NewMexiKen always looks around whenever I visit a home for the first time to see where the books are, what they are, and how many there are. I try not to judge books by their cover, but I often — though certainly not always — judge people by their books. (By “judge” I simply mean, get an impression.)
Not counting cookbooks, I have books in five bookcases in four rooms, around 700 altogether I believe.
How about you?
{democracy:23}
I’d say around a hundred. Maybe more like 200. But they’re all books I’ve read a dozen times and need to get some more. If anyone wants to donate a Barnes & Noble gift card to me, I won’t say no…
About 1300. The number changes weekly. Unfortunately we do not have enough space to have them out, but I have them in a searchable database identified by box number. We are currently weeding and have identified several hundred to get rid of before we next move.
I have had a bunch. But recently I have been purging them, mainly to the Placitas Community Library. I realized I had a bunch of books that I just never read again and was keeping them for those moments when visitors came to my house to judge me on my book collection. (just kidding) Just didn’t need to reread that book on the siege of Vienna. Now I go to the book store and get a reading list together and then go to the new book section of my library and look there for current reads.
Cheers, Mi3ke
Wow, Mi3ke you had a book on the siege of Vienna? I AM impressed! 😀
I don’t keep mass market paperbacks. I leave them on the plane when I’m finished.
I have over a thousand. And I DON’T lend. I consider both my book purchasing and reading to be compusive and addictive (not that there’s anything wrong with that). However, my husband is threatening to stage an intervention. I asked who he was going to get to assist him intervene and he said my family – my Mom and perhaps some Uncles. I laughed heartily and informed him that no [family members] would support him.
One thing about book collecting that I really enjoy is 1st additions and autographed copies.
I have only one book, The Book, The Bible. All other books should be burned!
Gee, Joey, you should have at least one non-fiction book, too.
Before we made our move from Chicago, I donated about 40 boxes of books to our local library. We moved approximately 60 boxes of books with us and have since acquired about half that. I worked for B&N for ten years… and, although I don’t read much fiction (Unlike Joey and, great retort, by the way…lol), I do love to read non-fiction and, of all things: cookbooks. We have six bookcases and ever-shrinking wall space.
The one thing I just could not stomach during the entire time I worked in bookstores was having to throw away books. Killed. Me. But that is the way of bookstores, federal laws, and mass market paperbacks.
I happen to love old books and love, love love cruising thrift stores and antiquarian bookstores for little treasures.
It’s an expensive guilty pleasure.
🙂
I’m a pretty voracious reader, but I’m well behind many of you in the number of books I own. I think that’s mostly because almost everything I read comes from the library.
I only buy a book if I really love it, or if I really want to read it and the library doesn’t have it. I guess the cheap gene is stronger than the book-loving gene, in me.
We only have about 500 or 600 books in the house, but any given time I have a good 20 out from the library. That has to count for something!
aimlsrdhd, don’t be so sure. Your hubby may have promised to divy up your hoard among us intervening uncles. What a great way to pickup a couple hundred books!
But seriously, it’s only a five-minute walk to my local library branch and here in Portland we have great libraries. I borrow a lot.
Having studied the tactics of the music recording industry, the book publishers have announced that only the first person checking out a library’s copy of a book is permitted to read the copyrighted work.
I’m with Jill and SnoLepard on this one. Having worked in public and college libraries for 12 or 13 years of my life, I can usually get what I want or need when I want or need it. The interlibrary system most libraries participate in makes it possible to get nearly anything. So, I only collect the books I really want to keep around, and I get most of them at yard and rummage sales. I rarely buy books retail. (Basically, only if I get a gift certificate or something, and then I still tend to go for the bargain books.) Still, I have to admit, I miss many particular books I parted with along the way over the years. I just had too many books to keep moving them as we wandered from home to home and from one part of the country to the other. (I recently whittled it down by about 75% since we were moving cross-country yet again.)
Around 100 books for me. But I want more, a lot more! I always thought it would be cool to have a house with a room designated as “the library” with wall-to-wall bookcases and some comfy chairs.
We like to send books home with interested friends or visitors if the book has already been read by one/both of us. I figure if I need to read it again down the line it shouldn’t be that difficult to find another copy. A great book on our shelf brings back memories but in the hands of someone else it’s creating new memories. We’re long on new memories. Yay books.