Just wondering whether most people keep their books or get rid of them.
I’ve always been a book hoarder… originally so I could loan out my favorites when I recommended them to people. I just love getting people hooked on books that I’ve loved. But when I realized that most of them were never returned, I stopped doing that. Also, I always want to have a copy if I want to re-read them. But I’m moving soon and I just can’t take them all with me.
It hurts, anyone have any suggestions for coping? Those of you that don’t keep them, what’s your reasoning? I’m trying to focus on the money I’ll be getting (since I’m broke) and the fact that someone else will enjoy them (I buy most my books from thrift stores.)
If I didn’t want to keep the books I read I’d go to the library.
I do go through periodically though and if I know I’m never going to read a book again and it has no value as reference material, I’ll weed it out and sell it. It seems like it’s mostly mysteries that end up in the sell pile.
Me neither. A book is a possession. Why throw a possession away?
There is evidence in my life of a tendency to hoard (magazines, shopping bags, unworn clothes, cover-cds… the list goes on) so of course I am going to hoard books!
I keep mine. But eventually, I have to clean out my bookcase. I hae yet to actually pare down my collection to actually fit all of it in my bookcase though–might help if I threw out all those Animorphs books I haven’t read since I was 15. Generally, I look at each book and think “When was the last time I read this? Is it likely that I’ll want to read this again anytime soon?” If the answers are “a few years ago” and “no,” out they go. Sometimes I keep a book anyways, usually if it’s a classic–it’s been ages since I last read Pinocchio but I still have it.
Depends on if I want to read again. If it’s something that was hard to get ahold of (i.e. it wasn’t it the public library or the two college libraries to which I have access) and there’s even the slightest chance I might read it again, then I’ll keep it. If not, it goes off to the used book store or the Friends of the Library.
I sometimes also pick up goofy, cheap books with the intent of reading them once and then releasing them for Book Crossing, but I’m getting discouraged with that, since not a single person has ever made a journal entry for my books.
My husband is a terrible book hoarder. He has this tendency to pick up hard-to-find books that he likes whenever he runs across them at the used book store or the FotL just in case maybe some day he wants to give them to somebody (given that, as the OP says, loans don’t always come back). So we run into situations where we’re straightening up the book shelves and I say, “For the love of God, why do we have four copies of the god-damned Paratwa Saga!?!” I think we now have the rule that he can get one only if he knows exactly who he’s going to give it to.
I keep most of mine. As the posters before me said, I sometimes go through and weed out what I don’t want anymore or what I have duplicates of, but I do re-read books, and like to be able to loan them out.
I really need more shelving for my books, and have a nice wall in the living room that would be just perfect for built-ins, but there a other home improvement jobs that are more pressing at the moment.
I have books in boxes under the bed, books stacked on the shelves in my closet, and books in plastic boxes in the basement.
When I find an author I really like, I tend to read everything he or she has written, and like to own them. If it’s a series, I have this need to own all the books in the series.
In the children’s mystery book thread, I mentioned some kid’s books I have. When my mother moved about eight years ago, she gave me a whole bunch of those Scholastic book club books that I bought years ago in elementary school, and the Raggedy Ann books that my grandmother gave me. They’re in great shape, and I’d never even think about getting rid of them.
I was a hoarder until my last move. I finally had the courage to let go of a lifetime of hoarding and pare down to those books that I truely loved to read. It was a liberating experience. Now I’m able to give the books away that were “ok” and keep my space for those that are really worthy.
As a much younger, 5 or 6 years of age, I had a trumatic experiance of my Mother and neighbor lady cleaning my room and throwing away piles of “Jack and Jill” “Highlites” and many childrens magizines. Never again.
It’s more the other way around for me. I don’t have the discretionary income to buy books often, but I read constantly. So that means I’m at the library a lot. If I happen to notice that I’ve checked a book out four or five times already (I’m a re-reader) then I’ll go out and buy it. So my bookshelves are filled with reference books I’ve scrounged up, cookbooks, and only a few shelves of “pleasure readers”, and they aren’t going anywhere.
I had limited space my last few places I lived, so I culled books. A lot of what I’d kept were textbooks (I liked the class) that I discovered I never opened again once the class was over. Those went. Then there were other “popular” novels that, once I’d read them, I knew I’d never want them again. Those went. Then I moved and bought new bookshelves (which are half empty), so I’m back to collecting.
I pretty much only buy books that I know I want to keep permanently. Added up over the last few years, this makes for a lot of books, and I’m running out of space, even though we just bought new bookcases that cover one wall (before that, they were in piles). I don’t usually get rid of books, though I do sometimes–but usually I wind up needing a discarded book about 6 months later. I give 'em to the Friends of the Library, when I do get rid of them.
But the vast majority of my reading comes from the library. I’ll read practically anything that looks remotely interesting, and when I hear of a title I want that I can’t get from the local library I will InterLibrary Loan it rather than buy it–it’s free and helps their statistics. I often test books out that way, to see if it’s something I might want to own (especially for educational children’s books–if I know of 4 books of science experiments for preschoolers but will have to mail-order the title I want, I’ll test all of them by ILL before deciding).
If I bought and kept all the books I wanted to read, we’d be starving and homeless amid towers of books. So that would be bad. I guess I could build a shelter out of the books…
I couldn’t possibly keep all the books I read and for years I have given away all the non-reference books. Different subjects go to different people according to who I think will enjoy a book most. If I don’t know anyone that would enjoy a book I give it to the library - if I want to read it again I know where it is. I even have a lending library at work - 30 or 40 books that people borrow as they like.
I find the idea of hoarding your books bizarre. I love to turn other people on to stuff that I like and having hundreds of books sitting in a box or a bookcase unread just seems a waste to me.
I grew up poor, married, had a family, and didn’t have much discretionary income until I was in my late 30’s. I still remember the first hardcover book I bought – Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith. (Or maybe it was Firestarter. Hmm.)
After the kids were on their own, all my extra money went for books, and that went on for 15-20 years. I never bought used books – they had to be first edition hardcovers, and I even bought a lot of limited edition (horror stuff). The books were a symbol, I think. Every room in the house (except the kitchen) had bookcases in it. I was very proud. (rolleyes at me.)
Something sorta snapped a few years ago, and I stopped hoarding. (Maybe it was floor joists.)
If I was younger and had more space though, I’d probably still be collecting. I’d love to convert an extra bedroom to a library.
I wish I had more real life friends who read. The ones who do, they insist on giving the books back, because they don’t want a book collection. I can’t imagine not having books in the house.
I think I’ll put in another plug for ILL here, because some of you might not realize the boon that it is.
I’m always running into obscure titles that sound interesting. Usually they’re mentioned in some other book. They might be out of print, or something nobody has, or printed in the UK or something. All I have to do is fill out an ILL form, and the library will look for it all over the country if necessary. Sometimes I’ve requested a title, only to find that the nearest copy was in Iowa or New Mexico. But it’s brought to me for free! (Some libraries do charge a nominal fee, like 50 cents or $2.)
Let’s say you want to get hold of an old newspaper article. It might be old enough that the newspaper is defunct, or it might just be a New York Times article from 1980. ILL will get a copy for you.
What if you’re doing genealogy, and want to look at the registers for the Civil War? Those are available on microfilm–in Virginia or someplace. But you can ILL them and study them at your library. If you’re looking for the obituary for a relative who died in another state 60 years ago, that can be obtained too.
So, the world is at your fingertips, for free–at the library!
I’m another who makes the decision to keep/discard a book based on whether I’m going to re-read it. Fiction has to make that cut for readability, while I’m more forgiving with non-fiction: it can be a dead-dull read, and I’ll keep it if it’s a topic I figure I might want to reference again in the future.
Then there are the books that I judge to be sacrilege against animism, and a complete waste of paper, ink, and time. Those I throw out, or burn.
I’m not a packrat in general, and I move a lot. So, yeah, I do get rid of my books, but only if I don’t think I’ll ever read them again or want to refer to them again. That said, I have a ton of books.
My friends are all big readers and we trade books back and forth all the time. A good book can only be improved by sharing it with your friends. Although it’s nice to get them back eventually, I don’t really mind if I don’t.
Most of my book overflow is due to textbooks; the books I use most often are on a shelf on my old desk, the rest are stacked in a closet. There are only three textbooks on display that I don’t use that often, but still like to have around: a 1929 Engineering Drawing book, a 1947 Technical Aerodynamics book, and a 1961 slide rule manual.
I have books double stacked on some shelves, and I have enough hardbacks that the weight eventually starts warping the shelf boards; I have to pull all the books down about once per year and flip the shelves. I take this opportunity to sort through the books, though I don’t get rid of many. I typically donate books to a local women’s shelter.
I do this a lot myself. The majority of the books I read come from the library (reference and whatever) but if I find I take out one book a lot I’ll pick it up for my collection. If I can swing it, I also buy books from authors I like that the library doesn’t pick up (I’m glad they are picking up the Dresden books now, I couldn’t afford to keep up with them).
A lot of my book buying comes from the second hand stores and library sales. They may be more battered than I like but I can deal with it if I really like the story.
My Grandma always ragged on me for having too many books though. I’m sure I have enough to fill a bookshelf and a half (I haven’t unpacked them all after the last move) and I culled a box full of books I haven’t read in years and don’t want to read again. That’s not too many books at all! I wish I could have a library and have more books.
I do, but every once in a while I need to do a purge. It is getting close to that time now. I have books everywhere in house and the only reason I get away with it is that I’m single.
