Yes, blame my allergist. He stopped nagging about the cats (they always nag about the cat, despite being told that I lived without pets for 3 years and still had shitty allergies). And he agreed that last winter, yes, perhaps drapes were appropriate to keep out the fucking freezing cold, and was mollified when I told him that yes, they are totally washable.
But then he found out that the bookshelves were in the bedroom (it has the longest wall in the house!), and went on about the dust.
So I moved the shelves out of the bedroom, and got rid of a bunch in the process. I still have more than I probably should, and plan to keep the good books and those I can’t find on Kindle or via library (Kindle or otherwise).
I do like that I don’t have to dust the Kindle.
I’m keeping the hardcover novels that I’m very fond of. Some Margaret Atwoods, some easier-reading novels. The set of Shakespeare that was a gift when I got my undergrad degree in Brit Lit. The books about life in different eras (Liza Picard’s books, as well as What Jane Austin Ate and Charles Dickens Knew). And some social-sciences stuff that rotate in and out. Also some population health/public health books because I need to make notes when it comes to looking at data and doing stats.
My books stay, too, and I also have a room dedicated to them. Many are out of print, and most of those are not, as far as I’ve been able to determine, available digitally.
I’ve a couple of different ebook apps on my Samsung, and it’s great for when I (rarely) travel. But for me, there’s just something satisfying to my soul to hold the book and turn the page. Plus, there’s always the chance of getting a book autographed. Try *that *on your ereader!
Thanks for posting your different accounts of how you all are dealing with this issue. I’m going through this myself, and it’s been surprisingly hard to do. The digital thing sounds great; I just don’t want to have to rebuy things, not to mention I’m not sure if many of these even are available in digital form. And I’m not the biggest fan of using a tablet for cookbooks, though in theory it should be great.
I got rid of easily 3000 books in the last 2 years. If I’d owned it for more than a year and hadn’t read it, out it went. If I’d read it before and it wasn’t plausible reference material, out it went.
One of the best damn things I ever did.
A book deserves to be read, not stored. A shelf of long-owned-never-read books isn’t wisdom; it’s evidence of hoarding mentality. Every day it sits at your place is another day it isn’t helping somebody else gain something by, you know, actually *reading *the poor thing.
I did save a few as exceptions that were especially core topics for me. And a few cookbooks I actually use, vice all the ones that looked good at the store.
We have books in every room in the house. The nicest hardbacks are in the main living room, then paperbacks are on bookcases across one wall of the dining room and other rooms have smaller bookcases with the spillover. I grew up in a house with books and couldn’t imagine not having any around the house. That said, I’m perfectly happy to read a book on my Kindle.
DVDs/Blurays, I could happy replace these digitally.
No, you got that right - it was exactly what I came in to say.
I have no problem getting rid of my non-sf books. We have a Half Priced Books near us which takes everything. They may not pay you for it, but it is off your hands. But until they have an e-book version of the entire Galaxy print run - and F&SF run, and IASFM run, and Astounding /Analog since 1948, my books stay with me, thanks.
I love ebooks. When I have one of those periods at work when I really can’t get anything moving, ebooks keep me from being bored to death while keeping me looking busy. On a plane (and I currently take one 4-6 times per month), I can read on my tablet, which is a lot smaller and lighter than a book.
My mother loves her tablet, and Project Guggenheim, although she completely freaked out when she reached the end of the first book and “my books are coming up in English! You need to fix it!” (it was the copyright notice).
But part of my plans for Grandma’s flat include turning the largest bedroom, the one that opens into the living room and which has a window to the “sunroom”, into my office. With floor to ceiling bookshelves, two closets (built in as part of the shelving/library), a folding bed (sideways, rather than lengthwise, and again built-in) and with a table made from the footrest of the current bed (hardwood, and unlike the rest of the furniture now in that room, actually in good shape). The bed may not happen: the shelves and closets will.
Do I clean out my library? Sure. If I haven’t bothered finish a book, or haven’t re-read it or thought about it in a couple of years, off it goes. But oh, to be able to have all my booksies, my little booksies, all lined up and close at hand…
I’m the only reader in this house of 2 adults and 2 kids. I also have books in every room; no one has complained yet. I’ll never give up my dead tree books, and I have a hard time loaning them out, unless it’s to a family member and I have their street address. My books are my comfort and my cloak against encroaching technology. Ask me how I feel about cursive no longer being taught in school. Or how people don’t communicate anymore because they’re too busy looking down at their various devices.
We have moved several times recently. We still have several thousand books and I got rid of so many that the library had a sale just on the books we brought over. Van loads every day for weeks. Sigh. It was cutting off fingers at first. But if I (or a child or DH) was never going to read it, it had to go, it had to go.
And, now, if it’s for me, I buy Kindle. For my son, paper. My daughter, it’s split, and DH still wants paper.
We’re a work in progress.
So, bookcases line the family room, AKA, library, and I’m cool with that. Kids rooms have several bookcases each. Master bedroom too. And the hallways. We purge when can.
I also swore I loved books and looked down on ebooks until I actually got a good tablet. Turns out what I actually love is reading. Books (physical) are rubbish, too heavy to carry a dozen at a time, not nicely backlit for reading in the dark, you have to remember how far you’ve got, and they’re more expensive.
As my username suggests, I love books. I have purged a handful once when I was moving into a much smaller place, just got rid of ones I no longer had any interest in. But get rid of all of them? Never! I don’t believe in e-readers. It’s just not the same as reading an actual real book. Besides, most of the books I read are on obscure topics that are highly unlikely to ever be available as an e-book anyway, which suits me just fine.
Personally, I’m not ashamed to judge anyone who doesn’t own any actual real books. It’s also an instant sign that we would not be compatible as friends or partners. I don’t understand people who don’t read. As lovely as someone might be, if they don’t read, then we’re just too different. Kind of snobbish, yes, but I’m always right about it. (Yes, I do realise people with e-readers do read, even if they have no physical books. But if they loved reading as much as I do, they surely must own at least a few physical books still? A house with no books in it is just weird to me.)
Throw them away. It is my pet theory that 90% (or maybe 99%) of all the books in existence in the world will never ever be opened again by any human being. There are cubic miles of books in the world that nobody will ever look at, they might as well be used for fuel or building materials. They are of no more value than old newspapers – shred them for insulation.
I helped my stepdaughter move four times. A dozen boxes of books, still taped shut from the first move. Even the boxes will never be opened.
