Step one is admitting you have a problem, head over to the sign-up post to join in!
So you’ve realized you have a book buying addiction and you want to do something about it… now what? I’m going to try to help by writing some post with ideas or steps to dealing with our problem. If you have any ideas/suggestions, please let me know!
Let’s talk about our book inventory. Some of us (myself included) don’t even know what books we own! I don’t look at my bookshelves all that often and I don’t go through my Kindle regularly. I think it’s time to add it up and see what books I actually own. While you can feel free to do this however it works for you, this is my plan of action:
1. Start a GoogleDoc spreadsheet (with a form to easily add books) to keep track of all the books I buy.
- I want to make sure I include how much I paid for it.
- I also need to make a space to easily check off when they’ve been read.
- Set up Color Rules to indicate if over $3 or if unread.
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2. Update my TBR page!
3. Decide which books I don’t really want and give them away.
- Plan some giveaways on my blog.
- See if I can swap some.
- Donate older books to my library.
Coming up next… What are we going to get out of this?!
Don’t forget to sign up here!
EDIT : 07.07.10
I filled out my “Library” spreadsheet via a Google Docs form and after messing with it a little I’ve changed up some of how I fill it out (I also realized just how BIG of a book buying addiction I really have…). I just wanted to post a quick update in case any of you were working on a similar project. The bold are what changed.
I now have title, author, series, price, format (checkboxes : for review, borrowed, hardcover, paperback, eBook), read, review by date, and release date. I changed the format to checkboxes so that now I can easily check if it is borrowed or for review and it will change the color in the spreadsheet (thanks to color rules). I have them in the order I do so that I can sort them alphabetically and have all my “for review” and “borrowed” books together to look at.
Yes I have OCD. Let me know if you have any questions or want help putting yours together!
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I have started doing this and it is just downright mind-blowing how many books I own that I have not read. I can mostly blame my Kindle (and I am not talking the free books because I don’t count them). It is CRAZY! Luckily I have a pretty good handle on my paper books LOL
Time to think of a way to develop a plan in reading them
I think I might try Jenn’s spreadsheet approach. She had a great article on that this weekend 
I’ve always kept the books I own in a spreadsheet because I found myself buying doubles or even triples when I went to used book sales. When you buy a 3rd of the same book not realizing you already own 2, you have a bit of a problem.
I really like the idea of adding the price paid to the list. If I start doing that, I may finally realize how out of control things have actually become.
I keep track of the books I buy (and read) in LibraryThing. I add each book to my library when it arrives. I put it in the To Read collection and add at least the tag TBR. When I finish a book I remove the TBR tag and move the book out of my To Read collection.
I currently have 788 books in the To Read Collection. This includes both print and ebooks. I have a Kindle. So I tag all my ebooks Kindle when they arrive. The one thing missing with this system is that I don’t have the price anywhere – but then, I’d rather not know.
I am trying to buy fewer books this month but I not ready to do a complete book buying ban.
@ Felicia : I saw Jennifer’s post and I’ll definitely link to it when I try to do a post on how to decide what to read next (I may ask one of the fellow B.B.A. to do it since I such terrible book ADD I never read what I plan).
I’m thinking it’s going to take me a while to organize my book list. I have the day off today and other than a few quick errands, I’m planning on updating the list! We’ll see how this goes. I sorta did it for the TBR read-a-thon, but I don’t even think that was complete…
@ Jennifer : YES! Another reason I need to update my list… when I am repeatedly buying the same book, we have a problem lol.
I’m a little worried about adding the prices and actually seeing how much I spend, but I think at this point I need it :/
@ Kathy Martin : 788 books?! Um can I come live in your library?
I’ve never really worked with LibraryThing, but I’ll be sure to check it out! Thanks!
I don’t think I could do a complete ban either. That’s why I made sure this wasn’t an all or nothing thing. This month I’m going to be kinda strict with how much I spend, but later I’ll probably work on a limit on the number of books or dollar amount.
Oh! This is a fabu idea! Coloring the prices in red will really slap me in the face! *cringes*
I’ll start working on this inventory list this weekend. I hate that I hate books on my selves and end tables that I haven’t read yet. Hunting for these books will make me feel like I’m shopping for books, which could help curb my problem.
Thanks Tara!
Great idea, Tara! I’ve been getting so many review requests in lately, that I’ve started to keep a file folder. My project for today is to go through them and decide what order I should read and review them in, based on release date. Maybe eventually I’ll go through the rest of my TBR pile, but for today, the review books will have to do!
Oh Tara, I would be petrified to add up how much I’m spending on books. You’ve got guts, girl!
@ Missie : Oooh maybe it will feel like book shopping!
@ Natalie : I should add a release date section! Good thinking!!
@ Christina : I’m terrified to see what it adds up to
Woot! Started my spreadsheet —
Book Author Format Amount Paid Read/Unread
Shades of Midnight Adrian, Lara Kindle $6.39 Read
Veil of Midnight Adrian, Lara Kindle $5.59 Read
Midnight Rising Adrian, Lara Kindle $5.59 Read
Kiss of Crimson Adrian, Lara Kindle $6.39 Read
Ashes of Midnight Adrian, Lara Kindle $5.59 Read
Midnight Awakening Adrian, Lara Kindle $5.59 Read
Kiss of Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novel Adrian, Lara Kindle $0.00 Read
Little Women Alcott, Louisa May Kindle $0.00 Read
Craziness
Though I do love that kindle tracks what you paid!
how neat…i should look into this. This challange however might take awhile!
@ Felicia : I started mine tonight too… Good thing I was sitting down. It took over an hour to put in all the eBooks I own… needless to say I have a LOT more than I thought I did!
I am not brave enough to go back and see how much I spent in the past… I’m only adding prices for here on out
@ Rebecca : I’m doing it in stages… I did all my eBooks tonight (and was shocked at how long it took/how many I have). I think I’ll do review/library books tomorrow
You girls crack me up! I thought I was the only one!! Or maybe that I just typed slow. I don’t know but it took weeks to pull it all together (I did it last winter) and I kept finding duplicates – which wouldn’t be so bas except that I used a spreadsheet that I obviously check frequently *much sarcasm!!*
I’m impressed! And happy to see that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon together! Now I’ll just post every time I see a book I want!
Thanks BBA groupies!
Gina ~ Hott Books
I never considered using a Google Form to add information to a spreadsheet. I already keep my TBR books in a spreadsheet anyway, but the Google Form is downright cool! Thanks for the tip!
@ Gina – Hott Books : You are definitely NOT the only one
Hahaha yeah I’m hoping that I’m not wasting my time putting this spreadsheet together only to not use it. The advantage of having it online is that I can check it while I’m at the store (if I think to do so…).
I’m really impressed and surprised to see so many people sign up! I’m thinking I might actually make it through July AND keep it up afterwards! Have you checked out my post on how I track the books I want to buy? I’ll link to it when I do a post about curbing our buying cravings.
@ Michelle : I’m in love with Google Forms! They make using spreadsheet even more fun
is there away to sort the author column in alphabetical order?
@ Rebecca : YES! You can sort any of the columns A-Z or Z-A. So this way I can sort by title, author, series, read/unread, for review/borrowed and of course from date added. Just let me know if you have any other questions!!
[...] to see what I have and if I’ve read it yet or not. (For more info on how to do this, go here). After you know what you have, I’d suggest jumping in on some reading challenges to motivate [...]
[...] My first suggestion would be to make a list of all the books you own. I use GoogleDocs. I start by creating a form and then can organize the spreadsheet to see what I have and if I’ve read it yet or not. (For more info on how to do this, go here). [...]
I am going to do it! Maybe if I take the laptop to the bookshelf and crank the music, I will manage to put a dent in the job.
Hi Tara:
came to your blog via WeeklyGeeks, and have fallen madly in love with your formatting for the GoogleDocs entry forms for “my library”. I’m all thumbs when it comes to that sorta thing, but one of my all-time wishes is to set up a catalog of my books on GoogleDocs. Unfortunately I keep getting very, very confused! (grin) by the process (for some reason I can never ever “get” Excel-style spreadsheets to work) and thus, giving up. Your forms are be-yoo-tiful, how do I, and may I, import them to my googledocs page? I’d love to start cataloging my books using your formats, colors’n'all, pretty please? I’m an old mysteries and scifi fan, with ‘way, ‘way too many extremely elderly books (including the boxes-full still in the closets from when I moved into a much smaller apt a year ago… Help!!
@ Ronica E : Not a bad plan! I’m hoping to start on the bookcases this week
Let me know how it goes!!
@ Abbey : I’d love to help you! I’ll shoot you an email and find out how would be best to walk to you through it