I am a newbie and have a wish listed a bunch of books.  Some of the books I realize are pipe dream books, but others are more mainstream popular titles.  The popular ones have upwards of 200 members wishing.  In general (and I realize that each books has its own timeline) how long does it take to get books from these wish lists.  I have only been a member for a couple of weeks, but the wish lists really haven't seemed to move.  I am wondering if it would be better to just use my credits on other books.

It really depends. If you have a lot of books coming and going out, it won't matter, because hopefully you'll have credits when you get a WL offer. If you're 200 back in line, I'd say you have a little bit of time. Then again, I have some books that I WL when I joined in May, and I've been #1 since then, and still have not gotten them. :-( The worst case scenario is, if you're out of credits and get a WL offer, you can buy a credit from the kiosk, because you have 2 days time to accept it.

it really does depend on the book because many may be in the WL line but get impatient and go and buy the book and forget to take it off until they get the offer, and then they decline it and it moves on...plus they have the book that perhaps they will add to the system.

I have so many books to read that I don't worry too much about where I am in the queue....I just read and when I get a WL offer I'm pretty excited!

The popular titles will move pretty quickly. Sometimes they go from heavily WL to heavily posted in a short time because they are so popular.  Books that are really expensive, heavy, out of print or hard to find move a bit slower.  But don't give up hope on them. I recently received 2 WL books that I had on WL over a year. Both were OOP/HTF early books from a popular author.  I didn't think I'd ever get them but here they are.  Posted by 2 different people. 

it is very book dependent.

For one of my wish-listed books I have been 1 of 1 for 4 months.  It is an out-of-print book.  There are other books that I have not moved up at all or have moved very little.  These are books that are seldom posted.

On the other hand, the long line for The Shack moved very quickly.  I forget when I first wish-listed it, but I know on Nov 11th I was 645th in line. I received it a week ago.

Haha, well I can see there really isn't an answer to my question.  I think I will end up buying most of my wish listed books long before I will make it to the top of the queue.

Kathryn, when I started on PBS I had about 30 books on my TBR pile..now I have close to 400.  unless you have to read the books right now, don't rush out to buy them.   work your way through the system.  In the meantime, hop into some of your favorite forums, check out the Hidden Gems section and discover some new authors.

I worked at a bookstore through college so I have a sizeable collection of books - I am very much a hoarder - and I have played the if you like such and such you will like this too game (also the book is blue and about this big game, but that is another story)  I must confess I was expecting to trade recent books for other recent books in a little bit quicker of a process.

If you want instant gratification with newly released books, this site might not work for you but I think if you are patient, you find plenty of other great titles to read while you are waiting for the new books. Keep in mind tho, that people like me are on the wishlist NOW for books that won't even be released for another 6-8 months. So get in line now for upcoming releases, and six months from now you will be receiving newly released books.

Some of my WL books took  over 2 years for me to receive ! Haa  I wasn't in a hurry.

I  keep books on my Wish List hoping that I can get them "someday"- They eventually get posted -

If I really, really want a book-     I'll purchase it through Amazon, Abe Books, Alibris, etc--

Thanks everyone for replying so quickly!

One book I'm on the WL for, I've been number 1 for over a year now (and it's not a rare book. It's the 2008 Newbery Medal winner). Others, I've gotten in less than a month. It really depends on the book.

Yep, you're right, there really isn't a definitive answer to your question. The answer is, "it depends." :)

I recently got a wishlisted book that I had been first on the wishlist for since October of 2005! But lots of books will only take a few weeks or months to get to you. It's hard waiting, especially at first....but after you have a bigger TBR Pile, you will become more patient.

Cheryl