The books that ate my house, redux

[pbray]

Wow, lots of feedback on yesterday's poll, and my thanks to everyone who responded. Confirming my own thoughts, most folks were in favor of some kind of cull, whether a thoughtful selection or just opening up my house so you could help yourselves :-)

I'm pleased to see that my book hoarding falls in the middle of the pack-- I stopped counting around five thousand but I'm pretty sure I fall short of ten thousand.

In reality, if I'd kept every book I'd ever purchased, the problem would be much worse. I tended to give away romance novels rather than keep them, and the same went for mysteries that were good enough for one read but not interesting enough that I wanted to come back to them. But f&sf books I hung on to, in part because when I was growing up libraries carried very little genre fiction, so it was buy my own or go without. The books I bought back then--when each book was an hour at a minimum wage job, or meant skipping a meal--those are the ones I'll find it hardest to part with.

I also haven't culled hardcovers, not even the ones that I received from a bookclub by mistake. Hardcovers were a sign of middle-class respectability, but it's time to go through those as well.

I'd like to get my collection to a manageable size. Ideally I'd like to have it all on the first floor of my house, and to keep any of the good stuff out of the damp basement. And, for those books I'm never going to read again, it's only right that I give someone else the chance to enjoy them.

Comments

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

Hardcovers were a sign of middle-class respectability, but it's time to go through those as well.

Isn't that right out of The Great Gatsby?

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It's probably where I got the line, but not the sentiment. My family went to the library at least twice a week. Compared to the books we read, the number of books we owned was fairly small. Hardcovers were expensive and reserved for those books that we would read over and over again.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to get my collection to a manageable size."

I, on the other hand, am considering when would be a good time to head Binghamtonwards, canvas shopping bags in hand. ;-)

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what she said ;^)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hee! But if I only get rid of the duds, would you like them? Hmm.

Anyway, after having the local writers/bookmonsters over to my place last night, I have a tentative plan where fireun will be selected to go through any books I'm getting rid of. The bookmonsters will get first crack, and then she'll sort through which ones should be released into the wild via internet book exchanges, and which ones should go straight to the library sales donation.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's a slightly shorter trip for me ;-).

Oh, wait 17-that-is-morphing-into-86 is all over construction right now...

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

I've just realized that I probably underestimated my book ownership by at least a few hundred, because I didn't count the books that are mine but still live at my mom's house. My count is still well below yours, though. I think. It's been a long time since I actually counted (yes, that does mean that at one point I did actually count. I had insomnia. It seemed like a sensible idea at the time :P). On the other hand, I also didn't include DH's books or SP's books ... so maybe my count is closer to yours than I at first thought ...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

They multiply like tribbles, don't they?

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced they breed when nobody's looking. There's simply no other explanation for the geometric increase in numbers, and, after all, we are either out of the house or asleep a great deal of the time...

At least they're quieter than tribbles.

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, why didn't I think of asking someone else to cull my books when I was getting ready for the giant move westward? (Oh, wait... I did. lol)