A Response to box.matto.nl's So many books, so little time

This is a response (sort of) to box.matto.nl's oringal post 'So many books, so little time'. Its a post about how we have limited time to read, will only be able to read so many books in a lifetime, so how do we choose what to read?

The author of the post shares their own rules and invites us to share our own rules.

This is a topic at the back of my mind, but seems like fun to compare/contrast my ideas with box's.

1. Choose carefully what to read, and always check some reviews first.

I kind of agree regarding novels. But in the past I picked up popular books and eventually stopped reading. Now I pick mostly midlist books and read a sample at Amazon DOT com before either getting from the library or used as much as I can.

Regarding manga/graphic novels, it depends what appeals to me and what the library has. They are quicker to read than novels.

2. Prefer books that are at least ten years old and have stand the test of time.

I'm not against older books persay, but honestly prefer new releases to books published within the past 20 years. Older works tend to be harder to read, but it depends.

3. Keep a small reading plan with not more than ten books.

I somewhat fail this. I have a massive tentative 'to read' list on Storygraph. That said I have about a mix of about 10 to 15 personal and library books at a time. That said this organization is recent. I often had either lots of books or none around. I am trying to keep books consistently around so I have something to read.

4. Review the reading plan at least every three months.

Maybe. Sometimes I look through my storygraph to see if I can get rid of stuff... and then add about 20 more books I probably won't be able to get to. Oops.

5. It is OK to read books that are not on the reading plan (but remember rules #1 and #2).

This is fine, I often add new books to the neverending TBR.

6. Abandon books that don't bring joy or are not as interesting as expected.

YES

Honestly I can't even force myself to finish books I don't like. I used to and it was unfun.

Do I have my own rules?

• I'm not sure if price/library availability is a hard rule, but it definitely matters! If a book is not at my library, I try to get it cheap and used.
• Knowing whether I will keep or donate books is big for me, which does affect my choices. Ie. what I can either donate to the little free libraries near me, a books to prisoners program near me, or even a manga library I found and donated to once (I inherited a large collection of shonen jump titles I didn't really know what to do with, I don't have enought manga to donate there any more...). That said I don't read purely for others, I've found books that have good overlap. Its actually a good way for me to look at the midlist, as they are cheap used. And of course library books go back to the library, and most books I read are from there. That said I have probably had lots of books over the years when they weren't at the library and not enough room to keep them all.