Too many books!

invisible

invisible

On Holiday
MBTI
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What do you do with all your books? Do you have too many? If not, did you ever have too many? What is the point of keeping books that you have read, and of keeping a collection of books that you haven't read?

I'm a bookseller and I have a degree in literature, so I have a lot of books. Too many books!

There are a handful of books that were life changing for me and that I absolutely can't do without having them on my shelf. And granted, more than I would like with sentimental value - gifts from loved ones, books from childhood. But why am I keeping all the others? I'm not an academic! I don't want to end up getting old in a house that is stuffed with rotting paper! All these books are making me sick!
 
I love books! I only buy the ones that I am definitely going to read, but in the last couple of years there has been a serious backlog, as in that I have always about 40 books (more or less) in my possession that I have yet to read. And I still want more!

It doesn't mean that I am not planning on doing it anytime soon. I already lamented the fact that I haven't been reading much since I wrote and finished my BA thesis.

But I love my books, and I am proud of being able to display them, as trophies from my past and reminders for the future. Some I have to keep in boxes for lack of space in my room (mostly books from school and uni), but I'll put them all on a seperate shelf once I have my own place, as a permanent residence.

And it has happened that I read some books more than once (in some cases more than five times), partly because they faded in my memory and I want to refresh it, partly because I just love the stories. For some, it is to look up quotes that randomly manage to surface in my head, and I check them for source and accuracy.

I keep them on my shelves, because for the biggest part of my life, they have been the best company. They remind me of things that happened in my life, the possiblities of life in general. They are soothing to be around, because they have been my best friends at some point, and kind of still are. These fictions have taught me the morals of my own and foreign cultures, what is good and bad, the values and principles that I keep, which are most precious to me.

In that regard, I have never thought of having too many books, even almost the opposite. I am proud of them because they are a part of me.

Edit: At the moment I own 42 books that I have yet to read and/or finish reading. This includes the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, of which I have read a measly 10 plays so far.
 
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Like Ginny, I too love books, and couldn't do without them.
What books do you have Invisible, and on which subjects? I'll gladly take some of them off your hands.

invisible said:
What do you do with all your books?
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Read them, then put them on my shelf.
I like displaying them because I believe my books are a nice representation of (parts of) who I am and the repertoire of my knowledge. I almost view them as an extension of myself. Almost? Fuck it. No relative statements today. I do view them as extensions of myself.

Do you have too many? If not, did you ever have too many? What is the point of keeping books that you have read, and of keeping a collection of books that you haven't read?
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I'm afraid I have no concept of 'too many'. The more the merrier. I love books. If I have to build a library in my future house, so be it. I still have every book I've ever owned, that includes childhood books, although they are in a big box in the attic, due to lack of space.

I like keeping the books I've already read nearby in order to look up details, or to re-read them many years later, to see if my understanding has expanded and/or changed over the years.
As for books that I haven't read yet, or haven't finished reading.. well, I have a few, but that's mostly because I noticed my current understanding is not yet up to the level required to appreciate the book fully, and I intend to return to it in the future.

(A good example would be 'The Road To Reality' by Roger Penrose. It basically describes every law and theory in modern physics ever, and while the explanations are very clear, when I bought the book when it came out, I simply didn't have the mathematical prowess to understand the equations. That has improved over the years, and I may be able to return to it now and fully grasp it. Another interesting aspect to this book is that I would really like to read 'The Emperor's New Mind' and 'Shadows of the Mind' by the same author, which interest me even more, but then I need the basis lied down by this book first.)
That said, I've read 90% of the books I own.
 
@invisible, sorry to clutter up this thread with the following, but I would like to have a private conversation with you, however, your PM settings don't allow me to. Is there some way I can contact you? :)
 
I used to have an awesome book collection and then moved away and left them with my parents. I was heartbroken when my parents moved and let my middle sister store the boxes and she let them all get ruined in a shed. I cried.

I love books. I love to read. I had whole fantasy series that I bought one by one as they were published. Each one I read several times. I will randomly re read series and trilogies I enjoy.

When I left my life in Kansas and moved back home after my father's death, the hardest was going through my books and deciding what to pack and send.

I don't know why I keep too many books other than I cherish the stories and the magic of them.
 
I donate mine to our public library. And if our library doesn't need them I'll find one that does. When I purchase them it's usually with this in mind so I'll buy hardbacks whenever possible, though most libraries still take paperbacks if it's a title they need and the books in good condition. Another option is donating them to school libraries. They are always really appreciative. And another option is hospitals and nursing homes. I went that route with a bunch of my dad's books after he died.

Did I mention that I love libraries. :)
 
I've had to unfortunately let go of many books over the years due to moving and practicality. Some that I've really valued I have given to close friends so I know they have a good home. A few I left in my parent's basement to hopefully regain one day. My dream is to have a book room at some point but maybe just one wall of one room will have to suffice. I enjoy the aesthetic more than reading, though the right book does capture me from time to time. I try not to purchase a book unless I fully intend to read it. I've read all the books I've ever owned.
 
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Wyote said:
I've read all the books I've ever owned.
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Admiration! As an owner of books that would put you in a very unusual category. Almost every book owner I've known struggles with their "to-read pile". Booksellers are the worst, we just automatically acquire stuff. Staff holds at work is truly a disaster, it has gotten better over the years since managers have bothered to pay attention to it, but books just used to get destroyed in the mass of holds. Some staff can never learn, even though there is a sign in the storeroom saying "5 HOLDS PER STAFF ONLY" they stack up like 25 books.

(I have never had more than 3 holds at work and always bought them or put them back on the sales floor at payday, but I have what is effectively my own little "holds" catastrophe at home.)
 
@invisible my "to-read" pile is a list far too disappointingly long to even attempt to own :wink:

*gets anxiety thinking about all the unread books*
 
Like many here, I've loads of books to read, few I have actually started and read. I used to feel guilty that I wasn't reading the books I bought, but I realized that sometimes, I just wasn't ready for it, but I love buying books, especially good bargains, so I don't mind hoarding up with the intention to read later. What I don't like is that most of these books are in bags, and scattered everywhere. If I ever buy a home, there will be an entire room dedicated to books, my very own library. :)
 
OP was me some years ago. I sat down one day and cataloged everything, highlighted the ones that were important or sentimental, then gave away the rest to friends and coworkers.

I reduced three bookcases to one box of books and maintain that to this day. One book in, one book out.
 
Vict said:
OP was me some years ago. I sat down one day and cataloged everything, highlighted the ones that were important or sentimental, then gave away the rest to friends and coworkers.

I reduced three bookcases to one box of books and maintain that to this day. One book in, one book out.
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While I see the logic in this, I must vehemently express the disappointment your books would feel towards you if they had any feelings. I catalogue things too, and my 270+ books would be very disappointed with me if I abandoned any of them. I had that done to me too many times to let it happen to my possessions.

#ProjectionAlert

Edit: When I just saw the number it seemed too much, so I looked it up and it's only 170+. My bad :sweatsmile:
 
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I keep seeing this title and think "No such thing" :tongueclosed:

I have a few books that I have not read, they are both non fiction, I have to be in a specific mind set to read non fiction. One is about the book of war and the other about guns. Now that I think about there might be one about Cleopatra and another about meditation too.
 
Interestingly, although I am quite an avid reader, I don't actually own that many books.

Whatever I can read electronically is good for me. Another explanatory factor, I think, is that I read all the books I buy. I don't ever really go "oh, that book sounds great!" and then don't read it - which I guess is part of the way huge libraries can add up over time :p My brother is like that (an avid reader too, of course, even more than me I would say) but he also loves the library he has built over time. I don't think he could live in an apartment that doesn't have one. He likes the book as a piece of art in and of itself, whereas I'm only really interested in the kind of content that the book contains and that I can absorb.

Of course, there are exceptions. I have one Ezra Pound and one Beckett that I particularly treasure. :)
 
Vict said:
OP was me some years ago. I sat down one day and cataloged everything, highlighted the ones that were important or sentimental, then gave away the rest to friends and coworkers.

I reduced three bookcases to one box of books and maintain that to this day. One book in, one book out.
Click to expand...

Amazing. I wish I could be like this. I don't think I could because I have too many books from childhood and that were gifts that I feel a lot of emotional attachment to.
 
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This was my shelf before weeding. IDK... it just felt so claustrophobic. These are my read books btw, not all books I've read but books that I have owned and for whatever reason I kept over the years.

These are the books that I weeded:

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Some explanations of why I weeded them?

Tolstoy - this author's treatment of women disgusts me. He thinks women should be pregnant all the time. Why did I keep these books? Because I used the idea that I read something considered to be difficult as a way to validate myself and show off my achievement to others. Wow, that's sad.

East of Eden - omg this must be the worst Biblical allegory ever written. Totally feeble. This book is basically the equal of "Of Human Bondage" for how overrated it is.

Cloud Atlas - Highlights are the two stories that are the most historically advanced in the time schema of the novel, about Sonmi and the guy who uses the word "babbits", but as a whole, this is not a strong literary work.

Brautigan - Love this guy. Witty. Not exactly earth shattering though.

Mistry - A Fine Balance - Why did I need to read this book? Please tell me. I needed to read this book as much as I needed to watch "Grave of the Fireflies". I didn't need to experience these works in my life. They contributed nothing to my life.

Paul Bowles - I'm sick of you, Bowles. Our affair is over, you've given me what you had to give, and I'm grateful for it. I suspect that your artistic pretentions are a slick veneer for some pretty ugly thoughts. Goodbye.

The Story of the Eye - What the fuck is this shit

Jane Eyre - How can the writer of "Villette" have also written this? Rochester is like horrible. He is just like horrible. Total villain material. Wide Sargasso Sea. OMG, I hate that cheesy bit where Jane has like, the premonition or whatever it is. I hate that bit.

Chimera, Flaubert's Parrot - I'm truly sure these books were very good artistically - but I can't remember a thing about either of them. They made no impression on me. Why am I keeping them? Goodbye.

Austen - I adore you Austen, you are wonderful, a genius - but I don't need to keep all of your books. Persuasion is enough, along with this pretty little old OUP edition I've got of Emma.

Beginning Theory - OK, I'm no philosopher, but I think I have kind of gone beyond beginner level now.

To the Lighthouse - another very impressive work of genius that made no impression whatsoever on me.

Voss - Um, I don't know. So is this book kind of racist? Yes, it is.

The Time Machine - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oops I just fell asleep for a little while.

Dracula - that part where they're transfusing the young woman made my skin crawl.

A S Byatt - Lots of A S Byatt - What was the meaning of my A S Byatt fad - I don't know... I don't know. I'll keep some of her stuff though. For fun.

What Maisie Knew - Did not get this book at all. Sometimes James constructs his work so densely that it is simply unreadable. This is one of those times.

Hermann Hesse - I read these books because I liked the cover designs from this publisher. Picador or something. I did not really enjoy the works. I couldn't figure out what their value is. I couldn't understand why he won the Nobel Prize. Then I found out that he had some influential buddy who lobbied for him to receive it. I always remember this time someone told me that you have to be older to understand Steppenwolf. Like whatever.

Hemingway - Piss off

American Psycho - YUCK! REVOLTING! Why was this work written? What was the purpose of composing this work? I hate the "knowing" authorial tone that permeates this work. Go away!

The Bloody Chamber - a couple of fabulous stories, particularly the title story... but as a whole work... ultimately quite forgettable

No Sugar - Why am I chucking this one out? Maybe I should take it back.

Alice in Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass - The author of this work was unable to handle the fact that human beings grow up. Particularly, he was unable to accept that little girls grow up. What a creep.

The Little Prince - Kind of like a crappy version of Alice in Wonderland, with none of its intellectual playfulness.

Great Expectations - wonderful novel, but I don't need this novel. Dickens doesn't really appeal to me that much. I don't know. Goodbye.

Weeding was done over a couple of days this week. So here is a picture of my weeded shelf:

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Aaaaah feels so much better... Feels like when you get a good massage and then all the muscle tension is gone... Feels so relaxed and happy.... I'm happy for my shelf that it feels happy... the books can breathe now... They feel so much lighter without being pressed in by all that gunk.

Made quite a few changes!

Decided to forget about strict order... made things more relaxed.

There became space for my cds that I'm listening to at the moment.

All the pictorial large formats up on the top shelf, all the manuals down the bottom.

Going through this bottom shelf was a truly wonderful experience. It was not part of my before picture because it was a hideous mess of basically just papers and garbage that needed to be thrown away, for example, I found 2 unit readers from my undergraduate degree in there... WTF am I keeping these for? - Begone! In the recycling with you! The red folder (remaining university papers) is next to go!

Going through the bottom shelf was also wonderful because it made the bottom shelf useful for me again. It was just stuff I couldn't get rid of... now I can have stuff in there that is legitimately useful for me... like my sheet music I'm currently playing, my drawing books... and other "fun things to do" books.

This was a very good experience. I'm so happy I did this, I feel better. I'm never going to have more than 1 bookcase in my life and I never want it to be more full than this. It's never going back to the way it was. I've already decided which books are going to be got rid of next if I get other books that I want to keep more.

Next up for weeding is my massive collection of "to read" books, not pictured here.
 
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