julie

~~~You are Cordially Invited~~~ *BYOB* (Bring Your Own Books) It seems there are a large group of us this year who have a bit of a Book Problem . We have plenty We buy more We read less . I have come up with a new idea that might remedy the situation . Set a small tablet & pen where it's handy. Make a short daily note ,using the system below : How many books I have ______ How many did I buy today _______ *Add one point for each book you buy. How many did I complete today _____ *Subtract a point each time you finish a book . How many PAGES I read today _______ This system might help us to remember to read our own books first. Stop buying for the year until you can catch up a bit . You'll have a reward system for books completed, because every time your points go down, you are accomplishing your goal . You'll see that your points go up every time you purchase another book . The one with the lowest score wins this game . (Based on your own beginning and ending numbers, not comparing your totals to others ) The pages read at the bottom are for us folks who suffer from TDS . (THE DREADED SLUMPS) ~*~ As long as you read even ONE page , you have made some progress ~*~ No pressure, no goals , no challenges . Just read a page ,or two, or as many as you want . Just try to always read one page per day . Anyone game ? *NOTE* APOLOGIES TO THOSE WHO THOUGHT BYOB MEANT "Bring Your Own Bottle " You can Bring one, but you may not be able to keep clear records if you concentrate more on the bottle than the books .

Good job, guys !

Laura I'm sorry you had to move all your books, but glad you found the problem when you did . What if you wouldn't have seen it for a few months or so ? They may have all been ruined completely . Maybe having small stacks at a time will help you to chop down your pile quicker that way . The Bus driver book you recommended sounded really cute !

Michelle I agree about staying away from the bookstores . I tried so hard NOT to purchase any books this year, but how many days in and I have already broken the rule ? I HAVE made myself a new deal : No more using your charge card on Amazon. I took it off as my means of payment ,so now if I want a book bad enough, I have to get in the car and drive to the store to buy a gift card to enter as payment. At least that way , I'm not getting a huge bill each month. I buy the gift card and the books are paid off . * Problem being, the closest place to buy a gift card is a 2 minute roll down the hill in my car . This system isn't working too well either . I still buy books when I have a truckload to read . There's gotta be a solution ... I'm thinking on it .

Kylie I'll echo everyone else and say WOW what a list of books ! Holy Moses , I was copying and pasting to print it off to put in a notebook for reference and am now at 49 pages ! I think I need to get some more printer paper ... and maybe some ink ! Best wishes for 2014 ~~

Wow, she sounds like a Smartmouth, doesn't she ? She does seem to have a large following of fans ,and I'm sure they are discouraged , waiting for her hew book. She should be glad she has so many who are excited for her newest book .

Devi See the little sideways V doohickey over on the right beside your post NUMBER ? Click on that to give you the specific link for the post . then I copy and paste it into the box when you click the little chain link at the top of your new post .. that should work for you .

Thanks Devi You are such a really good person !

Kay I'm glad you explained in more detail about Michael Jackson in the previous book you read.

Welcome !

Very good, Charlie I guess you could do as said and add some years in front and back . I'm sure you'll find something to read next ! You have more books in your house than our town library has

Kate You're braver than me. I don't even want to know what I spent this past year on books. Let's just say it's time to put the brakes on for me. It sounds like lots of others in here are thinking the same . It's gonna take lots of willpower, but we can do it .

Devi 13 was definitely unlucky for me as well,so we both have to keep up our spirits that this year will be better . Maybe we can lean on each other a bit if need be . I'll try not to lean too much on you . I'm older and tougher than an old buzzard I have a lot of things in my life that I don't share on here ,but let's just say that I am used to living with bad news . Some days are better than others, as I'm sure you know . So drop me a note if you need a shoulder to lean on . I have some pretty wide ones ..

Yes, I agree. So am I . I think being in here where you hear of someone who just bought some new books, they name them off ,then I immediately go into Amazon and look them up . My brain sorta goes into overdrive at that point. Before I know it, I CLICK and the book is in my Kindle . I'm like an alcoholic . I REALLY need to stop .We could use the money right now for more important things . I'm wondering if it'd work to set up a thread in here for people to learn how to stop purchasing books for as long as possible ? Kinda like a Game of sorts ? Like each person has to tell how many books they own when they sign in . We go all year and have to tell the TRUTH about if we bought a book and what it was. We need to keep a point system, and for every day you go without buying a book, you get a point. Every book you buy, you lose a point. Then in December, the winner for the year ( the one with the least points, wins an Amazon gift card .) If each person participating tossed in a dollar, then there'd be a small reward in December . Just an idea .. Maybe it'd give people an incentive if they feel their book buying is out of control ( Like me ) It might even be funny for those that buy TONS of books to see how HIGH their number would get compared to others .

Alexi I know what you mean. I think we kinda all enable each other in here. We see someone else mention a book they bought, and before we know it, there we go ,buying some more ourselves .

My plan is that I don't have a plan I don't do well with lists of books waiting on me, or even stacks of books staring me in the face. I feel like I have to read all of them NOW ,which isn't possible. It's really fun to be in an online group and see what everyone else is reading , but as I get older, I don't like having a book I HAVE to read ,or reading a specific book that would fit a specific category . I keep all my book in my Cloud on my Kindle and only pick out a couple at a time to actually see . I try them and if they don't catch my interest, I put them back and pick out a couple of different ones until I actually find one that "clicks " . I agree about buying so many books, then when you get to some of them, you're wondering why you bought it in the first place, so your idea is best. Only have a couple books. Read them, then get a couple more . I hope I can whittle down my number on my Kindle this year and slow down or stop buying completely. I really don't NEED any more books.

Frankie I just remembered I had yet to stop in here to post this year. I think I came in earlier as you were assembling your lists, so waited til they were all finalized before stopping by. I'll echo everyone else's comments with WOW to your reading lists . What a huge pile of books ! Best of luck in the new year .

Hi Nursenblack Welcome back ! I have the Joe Lansdale book at the top of your list, but have yet to read it . It sounds really good though .. Problem is, all of my books sound good, so I can't get to them all at once .

Happy Reading this year !

Kay I have never heard of this guy before ,but I guess I know why if he is a famous personality from over there. I don't even know many from over here ! So what was his take on Michael Jackson ? Did he think he was a bad guy ( like it seems ours media over here has made him out to be ) . Also the lady who was out with the fairies ? Does that mean she's one any short of a picnic or something else ? It sounds kinda like a nice place to be, out with the fairies, so maybe I should join her .

Happy Reading in 2014 , Kat !

Good luck with your reading this year. You did great last year and I'll bet you can do it again

Hi Stephanie You must have been here before I started I think ,so we didn't meet before , I don't think . I also use my Kindle all the time for reading . Welcome back !

Wow, those ARE some terrific buys ! You can't pass them up when they are bestsellers and that low priced, can you ? I'd hate to print out all the pages of books I have purchased at amazon . It would be a pretty scarey thought. If I would've spent the same on Fuzzy Navels, I'd be Drunk as a Skunk for YEARS .

Claire Best wishes in the new year of reading. You have some nice lists there to work with