So, how do you feel about your books?
In this house we are all booklovers.
Would you ever give your books away? Sell your books?
We often go through our "grown-up" books and whittle out any books that we both didn't enjoy, won't read/re-read and won't lend. The kids books we'll probably go through once they grow older remove all the badly broken ones (sadly our girly loves books but hasn't yet figured that carrying them around by one page or leaving them laying about open can do damage) and either give away or store the good ones (or most likely some and some). We have two local huge booksales for charity where most we no longer want to keep get given.
Have any of you ever thought about why you keep your books?
We keep them because we want to read them, or read them again, or because they are ones we are likely to recommend to others so we can lend them post recommendation. I think Gareth's got about 3 people at his work with some of our books after his recommendations.
I know many of you don't like the ideas of eBooks. That's fine enough. To each his/her own. This post is more about possession. About intellectual exchange, and what it means to be finished with a book. I don't consider it a mark of education to see or to not see books in a household. I know others who would never dream of getting rid of their books. I know plenty of people in tiny apartments who make use of the library.
We have a good collection of books (definately upwards of 1000) but often get books from the library - mostly because we only rarely buy new books, mostly we buy from charity books sales and the like. And people coming into our house would rarely know we have them - as the only books kept in the house proper are the kiddies books so our girl can get to and look through when she wants. Our books are all kept in the garage. We can barely get the car in.
From my own perspective, I have a complex about moving. Between NYC and Sydney to Tennessee to Boston to Illinois, I have moved a great deal in the past 7 years. And sometimes helped others move their books(Joe, I am looking at you). And it's a pain. So that factors into my desire to remove the "attachment" to these books. I won't have to worry about them when I move. Packing, unpacking, going downstairs, upstairs, etc. Life is so much easier when the books are on the computer, eReader, backed up onto a flash drive.
Moving IS a pain. We have about 30 - 40 boxes of books each time, and it's been 4 times in 5 years. Too many for my liking, but about 80% are Gareth's. I don't think he would ever remove a book from our collection if it weren't for the space issue and me commenting that they need to be sorted.
Though I have written this post to see what Rafolites think, I am almost certain to give away all my books to the local library. Karma means actions. And I do think it would be a good action to help a library and in the process perhaps help some future readers of these books be able to access these books.
My view would be if they are books that you will read a lot in the future (and don't have in ebook format) and / or would be ones that you would recommend to people and want to lend out then it makes sense to keep them on hand - if you won't then they are more just taking up room for the sake of having them when someone else could be loving them even more. I love books, I love the feel of holding a book as I read it - but I read them for the words, either for the story or the information. If I can pick up the story without picking up the book it makes me just as happy.
Formerly Kathryn Sedai Please excuse grammar, spelling mistakes or if I sound rushed as I tend to have a baby feeding or in my lap and /or a toddler climbing me. It doesn't make for easy posting.
On possession of books.
- 29/10/2009 07:13:44 PM
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Re: <sings Madonna>
- 29/10/2009 08:06:13 PM
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My friends wanted to make a bonfire of my books last time I moved.
- 29/10/2009 09:10:16 PM
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No.
- 29/10/2009 09:28:11 PM
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i always keep the books i think are worth it
- 29/10/2009 09:38:38 PM
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If I kept the books I felt worth it, I would keep them all.
- 29/10/2009 09:46:57 PM
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yes but i have a habit of re-reading my books at some future point -- except the textbooks
- 29/10/2009 10:03:04 PM
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I'm at an interesting crossroads myself, now that I've got an eBook reader.
- 29/10/2009 09:56:19 PM
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A failing you say?
- 29/10/2009 10:07:34 PM
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To quote my wise grandmother, "There's a difference between sentiment and sediment."
- 29/10/2009 10:22:31 PM
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Re: On possession of books.
- 29/10/2009 09:59:04 PM
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I wouldn't worry.
- 29/10/2009 10:19:10 PM
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Ok. I won't worry.
- 30/10/2009 01:37:18 PM
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Are you truly trying to claim that none of the knowledge you've learned from your books
- 30/10/2009 02:51:35 PM
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I think you may have failed to read the original post or have misunderstood it
- 30/10/2009 03:00:48 PM
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no
- 30/10/2009 03:06:53 PM
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Re: On possession of books.
- 30/10/2009 04:19:32 AM
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Re: On possession of books.
- 30/10/2009 01:05:25 PM
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People seem to lend books! I am in a distinct minority. I don't lend books. Or give them to people.
- 30/10/2009 01:46:25 PM
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Library donation is a good idea; you might check around with some local schools, too.
- 31/10/2009 02:49:48 PM
644 Views