How To Stop Buying Books And Start Reading - Overcoming Tsundoku

how do i go about reading an 800 page war history book? help!

This is so helpful for me! thank you.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

that last tip was really good and deep no need to set competitive/made-up reading goals just focus on learning the content of the book

Don't buy books instead borrow them was my solution :)

I find it useful to have 3 different books 1 serious one less so and a easy read

I would suggest thinking on this before buying new books: Books have gone up in price in recent years, paperback fiction is now $15 on average but is printed on acid paper, the kind that after a few years, yellows on the edges and the print fades. E.g., Penguin. Picture buying two books and they end up forgotten and when you do decide to read them, they look old with dry, dull pages! So only buy one of these books if you intend to read it that year. Alternatively, shopping at second hand books stores or thrift stores, you can find cheaper older books that are printed on acid-free paper and the pages are still crisp with dark ink. (You can find new fiction books on quality paper or with deckled edge, but you will pay starting at $20 for them.) Also, there's a popular rule, if you're going to buy two new books, donate two.

i guess i am a tsundoku i always just thought of myself more as a hoarder but i can be both,
i just reorganized all my books and got rid of the very uninteresting or all the adolescent genres, up to YA, and now i have *47-62 books i want to accomplish reading! lol!

*the 15 book difference being a separate pile of the least interesting books but still i could read them, so if i ever do read that pile ill do it after the first one

Sometimes when I go into a bookstore, it feels overstimulating. I'm interested in psychology, and books in that department feel almost like a fast fashion. But that's just my impression, I'm sure there is a lot of high quality books there. I remember once entering a bookstore just to look around, and I ended up buying a book about gut health that helped me finally understand my health problems that all the specialists I visited didn't know what to do with. Another book that changed my life was ''les enfants des manipulateurs'' (manipulateurs' kids)- it helped me to raise my son who's father is a covert narcissist, it taught me so many things. Both books were not cheap, but they were God-sent.

The reason I stopped reading is because of the books I have to read at school. I mean the books that we have to read are not bad but the fact that I HAVE to read a book just to talk about it in class and have an exam based only on that book is keeping me away from reading books. When I start a new book I always have this "school book" in mind and I always think about the fact that I have to finish a book that I don't want to read in a week or so.
I really enjoyed reading. It was one of my favorite activities but school just completely ruined it for me.

now i have to pay the app to get motivation??? haha the subject of the video, the app advertised even the video, everything sucking money for little un important redundant , mostly useless things compared to the actual stuff that costs.. pennies, giving that you get books for free, if you're attentive enough, the only thing that cost, and not as much as all these sucking money stuff is ......internet service

I think you really need to understand where you can read pages for 20 minutes. If you don't like the room you are in, then there is no way pages can be read. I don't think you should read to pass time if the first thing you want to do is to get out of your apartment. The book will make you stick to that same place and you will hate it. Maybe buy very small books that you can finish in 1 week. Go outside, on the beach, or else, and just read one page per day. In 2 weeks you will be done with the book and proud of yourself. Then you will read 2 pages a day and you will finish the book in less than 2 weeks, and then 3 pages a day, etc until you start buying bigger books and read 10 pages a day.

My books make me happy to look at them on the shelf lol. I have a problem 🤣

Omg, there’s finally a term for what I do ALL the time lol I have a bookshelf full of wonderful books I’ve been wanting to buy for the longest & finally did but before I get to reading any of’em, I end up finding or hearing about more wonderful books so I buy those too but never get around to reading any of’em & I’m stuck in this endless cycle 😞 I wish I could just quit my job, sell my house & go live in a remote island 🏝 for a while just to finish reading all of these books I bought 😂

Goodreads is what helped me build my reading habit. Reading goals are good.

I mostly have this problem with technical books. I require a lot of reference material and at first the books does the job, but once I get used to the material and terminology I find it much faster to just Google my questions. I get exact results because I know what to ask, but thatch thanks to the book that is now on my "never to be opened again" shelf :(

I am a Tsundoku with Video Games

Hi! I watched this video last week and today in London I took the book I wanted to buy (because I see it everywhere) and actually sat down and read 15 pages as you suggested. I still want to buy this book but because of its content now, not because it’s everywhere on social media. What I’m trying to say is : thank you for your useful advices. ☺️

I’ve had this problem too, and I recently came up with a solution that works for me. Now. I don’t allow myself to purchase a new book until I’ve read 10 previously purchased books. So far I’ve completed three cycles, reading 30 books that have piled up over the years. As I whittle down my backlog, I’ll cut down the number of books in each cycle from 10 to maybe five, then less and less. I am also selling books that I no longer have any interest in reading. This has all been a wonderful way to revisit topics that have fascinated me in the past and that I’ve still retained an interest in.

I like your insights, especially on the commodification/capitalistic nature of the book market currently.
I don't think tracking books and setting reading goals is always a bad idea, but it does NOT a) work for everyone (all our brains are so different so you need to think about if it helps or hurts you personally) and b) the reason for tracking and goals cannot be artificial/superficial reasons for it to be effective.
Setting SMART reading goals can help people with attention and working memory issues (such as ppl with ADHD) integrate reading into their lives if it leans into the realms of planning and gamification. But it needs to be for personal, authentic reasons rather than to 'seem smart' or 'seem well read.'
I also think the question of 'am I enjoying this' isn't necessarily a binary in all cases. It can be complex, because the experience of reading is again so personal and dependent on how different people experience reading (different brains, different histories, etc.) Sometimes it's the wrong book, sometimes it's the wrong format (e-book vs physical book vs audiobook) or sometimes it's the wrong moment (where someone is mentally and emotionally does have an effect.)
It's good to always be questioning, and you brought up some great things to ask ourselves and consider to avoid the dreaded doom book piles. We also have to remember this is all guidelines not rules—what works for one doesn't work for all.

love the contradictions: non bs opening but then an ad from your sponsor in the first couple of mins and then later you talk about not tracking 🤣. Granted it’s all contextual but funny all the same

Umberto Eco was the owner of a large personal library (containing 30.000 books) and he separated his visitors into two categories: those who react with "Wow what a library you have ! How many of these books have you read?" and the others - a very small minority - who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. The library should contain as much of what you don't know as your financial means allows you to put there.
You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older and the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books

OMG. This is exactly what I need to see today.

I need help because I feel like all books are for girls or that the book I want to read only girls read it like idk what book are do men

tips are unique.
and I think this is pretty darn smart
"the worst thing Is suffering through books you really don't want to read" - (artificial goal) vs. consider reading an experience to enjoy! "Life is too d... short" -love it!

I have that problem. But it gets worse. I use to buy the hardback or paperback versions. I ran out of space for shelves. Now I buy tons of books on my IPad.

Sometimes I find that the best books I own have the most simplistic covers. I do occasionally find books that I judge by its cover; that is, sometimes I see a pretty book and impulse buy it. But I only really buy books at a small antique shop, which sells books at about one or two dollars Canadian. 😊

Nice content. It was very helpful. Thanks!

Couple reasons I buy more books than I read.
1. I like collecting them
2. I do plan on reading them.
3. I want to collect them for when the apocalypse hits so I have the knowledge and recreation.

Clearly all realistic goals.

Another great tip for reading the books gathering dust on your shelf is actually taking them OFF your shelf and placing them near you. Keep them close so you can reach them and start reading. Thanks for your video. Agree with you.

Robin, you're fantastic! Thank you so much for breaking down things like this. Such great content!

Your advice on stopping to read in bookstores is great. I think it could definitely apply to ebook stores like Amazon Kindle which, thankfully, offer samples most of the time. However, there are times when I just shop online for physical books and end up ordering 5 at a time. Gotta find a way to control myself!

i feel very called out & unwillingly seen by the insights you shared. obviously that was not the main point of the video...but i never truly stopped to think about the "consumer" aspect / "chasing the high" because how often does one associate reading = bad? but by differentiating the act of reading from the act of buying...well it's time to be honest, I have a problem lol.

Good stuff here

I have one disagreement with point three. It's not for your reason, though, but that being the only framing of tracking read books.

I forget and remember so many things from what I've read. My brain just doesn't keep up the connections of what comes from where very well! But I do have time-based and visual awareness of when I read and what the cover looked like, so having tracking usually helps me most when I want to revisit. :) (Or need to cite something about literacy acquisition and ethics for my education courses ahaha.)

You said you don't like tracking reading, but then all your arguments are about artificial reading goals..... Those aren't the same things, and as such your points were just a series of non sequiturs.

I definitely suffer from this condition- I love buying and owning books! I justify it by buying most of them at Goodwill for $.75-$2, so I don’t feel too guilty about my book-hoarding. I really need to set an hour aside each day to read; I do faithfully read my Bible daily

your content is quality and i can tell you really do speak from experience because i also hate tracking lol

i like it for data collection purposes (because i want to see what kind of stuff i enjoy) but it really does ruin the experience too

When I was returning to reading after a hiatus, I found having instrumental music on in the background helped me focus on the book I was reading and not get distracted by a multitude of other thoughts. It still took time at first, but it got easier.
Also, I've been tracking my reading purely for myself - sometimes if it's years later I'll not remember what I thought of a book, so being able to see that I liked it, or didn't finish it because of X, is useful.

An advert for the Fabulous ad. Thumbs down 👎

When I think about it, I believe that people are buying books to get a sense of false intelligence gain after getting, or reading that book to make them feel good about themselves rather than applying its lessons from that book.

Does “tsundoku” include audiobook hoarding and is it actually harmful? I don’t think so : Lily and Rachel, who were best friends, shared a deep passion for audiobooks. They loved nothing more than losing themselves in a good story, and their obsession grew stronger with each passing day.
Lily and Rachel would spend all their free time listening to audiobooks, even during their commutes to work or school. They couldn't resist the temptation to immerse themselves in the world of their favorite authors, and they often found themselves listening to audiobooks for hours on end.
One day, Lily and Rachel decided to take their addiction to the next level by starting a book club exclusively for audiobooks. They invited their other book-loving friends to join, but they quickly discovered that no one shared their passion for audiobooks quite as much as they did.
Undeterred, Lily and Rachel continued to listen to audiobooks together, and their love for them only grew stronger. They would talk for hours about their favorite narrators, plot twists, and characters, and they would often quote memorable phrases from their favorite books.
Their addiction even led them to start taking road trips just so they could listen to audiobooks together on the way. They would take turns driving and listening, eagerly anticipating each new chapter.
However, one day Lily and Rachel's addiction to audiobooks became a problem when they found themselves missing important events because they were too caught up in their stories. They realized that they needed to find a balance between their love for audiobooks and their real-life obligations.

One day as the two went on another audiobook road trip, Lily mentioned to Rachel a Japanese word called “tsundoku” and explained "It's a Japanese term for someone who buys a lot of books but never reads them.” Rachel pondered about this word and wondered if it could also be used for audiobooks. An interesting, fascinating discussion ensued

As they drove down the highway, Rachel's mind kept returning to the word "tsundoku" that Lily had mentioned earlier. She turned to Lily and asked, "Do you think the term 'tsundoku' could also be used for someone who collects audiobooks but never listens to them?"
Lily thought for a moment before responding, "That's an interesting question. While 'tsundoku' is specifically a term for physical books, I think the same concept could apply to audiobooks. After all, collecting audiobooks that you never actually listen to could be seen as a form of hoarding, just like buying physical books that you never read."
Rachel nodded thoughtfully, "I can see your point. But at the same time, I feel like there's something different about audiobooks. When you collect physical books, you can display them on your bookshelf and show them off to others. But with audiobooks, you can't really do that. They're hidden away on your phone or computer, and no one can see how many you have."
Lily chuckled, "That's true, but I still think there's something to be said for collecting audiobooks just for the sake of having them. Even if you never listen to them, they still represent a world of possibilities and adventures waiting to be discovered."
Rachel smiled, "I see what you mean. It's like having a treasure trove of stories at your fingertips, just waiting to be explored. I think I might have to start collecting audiobooks, too!"
And with that, the two friends settled back into their seats, eagerly anticipating the next audiobook adventure that lay ahead.

As they drove down the highway, Lily continued the conversation about audiobook collecting. "You know, there are actually quite a few advantages to collecting audiobooks," she said. "For one thing, you can download cover art for each book and create your own virtual bookshelf. It's a great way to keep track of what you have and make it easier to find the book you're looking for."
Rachel looked intrigued. "That's a great idea! How do you do that?"
Lily explained, "There are a few different ways you can do it. Some audiobook apps and websites have cover art available to download, or you can make your own using a program like Canva. Once you have the cover art, you can save it with the audiobook file and use a media player that displays the cover art, like iTunes or VLC."
Rachel nodded, "That sounds like a lot of work, but it would be worth it to have a beautiful virtual bookshelf. What other reasons do you have for collecting audiobooks?"
Lily grinned, "Well, for one thing, it's a lot easier to organize audiobooks than physical books. You can sort them by author, genre, or even alphabetically in a spreadsheet. And you don't have to worry about running out of shelf space!"
Rachel laughed, "That's definitely a bonus. What else?"
Lily continued, "Another great thing about audiobooks is that you can listen to them while you're doing other things, like exercising, cooking, or cleaning. It's a great way to make mundane tasks more enjoyable."
Rachel agreed, "That's so true! I always listen to audiobooks when I'm doing chores around the house."
Lily nodded, "Exactly” and smiled.

Tips on how to start buying books

Damn, I really enjoy fantasy and usually pick up the first book of a trilogy and after about 100 pages decide to buy the rest. Then once I finish the first book I think… I want to take a breather and start another series… and wash rinse repeat. Currently have read about 1 books in 5 different series and have 10 books yet to be read. I have an odd completionist attitude about collecting. It usually get’s in the way of my process of enjoyment as I end up with the short term high of ownership over the experience.

I honestly like tracking what I read because it's fun to see how my year was in tearms of reading. I wait for it like I wait for spotfy's wrap up.

Take the librarypill

There's nothing wrong with being a 'Tsundoku'. In fact, its optimal. What you're doing is building a library. Libraries are most useful when you haven't yet encountered the material therein. Don't feel bad if you buy a book and don't read it, it'll be there for you 10 years from now.

my solution is being poor

Excellent honest video!