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Comment by larperdoodle | Hacker News Reader

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larperdoodle

But you don't just track books you've read, you also track books you want to read, which is much harder to remember.

I also tag them to indicate if I already own them and in what format (physical, epub, audio).

Saves me from purchasing duplicates when I'm at the used book store.

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> you also track books you want to read

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku

I know exactly what books I want to read.

I am into my first thousand books. If I have a queue of 10-20 already purchased (garage, deals, new, offers) and someone recommends a book somewhere such as HN, I add it.

I don't think tracking books you want to read is Tsundoku.

Neither do I.

I have over two shelf feet of books I plan to read and haven’t yet. No that’s a lie, it’s at least four.

I never understood that concept. What is wrong with having your own library? I have about 200 books on my shelves I haven't read and any time I want to I can find something interesting. It's s luxury but not anything I'm embarrassed about. Makes more sense than keeping the books I've already read on my bookshelves.

Nothing wrong with it as long as you have the space; anything else is more of a logistics challenge. I like owning books, sure they take up a lot of space and it's not likely I'll read or re-read them any time soon, but I think it's important to have it.

But also, more and more, having the physical space and safety to own a 'static' collection like books is becoming a luxury and a privilege.

Wow. I didn't know there was a word for this. This is why I only use ebooks now because physical books would just pile up.

10 years in jail got my reading list down considerably though. Managed to read over 800 books, though the one book that I really, really wanted to read[*] I only obtained just before my release and never finished: In Search of Lost Time by Proust.

[*] Based on a comment by a character in Murakami's 1Q84 that the only time you will have enough spare time to read Proust is if you end up in prison.

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