^ I don't burn books. I recycle them. 
Books in people's homes
- Thread starter Miss Chicken
- Start date
I live in an very interesting house when it comes to stuff like this.
I do not know if many or any of you are familiar with Count Duckula but where I'm living feels like Castle Duckula. Big spacious rooms just full of stuff collected in the 19th and 20th and 21st centuries. Old linen, shoes, dresses, books and various electronics from type writers to CB radios to blenders and toasters; are all here... Books... Mostily of the encyclopedic variety or the out of date learning aid sort, they come in many, many different forms, from non fiction to fiction. - There are even out of date world atlases and actually, some very nicely preserved various sets of old but racist encylopedias too... This place is funky.
I do not know if many or any of you are familiar with Count Duckula but where I'm living feels like Castle Duckula. Big spacious rooms just full of stuff collected in the 19th and 20th and 21st centuries. Old linen, shoes, dresses, books and various electronics from type writers to CB radios to blenders and toasters; are all here... Books... Mostily of the encyclopedic variety or the out of date learning aid sort, they come in many, many different forms, from non fiction to fiction. - There are even out of date world atlases and actually, some very nicely preserved various sets of old but racist encylopedias too... This place is funky.
I've got a full bookcase that was starting to overflow. I ended up getting an e-reader and selling most of my paperback books, but I think my hardcover books look nice, even though I'm not really reading any right now.
A
Amaris
Guest
^ I don't burn books. I recycle them.
Do you mean donate them? I hope you don't mean pulp them!
A book should only be pulped once it is no longer physically readable.
The curtians in this room are from WW2 
- still good at keeping out light in the morning 70 years later.
I have my own books and subscriptions, I have two piles of that stuff, one upstairs, and one downstairs. I live with my 86 year old Grandmother, she's an alive & kicking retired school teacher WW2 Vet. - She loves to hoard things and study and paint, it's beautiful.
- still good at keeping out light in the morning 70 years later.I have my own books and subscriptions, I have two piles of that stuff, one upstairs, and one downstairs. I live with my 86 year old Grandmother, she's an alive & kicking retired school teacher WW2 Vet. - She loves to hoard things and study and paint, it's beautiful.
A
Amaris
Guest
The curtians in this room are from WW2
I have my own books and subscriptions, I have two piles of that stuff, one upstairs, and one downstairs. I live with my 86 year old Grandmother, she's a live a kicking retired school teacher WW2 Vet. - She loves to hoard things and study and paint, it's beautiful.
Sounds like you have a good thing working for you there, iBender!
^ I don't burn books. I recycle them.
Do you mean donate them? I hope you don't mean pulp them!
A book should only be pulped once it is no longer physically readable.
Some books are so bad they should be destroyed and made into better books.
When I came over from Europe many years ago I had to leave most of my books behind, since I could afford to take only the books that mattered most to me, roughly 250 or so. This spring I went over for a visit, and I had planned to go through them to get my SCI-FI collection from the 70's and the 80's and have it shipped - only to learn that this past winter everything got destroyed in a flood.
My mom had simply forgotten to tell me. I feel relieved in a way, since my relationship to books has changed. Before I left Europe I probably owned ~3000 books, now its closer to 500 and probably won't grow much larger, since these days I have learned to discard the ones I don't need anymore. Today I only buy non-fiction books. I don't read as much as I used to, but still quite a bit, everyday. However, a lot of it is on demand. I maintain a sizable google book library now, then there's everything that's in the public domain now.
Check out gutenberg.org.
My mom had simply forgotten to tell me. I feel relieved in a way, since my relationship to books has changed. Before I left Europe I probably owned ~3000 books, now its closer to 500 and probably won't grow much larger, since these days I have learned to discard the ones I don't need anymore. Today I only buy non-fiction books. I don't read as much as I used to, but still quite a bit, everyday. However, a lot of it is on demand. I maintain a sizable google book library now, then there's everything that's in the public domain now.
Check out gutenberg.org.
We've always had books around from when I was little and living at home til now that I live alone.
When I moved to this apartment, I had to give the majority of my books to the local library, then I found myself buying more copies of those I had given away...because I missed them. I'm now in the process of trying to find all of Andre Norton's Witch World novels...I love those. I never throw away a book; our library is based on donations from people, so I give my books to them...and movies, too, when I have to slim down that collection.
I DO know a woman who hates books, enough so that we have to keep an eye on her or she'll throw away books in the community room because she thinks they take up too much space.
I wish I could afford a Kindle, mainly because my eyes are getting bad and I was told the Kindle will read to you. I am technologically crippled, though, and I don't know how hard it would be to figure out how to get books I want on the Kindle. Also, if I end up in a hospital, a Kindle would be a lifesaver for me.
I can't stop reading.
When I moved to this apartment, I had to give the majority of my books to the local library, then I found myself buying more copies of those I had given away...because I missed them. I'm now in the process of trying to find all of Andre Norton's Witch World novels...I love those. I never throw away a book; our library is based on donations from people, so I give my books to them...and movies, too, when I have to slim down that collection.
I DO know a woman who hates books, enough so that we have to keep an eye on her or she'll throw away books in the community room because she thinks they take up too much space.
I wish I could afford a Kindle, mainly because my eyes are getting bad and I was told the Kindle will read to you. I am technologically crippled, though, and I don't know how hard it would be to figure out how to get books I want on the Kindle. Also, if I end up in a hospital, a Kindle would be a lifesaver for me.
I can't stop reading.
I also have a lot of books and no place for some of them, anymore. My parents have a big collection, too, and that's after selling/giving away a lot of them already.
I bought an e-book reader a few months ago and I think that's a good alternative to the many paperbacks I own. But scholarly books and books with pictures in them will continue to amass. And I also have a second hand sci fi bookshop I regularly frequent. Ok, I actually need a larger place.I always wanted to have a dedicated library room in my flat.
I was going to write a reply to the original post but then I saw this and figured that the only thing I can add to this thread is:
I like cookies.
Cause every single thing Count Zero wrote applies to me and my life, too.
The only downside to having an ebook reader is that I like actually having my books around me. But I still love my Kindle.
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Oh, my! Miss Chicken, that LibraryThing link is exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for.
I don't think my collection is QUITE as big as some of yours (I read less lately because I work full time and I write more often), but I definitely have a decent collection and have been wanting to catalogue it both for myself and for insurance purposes.
(I wonder if something like that exists for CDs and DVDs too?)
I don't think my collection is QUITE as big as some of yours (I read less lately because I work full time and I write more often), but I definitely have a decent collection and have been wanting to catalogue it both for myself and for insurance purposes.
(I wonder if something like that exists for CDs and DVDs too?)
I've got some royalty statements that bear those numbers out...it's pretty discouraging.
We have a ton of books in our house, but I'm not going to get on my high horse about it. My grandparents never had any books in their house and, to my knowledge, never read books, but were much better people than many of the pseudo-intellectuals I've met.
I feel that a house without books would be a sad place for me. I love reading, so I guess I find it a bit odd for a house not to have any.
I have a couple of bookshelves filled with books. They are dangerous things, books. I can't walk past a bookstore without popping in for a browse, and when I do that I invariably leave with more books and less money than when I arrived. Also, sometimes when I am stacking the shelves, books will fall on my head and hurt me. Books are dangerous.
A home without books is like a person with no mind.
In fact such people are to be found in homes with no books. That can't be coincidence.
A home without books is like a person with no mind.
In fact such people are to be found in homes with no books. That can't be coincidence.
^ I don't burn books. I recycle them.
Do you mean donate them?
Yep.
A
Amaris
Guest
^ I don't burn books. I recycle them.
Do you mean donate them?
Yep.
[sigh of relief]
Oh, my! Miss Chicken, that LibraryThing link is exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for.
I don't think my collection is QUITE as big as some of yours (I read less lately because I work full time and I write more often), but I definitely have a decent collection and have been wanting to catalogue it both for myself and for insurance purposes.
(I wonder if something like that exists for CDs and DVDs too?)
The good thing about LibraryThing is that you can catalogue 200 books for free and after that you can either pay $10 a year or have a life membership for $25. I had no hesitation paying out for the life membership. We do have a Trekbbs group on LibraryThing but it only has about 5 or 6 members and is more or less inactive. I also find that I trust the reviews of books on LibraryThing more than the reviews on Amazon (though I look at both).
Also, if you like reviewing books, You can join the Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway program. If you see a book that you would like to like to have you can request to be an early reviewer for that book. If you are among those selected you get a free copy of the book.
Hmmm...I know I would at least exceed 200. I'll have to consider that, but still, that's a really neat idea.
Try cataloging some books. When I first started I didn't know if it was worth paying for but by the time I got to 100 books I knew I would be making the one-off $25 payment. I have a Flickr account and a Trekbbs premium account and LibraryThings is a much better value than either of these.
If you can't afford a lifetime account, you could try opening more than one account i.e. one for scifi books, one for other books, one for e-books.
If you can't afford a lifetime account, you could try opening more than one account i.e. one for scifi books, one for other books, one for e-books.
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