This is why I must thin them down. I’m moving into a tiny 2 bedroom house with my fiance, and I’d hate for things to get off to a rocky start cause I’m moving my stuff into his space as soon as we move in. He’s the kinda guy that really needs his space and I’m the kinda girl with a lot of crap. Also, moving is going to be stressful enough. I have a bad back and moving boxes of books is never fun. And we have to move 1 cat, 2 rabbits, 2 ferrets, 2 rats, and a beta fish as well.
I figure the books are always replacable and I rarely re-read anyway. I’m giving a lot to my sister and focusing on keeping the (Very) large pile of unread book that I have. I walk into a thrift store and come out with an armload of books every few weeks. Keeping most of the non-fiction for sure.
It’s still sad to watch them go. It does give you a proud feeling to have a whole bookshelf full of books that you’ve read. And I’ve always wanted to have a library room, but that’s for the future.
I keep them until I want to give them to someone else to read. As some ahve noted, a loaned book seldom comes back so I just give them to people and if they want to give them back they can, or they can pass them on.
I tend to buy new copies of ones that I have given away (at least if the author is alive) so that book stores will keep them in print. I must have bought 5 copies of Talion: Revnant by Michael Stackpole. It’s easily my favorite book. If it’s something like Heinlein fiction I just buy used copies.
I’m another book-keeper. I never check a book out from the library twice: If it’s worth checking out twice, it’s worth buying. Friends of the Library sales, I almost always walk out with a half-dozen books at least: It’s easy to justify a book I’ve never even heard of, if it’s only a quarter or fifty cents. And I keep all of my old textbooks, mostly because the buyback value is generally about five bucks on a new price of a hundred, and if I use it even once more, it’s worth it.
I don’t exactly hoard; if anyone wants to borrow any of my books, I’m only too glad. I do usually seem to get them back eventually, though.
All told now, I have a full shelf of textbooks at my office, and three and a half shelves full at home. If this keeps up, I’m going to need to move someplace with more wall space, or start putting shelving in the middle of my living room. But that’s better than the alternative.
I’ve done that with Crazy Love by David L. Martin. I don’t know if it worked though, to keep it in print. By the time I started buying extras, the book had been remaindered.
Beats me how an offbeat love story involving animal rights didn’t move right to the top of the best seller list, but there ya go.
I like to keep my books. If I don’t have enough room on a bookshelf (I haven’t for the last three years), I pile them on the floor. I’m not real sure why I keep books, I never re-read them. I have only read one book twice in my life, and that was because I read all the others, and was really bored. I probaly have a few hundred books, but I can tell if one of them goes missing.
When we were house-shopping, I considered a library-suitable room to be essential. It’s just Hubby and I-- we have no kids. People thought we were crazy for buying such a big house, but they didn’t understand the size of my collection.
I think I made enemies for life by putting the library on the second floor. My husband’s friends were mutering curses under their breath as they lugged countless crates of books up the stairs.
Anyway, I used one of the extra bedrooms as the library, though I’m quickly outgrowing it. (Luckily we have a finish-able attic.) Bookcases are crammed in, back to back to try to take advantage of every inch of space.
I have an over-stuffed chaise lounge in there. Nothing is nicer than going into that quiet room, and sinking into it with a good book and a cup of hot tea. If there’s any way possible for you to do something similar, I’d strongly urge it. It’s extremely relaxing.
Get rid of books? Not on your life! Why would I give away a friend/teacher?
Hi. I’m danceswithcats, and I’m a bookaholic. Welcome danceswithcats! From where I sit while typing, reference books, novels, and non fiction line all four walls and encroach on the ceiling, stacked sideways. The only books not here are the automotive service manuals living in a four drawer file cabinet one floor below. Beneath the computer desk are magazine boxes with NFPA and IAEI Journals, and almost 20 years worth of NTSB reports. Going to auctions is a dangerous move for me, because I’ll see one book in a box that I like, buy the whole boxfull for a buck, and end up liking the others. Books are only loaned to trusted friends-I learned that lesson when my copy of “The World of M. C. Escher” never came back and I learned it was out of print.
chuckles I’m the same way. I can’t imagine getting rid of a book I’ve purchased. In fact, we’re going to be looking at bigger places because of two reasons.
A) The stepkids-to-be we have half the week are old enough they need their own bedrooms (they’ve been sharing)
B) I have almost no room for more bookshelves. One wall in the living room is 3 bookcases in a row, plus I have another in my computer room. They’re all 6 feet tall, 3 of em are 3 feet across, the one in the comp. room is 4 feet across. I have books doublestacked, another stack of books in front of the double stack, and small piles in almost every room in the house.
Having one room I can turn into a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves is my dream and ultimate goal. Some people want to win the lottery, some people want to be President, I just want bookshelf space for all the books I’d ever want to buy. grin
I have never really thought about it, but I probably still have every book I have ever bought, except for those I have given away (less than half a dozen).
If you could see my house, you would never have asked that question. DeHouse is a classic example of what happens when two readers marry. Every flat surface has at least 1 stack of books. We’ve run out of room for bookcases. We even went through and tried to purge just paperbacks. Still have far too many, and now we have an obscene credit at the used bookstore. Yay! More Books!!
I keep all my books, except for the occasional stinker. I re-read my favorites every few years.
It’s really nice to read this thread, because I have several friends who are non-readers. It’s always sad to go to their houses and see bookshelves that are full of things besides books.
I think readersd of science fiction, mystery, and other genres tend to hoard their books because they’re so hard to find. Some fortunate writers (like Robert Heinlein) have had most of their books in constant print for years. But try to find most of Asimov’s ouevre. Or Jules Verne’s. My local Barnes and Noble, big as it is, doesn’t have any Cordwainer Smith. Fredric Brown wrote mystery, sf, and fantasy, but they don’t have a single one of his works.
Libraries aren’t much better. Try to fing This Island Earth anywhere.
If you ever want to re-read even classic genre works, you’re gonna have to store it yourself.
The other day, I saw one of those home-decorating shows and they decorated a student’s apartment - I was flabbergasted when I saw she did not own a single book. But when I tried to convey my amazement to my roommate she looked at me like I was crazy and said: “Maybe she only goes to the library?” That had totally not occured to me as I would rather spend my last money on some book and then survive on Ramen Noodles the rest of the month. I just can’t fathom somebody never ever buying books…
Same with people who throw out books. I just couldn’t do it. Occasionally I give one to a friend or sell one on eBay, but mostly the books I’ve bought occupy all the shelf space in my room (and they’ve started creeping into the living room now). A library room like Lissa describes sounds like heaven, maybe I can convince my roommate we don’t really need all that free wall space.
From where I sit while typing, reference books, novels, and non fiction line all four walls and encroach on the ceiling, stacked sideways. The only books not here are the automotive service manuals living in a four drawer file cabinet one floor below. Beneath the computer desk are magazine boxes with NFPA and IAEI Journals, and almost 20 years worth of NTSB reports. Going to auctions is a dangerous move for me, because I’ll see one book in a box that I like, buy the whole boxfull for a buck, and end up liking the others. Books are only loaned to trusted friends-I learned that lesson when my copy of “The World of M. C. Escher” never came back and I learned it was out of print.