Yesterday I started reading a paperback that was book #5 in a series. A few pages in, I realized that somehow I hadn’t yet read book #4. Since I’m a stickler to reading series in order, and since I was impatient to read book #5, I purchased book #4 as an ebook and started reading it. Only to realize that I had already read it. (It’s around somewhere on my shelves or perhaps on the hard drive of my old desktop computer. Who knows?)
It’s not the first time I’ve bought books I already own. In fact I think I bought two copies of the same book at least three times a year. I have double copies of Lynsay Sands’, Eloisa James’ and a couple of Tessa Dares even. Usually it’s because I’ve pre-ordered a book and forgotten, then when I’m wandering an actual brick-and-mortar store I see a copy sitting on the shelf the week it’s released. “Oooh,” I say to myself. “I’ve been waiting for that.” Sure enough, as soon as I finish the book, the other copy I’d ordered online arrives in the mail.
You’d think that wouldn’t happen with ebooks, would you? Um, no. I still get double copies sometimes because I frequent various online bookstores and have multiple devices to read my books on. (I have a Sony Reader that syncs to my older and rarely used desktop computer, a Kobo desktop reader app for my laptop, and the Kindle (originally I had it for the desktop) but recently purchased a Kindle 3.) Now if I buy directly from Samhain, the books I’ve bought are stored on my virtual bookshelf. Of course that means I have to scroll through the multiple pages, but it’s there for me to find. But with the multiple scores, and the multiple platforms…well, obviously some consolidation is needed. Or a better way of keeping track of what I already own both for my ebooks and my paperbacks.
My mother, another prodigious reader keeps track of what authors she’s reading on a stack of 3×5 index cards held together by a rubber band. I used to keep track of what books I’d read (even giving them a ranking) on a spreadsheet. Of course, I had to remember to input the books. Which I usually forgot to do. Not to mention I never printed off the spreadsheet, so when I was in a bookstore or library, I still didn’t know if I already owned or had read the book.
These days there are online programs such as Shelfari or Goodreads. Trouble is, just like the spreadsheet method, I often forget to add my purchased/read books to their databases too. So I guess until I get organized and can tie all these programs together somehow, I may continue to end up with double purchases.
How do you keep track of what books you’ve read or already own? Anyone know if there’s an app for that?
If there is, sign me up for it too! I’ve never kept track of what I’ve read because almost my entire memory capacity was taken up by remembering every book I’d ever read. Nowadays that system seems to be failing a bit, but I have so many books that I can’t contemplate the work of actually documenting them.
I use calibre on my laptop. I never buy a book until I check my caibre library. I have over 10,000 books in it! I also have stopped going to the bricks and mortar bookstores, which has helped alot.
Robin
I am absolutely neurotic about keeping my books in order and what not. It was hard with paper because I would simply run out of room and have to put things in storage which did lead to many duplicate purchases.
Early last year I switched to an ereader (the Nook was my choice) and I started out with Adobe Digital Editions. That didn’t allow me to do anything other than keep my ebooks in one place.
The I found calibre and it has been a godsend! I can edit meta data, add the name of the series it’s a part of, the number of the book in the series, I can rate the books and I can mark them read. It’s easy to transfer to my Nook. Like Robin I don’t buy a book until I check my calibre.
I use Calibre too, trouble is I haven’t switched my system over from my old desktop to my new laptop. I really need to do that to keep things all together. (I’m not sure that will work for my Amazon purchases either) Plus I can’t take Calibre with me to the brick-and-mortar bookstore when I’m shopping in person.
My hubby read this today and is now searching the web for various apps I can use. Turns out there are several that I can load on my iPod touch and take with me to the bookstore. (anyone use Book Crawler?) Of course it still means I’ll have to remember to add the books I’ve read/purchased whether ebooks or paperbacks to it…
Update I’ve had readers and tweeters tell me that Goodreads has an app that you can load onto your iPhone or iPod so you can take it with you. and better yet, it’s free!
Of course that means I still have to keep it up to date, but maybe I’ll be more motivated now since it’ll save me money in the long run.
Hi Leah
Too funny but frustrating, I’m sure. My method is simple & serves 2 purposes. It gives me release dates & I can check what I have. I just keep a word doc on my PC. Here’s a sample:
8/3 – Hell Yeah – Carlolyn Brown 2
8/24 – Close Quarters – Lucy Monroe
I have them in release date order. The “2” means book 2 in the series. You can’t see the bold underline on the second book.
The type is red. As soon as I buy it I change it to black underlined. The ones I still need are more obvious. Yes that still involves updating but I read so much, I can’t afford to buy 2 of one so I have an incentive. I also never go to the bookstore or shop on-line without a list. Post it notes are my friend. Saves me a bunch of time as well as money.
LOL! I don’t even worry about it. If I end up with two copies of something, I give one to someone. I figure it’s all good and if nothing else, I’m supporting my favorite authors~
I’ve always done the simple Excel Spreadsheet by author. But it is WAAAYYY too big a doc these days. I have one for the books I own & one for my TB’s! It’s such a mess. I have my kindle but like you said it’s too hard to scroll through the pages and pages on my Amazon library. I’ve been debating about getting another e-reader, but keep coming back to the “this is such a mess with what I’ve got, why add to the confusion” reasoning. LOL I’m currently trying to figure out a better system. I find myself going to the local bookstore and finding books I want, putting them in a list on my phone, returning home, check my list & shelves and end up going back to my phone and then the bookstore-Soooo sucky!!! Since I refuse to give in to purchasing internet on my phone and upgrading to a “smart phone” (which I really don’t think I’d use for much more than basics), I’m stuck. I wish there were simpler ways for those of us who refuse to allow technology to completely rule our lives.
While I LOVE my kindle, I’m still an old fashioned print book kinda girl! Thankfully if I get duplicates, I can send them over to my book buddy! Hoping to find some good ideas here! Thanks for the great post!
The two main iPhone apps are ibookshelf and book crawler…I use and LOVE Book Crawler. Fantastic application, and amazing user support…the girl who created the application is always willing to bend over backwards to help you with any questions or extras you want. Ability to import/export – txt and .csv files: I imported my Goodreads books directly into the application. The best feature though is the ISBN scanner: just hold camera phone up to the ISBN code of the book, media you want to add – and it will automatically search Google Book listings and grab all the information for you. Anyhow, I can’t say enough great things about this app.
I looked them both up—book crawler looks really interesting but since my iPod is only wifi capable need it to have database accessible offline. Do either of those programs store the database offline?
That’s way more clever than I was excpeting. Thanks!
You should be completely fine. You will need the WiFi to import your initial book list, but are able to add titles manually as well. You will also need to have wifi capability if/when using the ISBN scanner in order to use its Google Books search function, but its not something you HAVE to use (manual listings as an alternative). Everything is offline – but you store your database “file” on a server and can sync up when you have internet capability (wifi is fine). The website probably explains all this much better than I ever could (but as you can tell – I am a HUGE fan of this app), so I will direct you to:
http://chiisai.com/
(I grabbed a couple relevant extracts)
? Back-up and restore your database files by import/export via WiFi, external file server, developer’s website, or an email address.Requirements:
Book Crawler works with all iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads running iOS version 3.1.3 software or later.
Camera and iOS4 required for barcode scanning.
WiFi, Edge, or 3G Network required to use the Google search functionality.
Dee – I just downloaded Book Crawler and used the bar code scanner to enter a book. O.M.G. Best. App. Ever! Thank you for recommending it. I am definitely going to continue using it.
I have been searching for apps all night that would allow me to enter my books (paperbooks) ive read & my ebooks. I used to be an avid reader but I read such an array of books that I can NEVER remember the Arthor so I need a portable list + now days free ebooks want feedback left. I am an illustrator as well and since my son is in school finally I have alot of reading and technology to catch up on. Thanks for the info on Book Crawler. It is perfect for me.