Can you have too many books?

[hellison]

This is a long standing Bone of Contention (one of many :p) between my mother and I. She is constantly insisting that I 'thin out' my books so I'd have room on the shelves 'to put some nice things'.

They're BOOKshelves ffs, thats whats meant to be on them. And I don't want to fill them with twee wooden/ceramic cats, horses or other assorted tat. I have real cats, I don't need fake ones. Ditto horses.

Anyway rant aside (because it could go on A Long Time), can you have too many books?

I certainly don't think so. I am very much an avid re-reader of books; very rarely do I only read a book once, favourites get read and re-read til they fall apart.
There are probably a few I could get rid of, eg the crappy free ones that come with magazines, but the vast majority I have no intention of ever parting with.
I don't even like loaning them out in case they don't come back (HI littlebluefish).

Hmm might be time for another trawl through Amazon...

ps Almost forgot amid the ranting, mivvvv has the FLU and is very ILL so send him happy messages to cheer him up!

Comments

[reuss.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I am an avid re-reader too, and I have a lot of books too. But I've been thinking that there are some that I could thin out: the trashy books that I've accumulated along the way. I've read it (you have to read it at least once before you do anything with it) and put it down... and I could probably give it away.

But... most of the books I have I can't imagine ever getting rid of. The only problem now is that we simply don't have the space :S

[hellison.livejournal.com]

Space is always a problem ;) Tho i have Plans (tm) for that.
But I suspect that by 'thin out' my mum actually means 'throw them all out except the pretty ones', which is very different to getting shot of a box of crap.

[reuss.livejournal.com]

Some people just don't understand the Book Thing.

Books are like a religion for me. Or a form of OCD.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

*grins* amen to that :p
The house doesn't feel right to me unless there are books to hand on every available surface. Houses with no books about feel very Wrong. Or worse, books that are For Show, not for Reading *shudders*

[tiquetoque.livejournal.com]

sob.

Can't go into town (any town) without seeing what their bookshops are like.

Can't go into a bookshop without buying books. Usually several.

[tiquetoque.livejournal.com]

Totally opposite problem. Usen't have space, used to be avid re-reader.

Now I've plenty of space (and plenty of books), but no time to read them. Lifestyle change, too much commuting, budgeting time, means I spend more time doing other things, and can really only read in bed or while on the bus (20 mins twice a day). So I usually end up reading several books concurrently, and it takes me a week or so to get through each.

I've a queue of books to go through, and the queue is getting longer[1]... so no re-reading for a while :(


[1] see post elsewhere in this thread

[hellison.livejournal.com]

I do that too, I take books with me everywhere then leave them odd places and start something else then leave THAT down... and so it goes :p It's taken me 2 months to finish Catch 22 cos I kept forgetting where I'd put it.

So a trip to the 2nd hand bookshop round the corner may well be in order at lunchtime...

[reuss.livejournal.com]

Stealing Heliotic's Black Books quoting:

Customer: Those books. How much?
Bernard: Hmmm?
Customer: Those books. The leather-bound ones.
Bernard: Yes, Dickens, the Collected Works of Charles Dickens.
Customer: Are they real leather?
Bernard: They're real Dickens.
Customer: I have to know if they're real leather because they have to go with the sofa.
[Bernard looks confused]
Customer: Everything else in my house is real. I'll give you two hundred for them.
Bernard: Two hundred what?
Customer: Two hundred pounds.
Bernard: Are they leather-bound pounds?
Customer: No.
Bernard: Sorry. I need leather bound pounds to go with my wallet. Next.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

heh, thats exactly what I mean, I love that quote.
Must look for black books dvds on Amazon too.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

Thats why you buy a 2nd copy! There are even some books I have 3 of :p
Glad its not just me tho ;)

[evilfluffy.livejournal.com]

There is definitely no such thing as too many books.

My parents are beginning to regret encouraging this firm belief from a young age (my father told me that he was happy to buy me _anything_ as long as it was a book - an offer I took up wholeheartedly), as I still have several boxes of books cluttering up their garage/attic/spare room.

In order to appease them I regularly have to go throw out other junk in order to continue reassuring them that at some point the house will be free of my clutter.

I will be reclaiming them all at some point, but segvee and I just don't have the space yet :(

[hellison.livejournal.com]

heh i had actually cleared all my books from home, but since I usually bring a book with me everytime I go and leave it there, I have piled up another box or two that I must reclaim :p