How Many Books Do You Have?

[23skidoo]

As of this morning, 2,894.

I'm able to give an exact count because about 3 years ago I was advised to make a list for insurance purposes. This is something I'd actually advise for anyone with large collections, whether they're covered by your homeowner's insurance or not. And keep a copy of the list off-site (I have a friend I e-mail a copy to periodically). If the worst happens, you can use the list for attempting a claim and, even if that's not successful, at least you have a list of what you had so you can start rebuilding.

(This is also good advice for DVD, CD and comic book collections. I haven't done it for my comic books, but my DVDs and CDs have their own lists. Nothing anal-retentive going on here -- I consider it insurance).

And no I don't expect to read them all (and I plan to cull about 200 from the herd in the spring). I read a lot, but I'm also a collector.

Alex

 

[Kestra]

And no I don't expect to read them all (and I plan to cull about 200 from the herd in the spring). I read a lot, but I'm also a collector.

I've actually been wondering about that. The people here with the thousands of books ... do you actually read them all? I think I've read every book I own at least twice (often many more times) with the exception of maybe ... three books. I can't imagine collecting books and not reading them.

 

[Mistral]

And no I don't expect to read them all (and I plan to cull about 200 from the herd in the spring). I read a lot, but I'm also a collector.

I've actually been wondering about that. The people here with the thousands of books ... do you actually read them all? I think I've read every book I own at least twice (often many more times) with the exception of maybe ... three books. I can't imagine collecting books and not reading them.

I've read every book I own, many of them twice and a number of them 3-6 times(favorites like Heinlein, Turtledove and LOTR).

Some people have listed magazines. Um, Analog from 1981-1989, every issue/Starlog issues 3-20something/Isaac Asimov 1984-1987.

 

[Piper]

No wait, 3. I gave one away to a charity shop a couple of months ago.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

More than 25,000 ebooks and 500 physical books.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I've been thinking about getting an ebook reader. There's a Hanvon one for sale on Ebuyer for £119 but it looks like it only does txt or html files, so I guess no new ebooks.
Looks like the best option is the BeBook, lots of formats and a searchable catalogue of over 22,000 English language public domain book on Play.com for £169.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

And no I don't expect to read them all (and I plan to cull about 200 from the herd in the spring). I read a lot, but I'm also a collector.

I've actually been wondering about that. The people here with the thousands of books ... do you actually read them all? I think I've read every book I own at least twice (often many more times) with the exception of maybe ... three books. I can't imagine collecting books and not reading them.

No, I haven't read all of my books. Many of them are unread but with the intention of reading them...eventually. But at the same time (and this is the pack rat in me rearing its ugly ass), I can't give them away. I love collecting books far too much.

 

[cardinal biggles]

801. I keep an inventory.

It's the inventory book that's the extra 1, isn't it?

No, I use Excel.

804. Newest additions:

• hardback edition of Paul Shenkman's I Love Paul Revere, Whether He Road or Not (discarded my trade paperback, so that's a wash)
• Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot
• Norton Critical Edition of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
• library discard of T.E. Lawrence's Revolt in the Desert

 

[23skidoo]

And no I don't expect to read them all (and I plan to cull about 200 from the herd in the spring). I read a lot, but I'm also a collector.

I've actually been wondering about that. The people here with the thousands of books ... do you actually read them all? I think I've read every book I own at least twice (often many more times) with the exception of maybe ... three books. I can't imagine collecting books and not reading them.

I do intend on reading the majority of them, except for a few I have for investment purposes (and in those cases I've tried to seek out a "reading copy" when possible). I also usually keep books after I've read them, because I consider them to be snapshots of my life. In many cases I can remember where I was living, what my life was like, etc., at the time I read the book. Of the 2,800 or so books I have, there are about 500 that I consider "forever" books that I fully intend to have with me when I'm in the old folks home. And there are two or three that get grabbed along with the precious heirloom safety box if a fire breaks out (well, if possible, of course. I'm not THAT dumb! ).

I have a few books I do re-read on occasion. I re-read Shogun every 10 years and I've made a habit of reading The Illuminatus Trilogy every 5 years. I'm also in the midst of long-term "projects" to read complete series of some books, such as James Bond (I'm 1/2 way through the Gardner novels) and The Saint (I've read the first 25 years of that series so far).

My collection also includes a large number of reference books that I don't read cover-to-cover, but which I retain for, well, reference.

Alex