SERIESous Discussions: Every once and awhile I will post my random ramblings about a bookish or blogging topic. Feel free to join in by making a comment below or linking back!
If all the books on my Kobo eReader were physically brought to life, my room would surely look like this:
I’ll be the first to say that I am terrible at reading books I buy; especially those that I buy for my Kobo because they are out of sight and out of mind. That’s why I’ve made it my mission over the last year to read more of the books I own with various reading challenges and by limiting the number of books I read from the library and for review.
Earlier this year, I started to read some books I pulled from my TBR jar…and promptly DNF’d them. Which was a hard thing to do because I hate leaving books unfinished on my eReader (I like my “% of library complete” stat to be as high as possible)–especially ones I’ve spent money on– and I just loathe DNFing books in general.
I know it is impossible to like every book you read, but I try to buy books that I know I’ll like–obviously. I mark all the books I buy on Goodreads and give a little ranking for how excited I am to read them when I first come across them or buy them to give myself an idea of my expectations when I do pick up to read.
So I was a little surprised when 2 of the books I DNF’d were marked “high anticipation”–meaning I was really, really excited to read them. This called for an investigation.
Case #1 – Covet by Melissa Darnell
When I Purchased It: November 2012
Why I Picked It Up: It’s a sequel to a book I read in 2012
Why I DNF’d It:
It’s been so long since I read the inaugural book (August 2012) in the series and despite my wonderful notes, I struggled to get back into the story.
I’ve also realized, I don’t particularly care for the common tropes in YA paranormal romances at this point in my life. They come across as petty and simple and I just want more out of my paranormal reads.
Case #2 – Undescribable by Melissa Darnell
When I Purchased It: March 2014
Why I Picked It Up: I like the “playboy” finds love trope
Why I DNF’d It:
This book didn’t grab my attention right away. It was so slow and dwelled on unnecessary aspects for too long.
I also didn’t like the one-dimensional leads. I’ve come to realize I like my leads to have a little more depth to them; especially if they have 3 books focusing on their relationship.
The lesson: my reading preferences definitely change as the years go by.
I have no doubts that if I had tried to read these books when I bought them all those years ago, I would have finished them. I might not have given them super high ratings, but they would be marked as “read”. And I kind-of regret not doing that because I feel bad that I didn’t enjoy these novels as much as I wanted to.
And it worries me going forward that the 29 standalones/series I bought before 2015 are going to be books I’m going to end up DNFing because the interest just isn’t there…
So if anything, this reaffirmed my book buying ban. The idea that I shouldn’t go out of my way to buy more books and that I should focus on reading the books that I already own. In a dream world, I’ll be at the point where I can buy books and read them soon after purchasing them because I’ve read everything else in my personal library.
What about you?
How backlogged is your personal TBR? Ever read a book and went, “I would have loved this 3 years ago?!”
I do think my tastes change. Some genres I got tired of (agree with you on YA paranormal and also got a tired of cookie-cutter dystopian). And I think YA has improved in quality since I started reading it 9 (!) years ago. I think it’s a great idea to go through all your old purchases and try them and, if not for you, let them go!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen at YA Romantics
Jen Ryland recently posted…Freebie Friday: Want
Oh for sure! The YA that’s out there now is nothing like the YA I had when I was actually a teenager. It certainly has evolved!
It’s been a little touch and go with the purchases lately but I feel better that I’m truly making an effort to read everything, even if I’m not finishing it.
Mmmmm, yes. I know exactly what you mean. I find I’ll see a book at the bookstore that I’ve heard a lot about, and because of that, buy it on the spot. Do I want to read it? Yes. But at the moment? Maybe not. I’m trying to get better at buying a book that I know I want to read at that very moment. When you read quickly, though, it could get hard because you’d find yourself always at the bookstore (which I guess isn’t that big of a problem :P). I am the same way with my Kobo. I have a lot of books on there unread. Mostly because I’ll see a book for $1.99 and my mind instantly goes to OH SALE I MUST HAVE, and then it just sits there lol.
It’s the sales that get me every time because I do plan to read it, just not at that moment.
I’ve made it a point this year to not buy as many eBooks. If it isn’t < $1.50 or on sale for 50%, I'll wait. My library has gotten a lot better at getting eBook titles quicker so I make a point of using them.
I find if I actually spend money on a book I’ll read it almost right away. But it’s another story with the free ebooks I download. I’ll download almost every free thing I see if I think there’s even a remote chance that I’ll read it. So I have a bazillion ebooks on my Nook that I’ve never even tried. And it took up all the memory on my Nook so I’ve archived hundreds of them so they are completely out of sight out of mind. I just bought a Kindle (there was a sale!) so I’m determined to use it only for library books and ARCs and books I buy. I’ll save the free downloads for my Nook.
stephaniesbookreviews recently posted…Review: Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren
See, I’m the opposite. If it’s a library book I’ll read it ASAP because I have to return it within a time frame.
Yay! I’m glad there was a sale for your Kindle! I hope you’re enjoying it! I do the same thing with my eReaders. My Kobo is for my main purchases and library books; and my Kindle is for ARCs and freebies (and those exclusive kindle reads). And it works really well!
I RESONATE SO MUCH WITH THIS! My purchased but still unread TBR is getting out of control (mostly physical copies) and now I look back on some of them that I bought like ten years ago and I’m seriously doubting I’ll enjoy them, so they just get pushed farther and farther back on the priority list…
Cristina @ Girl in the Pages recently posted…(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories
It’s just awful isn’t it! I have some of those books too and I’m like, ugh, why did I want this?
Hopefully we can tackle our problem soon!