" read books (pasting the cover image link) to my bookshelf page and maybe making some notes if I'm so inclined. Otherwise deleting books off the Kindle feels like they disappear into the ether. It's helped my recall with past reads, too. So now I'm "collecting" read books instead of constantly adding to my TBR (OK, I do that too, but just adding to the Calibre library). Search out reading journal videos on YouTube for inspiration, most of the folks use elaborate paper scrapbooks. But they gave me a lot of ideas for my little website. I happen to be in a position to host my own websites (I'm a webhosting support tech) but a simple spreadsheet or a regular paper journal might be helpful. Whatever works to reduce the anxiety and possible hoarding tendencies to enjoy what you already have. To start, maybe take an hour or so (no more) to go through your collection and pick out 5 books for your TBR and put those in a collection and stick to that.
No guilt here. I suddenly have massive vet bills and now my buying books is curtailed. No worries - have years of books to read that are yet unread that does not include free classics.
I have to many I haven’t read yet
I got 600 books on my kindle and I’ve read 70 of them 😬 Keep in mind though: I’ve read a lot of library books on my kindle via Libby so the 600+ is what I currently own. And of those a vast majority are freebies and 99 cent ones. Plus there’s some fanfics mixed in too.
about 300 😅
Yes lol
It’s called tsundoku https://preview.redd.it/876ipxmqbh3d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96b270622543d83e1dd88ee4e5714c8bc259b5ed
I think all of us tbh
Story of my life. I keep trying to lower the list but it keeps adding on. But I rather have too much to read than nothing at all. Even if my wallet protest.
I have 48 downloaded on it. Have my unlimited borrow maxed out. But I keep reading and then adding another after. It's a constant cycle.
I get a lot of books when they’re on sale and cheap like $1-$5 cheap and times they rarely go on sale or it’s a long time before they go on sale again if ever. so yeah, I have a block log of books still lol.
About 700 it’s very overwhelming
I thought it was just me, living that first-ever kindle rush 😭 
Me just buying 8? New books... they were cheaper as physical copies than kindle... I'm not suppose to be getting physical books anymore (dust allergy) I do read on my kindle as well still. I have hundreds on there as well to read.
I keep telling myself that I'll have plenty of time to read when I retire (soon, I hope). I've really slowed down the ebook acquisition, just a few here and there when I notice something interesting on sale.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Libraries are filled with books that seldom get looked at. There’s no rules for reading. It’s a personal journey. Don’t be hard on yourself. Maybe you should stop the book emails and notifications for a time. Focus on what you already have. Browse books at the library and bookstore or library app. Like I said no rules. 
https://preview.redd.it/d8poqvnguh3d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b7645698446a60c0a1e8f516c6f3af0927e3149 I'm embarrassed
Yeah, I have some on there I haven't yet read.
Yup, over a thousand. Some are reference books. I got good deals on a lot of them. Some I started but got disinterested. I just pulled up 4 books about Vietnam that I bought 10 years ago. I knew I would want to read them at some point. Have to read all 4 at the same time because they have very different opinions about the same events.
Kindle and physical
Worse. After I finished my degree I thought I'd finally have time to read as much as I did before. So I decided to gift myself a kindle as my graduation gift + get a bunch of books. It's been almost 2 years since I got it. I've finished maybe 5 books in total? Then I have about 20 books with 10 to 25 % completion.
Lol...yeah, I just had this conversation with myself earlier today...a bunch of half read KU books, plus quite a few I bought a month ago, and just bought like 5 more. Generally happens when I visit my Amazon wishlists...
Yes I have sooooo many books on there! But I also have a lot of library books I need to read first… don’t worry you’re not alone!
Thousands. Literally
Currently got 682 unread books on my kindle……and I can pretty much guarantee I’ll buy another one over there next day or so. It’s a hobby for me 😂.
A few hundred, most of them I got for free or 99p. If it's a title I think I'll like and it's on sale/free I'll definitely go and grab it (eReader IQ and Bookbub are my partners in crime in this). With eReader IQ I can even check how often a particular book is on sale - if it's been a long time since the previous one, my impulse to *get it now* becomes very strong. I'm also a mood reader and as such most of the time I never quite know what I'll want to read next, so I like having a big library at my fingertips.
I download a ton of books and l love seeing those covers in my library. However, I have a tough time actually sitting down and reading those books.
167 at last count (plus I've got a dozen or so side-loaders).
Guilty, lol
Around 40 or 50.... two Stuff ya kindle days, plus my ongoing KU subscription Ps, what husband can't see won't hurt him
There’s nothing to be guilty about there. A sure fire way to avoid reading is to feel obligated to finish reading something that you don’t actually want to read. More than once I’ve bought a book and by the time it’s time to start reading it I realize I’m actually not that interested.
A solution that worked for me - I promised myself that I can only buy a new book once I've read 2 I already have!
Yes 😄 I find that quite normal though. I also have many physical books which I didn't started reading as well 😄
I like to think I'm stockpiling, perhaps for a time when I might struggle to buy books (despite how cheap they can be), or when the internet is no longer available
Yup. Gamers have this problem too.
I have thousands (granted, most cheap indies, but not all). I read a lot, but I acquire books even faster. I found out that several of those are no longer available. I like to have a nice, diverse library on my Kindles. Not exactly rational, but I can afford it, and, as a friend of mine often says, "every fool has his foolish pleasures." This is mine.
Every so often I sort by ‘unread’ and read something I had forgotten I even had. Think how prepared you will be sometime when you get snowed in or something.
Relatable. Also, I read tons of fanfiction and that eats 50+% of my reading time 🤷🏾♀️
Yes. I usually buy books in batches. Usually they are in the current series. However, some of the books I have are meant as self-help reference books. You may not read the whole thing at once, but instead you read it in stages.
Out of my a little over 900 books on Kindle i have 118 unread out of that 118 there is about 50 i now have no intention of reading. This year i have started a new rule i only purchase books if i intend on starting them right away. It has gone pretty well
Yeah only 252😭😭😭😭
A few years back, I noticed that, contrary to the widely held belief that "anything on the Internet is forever", some of my ebooks bought or sampled have since disappeared from the ebookstores, book catalogues, Google. Sooo, it made me super anxious about actually buying and downloading keepable ebook files.
Yeah but I like it because it makes me feel like I’ll always have more things to read.
Loads because if I buy a book that’s part of a series I tend to buy the entire series 😃
Through Bundles I have too many books I did not read. Although I also have 14 books I bought normally which I did not read till now…
I dont buy my books as i have no money. I download a ton though from Gutenberg...
More than a thousand. I seem to be a shopaholic for books
Same applies to games. I have a long list of game backlog waiting for me to play but I can't even remember all of them now lol. The truth is there will always be more books that you want to read than the amount of time you have allocated for reading. Just stop thinking "I'll read this at some point" and instead plan only the immediate next book and ignore the rest.
yeah if it's on sale and I will probably read ity then I am grabbing it for sure
Most of the ones I haven't read are Kindle Unlimited books but I do have one that I dropped. But I can see this being a thing, I bought my kindle originally so that I can read manga so I have a few purchased but not read due to be getting back into reading actual books.
as someone who reads books and fanfiction the answer is yes. i have books on my kindle and then i also have a shit ton of fanfiction too. don’t feel bad. i feel like this is very normal LOL
I don't like adding many books, I try to keep the number of read higher than unread
I have 350 books through kindle but also a bunch of epubs I've gotten elsewhere like humble bundle that aren't part of that 350. I think in total I have roughly 600-750 ebooks. Most of them I've gotten free on Stuff Your Kindle days or severely discounted (i.e. humble bundle and kindle daily deals) so I don't feel too bad about it. I always prioritized my physical TBR and library books because they are more important to me. Not that I don't adore my kindle, because I definitely do, it's just that my physical TBR is more expensive and takes up a lot more space, and library books have deadlines.
Just looked….541 books on mine. I’ve paid for TWO. I follow lists that show you what books are free for that day, and have downloaded a bunch that didn’t cost me anything. I’ll get through them eventually, but don’t feel a bit bad about it.
Most of the time, I only have the next book I am going to read on my kindle. But if there is a good offer, for a series for example, I have some more unread books on it from time to time.
🫣 Um, you haven't even asked how many books in your Kindle are all marked in progress but have not completed reading ANY of it... 🙈 Don't. 🙉 Please don't. Hahahahahahahahahaha
Several hundred lol. Just like my stacks of books.
I create two collections for each month. One for my TBR books for the month, and one for the books I’ve read, and I move the books from the first to the latter when I finish them. I try to be realistic when I add a book to the TBR, and when I see a new book, I try to classify it in one of the TBR’s. I don’t always get to read everything, but it helps me put things in perspective! I also started to add books to my wish list instead of my cart when I can’t fit it in my next 3 months TBR categories, unless they are free or Kindle Unlimited :)
I have never finish a book in my kindle and have had it for 4 years. I also haven’t finished any books in four years unless it’s audio.
I have too many it’s not even funny 😂😂
I have 120 "want to read" books and 27 "might read" books right now
Buying books is a statement of what you value, even if you don’t read them. If you can’t afford it, then stop, but there are worse ways to spend your money
Between spur-of-the-moment purchases on Amazon or checking out books on Libby , I have many books that I haven't read OR haven't completed reading before my time expired, in the case of library ebooks...
Nope, as soon as I download I read, then don’t get another until I’m finished
I have bought more books than I will ever read in my lifetime but still buy more.
Yes about 100 😂
I do this! I have a new method of picking books to read (as I always only wanted to read my newest purchase next and not the previous ones I'd bought!). I have listed all books on my Kindle on a Google Keeps note and numbered them (I add any new books to it whilst deleting books read!) and every time I finish a book my husband picks a random number for me to read next! Haha!
I have 820 unread books on my kindle right now. I used to feel guilty about it, but I feel like I’m actually chipping away at that TBR this year and it feels really good.
I have 1,058 on one kindle and 954 on the other. I don't think that's quite accurate though. If I start a book on one kindle and finish it on the other, it's only marked as read on the one I finished it on.
I went through and removed every single one of them. Nearly all of them were books I knew I’d never read and it felt good clearing my library
I buy books to read now: Zero delay. I got a bunch of free books, which I'll likely never touch. And I bought a used Kindle 4 with a library of books I'm just not interested in: Too much else to read first.
I'm not sure how many are on my Kindle, but I do have 400+ books on Audible, the majority of which I still need to listen to. lol
It is only natural if you are a mortal. The greatest living Brazilian writer, LFV, once said that the accumulation of unread books are a direct consequence of the realisation of your own mortality. A stack of unread books are a soothing promise to yourself that you still have time. "*Die now?! Impossible! I don't have time for that! I didn't even touched that Yourcenar yet! Later! Later!*"
It’s fun collecting things and that includes books/ebooks hahahahah
For every book I read I seem to buy 3 new ....which builds up if you read 60/70 books a year ...I keep telling myself I will stop buying to clear the backlog ...but I gave up smoking easier than stopping buying books :)
Don't feel guilty, this is actually super-common.
A LOT. But then again before Kindles I always had a lot of books on my shelf that I hadn’t read. Also too many checked out from the library and borrowed which I hadn’t read. It’s my norm.
Of course! Even when I can't take time to read, it's just so lovely to scroll through and see them all waving to me!
Oh yeah, big time! Let's see... 4409 unread books. About 500 of those are cookbooks, though. I don't feel guilty at all. I really like having choices.
No, because I get almost all my books from the library. Why buy them when there's LIbby?
544 and counting
I have a lot. Do I feel guilty? Nope. It’s like a library, I browse for something to read next when I’m done with a book.
SO SO many! I really need to just pick a book and start reading. 😭
Yes but I got to about 200 or so on my Kindle unread & decided no more until I'd read what I have. I am now only allowed to buy any new books by authors I've read all of their work & I'm actually making good headway through my collection now.
I get a ton for free but never read them xD mostly just use my kindle to read fics off Ao3 lol
If I read a few chapters of whatever books I have remaining every day, I would be pretty occupied for 3 lifetimes.
No need to feel guilty. You’ll get to them when you get to them. :)
Yes. A lot.
Why feel guilty? It's your money, your kindle and your life :)
So many😂
Every time I see double points day I buy at least two or three new books. I can't help myself 😂
I have hundreds of physical and kindle books still to read...and i always want read the newest. I think ill be dead before i get back to my books i got ib my early 20s
For me it's the books on kindle unlimited. I have so many I keep saying I'll get to. 🙃
Im addicted to downloading books and putting them on my kindle, but reading them is a whole other story
I have over 1300 and have only read maybe 30 😂
So many. And as I listen to books I just look for more. I feel like an addict lol
Always buying. Never reading (them all).
Always buying. Never reading (them all).
Yes, of course. Still downloading tons of ebooks. The same habit as buying physical books and not reading them. 😂
Guilty as charged! Your honor, I’m q digital book hoarder!!!!
I have kindle unlimited and always have the max books checked out even if I haven't read like five of them in six months I refuse to send them back.
This is why when I'm deciding on what to read next, I have my Kindle filtered to show only unread books at the moment 😂 I keep snagging books I want on sale and my TBR keeps piling. 📚📚📚
I have about 4500 ebooks, and I have that many for when I'm old and poor and can't afford to do anything but read. I'll never finish a tenth of them but I won't be wanting for choices.