It is easy to find non-fiction titles that sound intriguing and sometimes, I have the extra knowledge that the author has written one, or even more, books that I like. I do pay attention to the ratings and comments on books made by others. One of the helpful features on an Amazon.com page is the little graph that shows how many raters gave a book each possible rating. You can click on any number of stars and immediately find the comments for that type of rating.
I have a profligate habit of buying books. I tell myself I do it to avoid totally forgetting a book that sounds good and might be an asset to my life. I have learned many things from reading, listening and watching and I know a good book, fiction or non-fiction, is a genuinely valuable addition to my life. I got my first Kindle in April of 2008. As of today, we have 362 books on our Kindle. That accumulation has occurred over a period of 1065 days, for an average of a new addition every three days, year in and year out. (For statisticians: I think we can assume my buying is a Poisson-distributed process, rather like getting flat tires or other irregular events. The poisson model predicts that I would buy 2 or 3 titles at a time, with about 45% chance on any given day.
Lately, I have been stemming some of my buying urge with the use of an Amazon Wish List. I actually have several lists but have come to concentrate on the one I titled "Kindle Wish List" . When I learn of a book that I am confident that I might want to be able to find in a store or a library, I add the title to that Amazon List. Since I have many books in both electronic and paper form that I haven't read, I don't want to buy a book without a good likelihood of reading all or part of it fairly soon. Normally, I will buy in Kindle format instead of paper, since it is usually cheaper and always faster and less trouble to store and handle the book in that form. Right now, my Kindle Wish List has 325 items on it so you can see that I add items rather often and have almost as many on the List as on the Kindle.
If you feel like it, visit my Kindle Wish List and look at the titles that interest me. They may interest you. You should be able to bookmark the page and come back to an updated version at any time. I think Amazon hopes you will buy me one of the listed items but I hope you don't. Please don't. I will buy my own.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Subject: Bill Kirby has an Amazon.com Wish List to Share
Date: Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Subject: Bill Kirby has an Amazon.com Wish List to Share
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