Soooo....

[BarTopDancer]

My boss sent me a copy of LaughingPlace Magazine in the inter-office overnight.

[MouseWife]

I remember my brother telling my daughter, one year old at the time {whom I guess was pulling books down from a shelf?}~ "We must be good to our books. Our books are our friends".

I loved that. So true.

My father was an avid reader, we spent many summer days at the library.

Currently, I haven't finished a book in years. I was sent 'The Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood' and read it. A very good book.

I bought 'Kiterunner' but never had a chance to read it. Loaned it out. {what good is a book just sitting there if someone wants to read it and you can't?}

Vacations. Before I would hike/bike/whatever with the family, I was always able to enjoy a nice fat novel on our trips.

Before.

{now I really want to count my books....and JWBear, I haven't moved in 11 years. That would be a real task if I had to anytime soon.....}

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

My boss sent me a copy of LaughingPlace Magazine in the inter-office overnight.

Is this connected with the website?

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Is this connected with the website?

Yup. And the owner of the website designed one of our applications.

[Ponine]

Originally Posted by 3894

Hey, it takes a lot of work to write that cheap.

Which is why I wont throw any out. I might accidentaly pitch a 3894 original!!! THen I wont be able to say, but look!! I knew her when.....

But yes, all kidding aside, I imagine it does take quite a bit of work.

[lindyhop]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

No such thing as too many books.

I would agree with you but I recently discovered this sad fact: my living space does not increase as I collect more books and other objects. In fact my actual living space decreases as things take up a bigger proportion of the finite space I inhabit.

[lindyhop]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

The goal should not be too have a lot of books but to have a reason for each book you have.

I'm trying to look at all my possessions that way. Do I own them or do they own me?

[Capt Jack]

Im totally with you there. after my wife died I came to the fact of 'omg...what IS all this crap?' literally tons of things neither of us had used or even seen in a decade or more.

so except for a few sentimental things, its all gotta go.
the best way to start from scratch...is to truly start from scratch.

and wanna talk about books? Ive donated nearly 2 dozen very good sized boxes of books to numerous causes only to come across at least that many still buried in various places around the house.

ugh...one day the floor and I will once again meet. probably not soon however.

[lindyhop]

What is too many books? I just did a quick calculation in my living room and I have about 72 feet of bookshelf space all full of books. That's just the living room. It's not too much if it gives you joy but lately I'm just feeling hemmed in by all the clutter. If I can ever get the extra bedroom sorted out into something other than a big walk-in closet I wouldn't mind storing a lot of books in there. But I no longer want them surrounding me all the time.

[Alex]

I'm not trying to say there is an absolute value for "too many books." That will vary from situtation to situation and personality to personality.

But if you're feeling that they're in the way of how you want to live then that is probably a good indicator.

If you want to cut them down a bit, just be brutally honest in answering these question:

1. If someone had asked me if I owned this book would have have known the answer. (A lot of people have books they don't even remember they have; that's probably a candidate for disposal).

2. Will I ever read/reread this book. Be honest. If you've had a book for years and never read it, odds are you never will. If its been years since you read it, odds are you aren't going to reread it.

3. Does this book contain information that would be difficult to replace? And is it at all likely that I'll use that information (the 2000 media guide for the Oakland Athletics, maybe; the 2000 media guide for the Milwaukee Brewers, nope).

4. If I got rid of this book and suddenly the desire came up to read it again, would it be difficult to get again? A 1948 local history, maybe. A John Grisham paperback not at all.

5. Does it have any artifactual value (first editions, autographed, etc.)

6. Does it have any sentimental value. If so, what is that value. Is it valid sentiment?

In helping people work through their personal libraries I've found that most of the time the argument for keeping a book will fall into question six. And that when said out loud, that support frequently (though obviously not always) crumbles.

I have books that I know I'll reread, or that have information it is otherwise difficult to get, that are valuable as objects or have some sentimental value (a cheap ass pseudo-leather collected works of Twain that was my Christmas present in 1984; a book where Lani is thanked in the acknowledgements). But I don't have any books that I honestly know I won't read, that can easily be reacquired, have no object value, and have no good sentimental attachments.

For example, I reread Stephen R. Donald's Chronicles of Thomas Covenanent series six or seven years. But they are cheap paperbacks easily acquired so I don't actually keep them in the house and get rid of them when I'm done reading. And then five or six years later buy them again. But I haven't read Sagan's A Demon-Haunted World in a decade but will always keep a copy simply because it was an instrumental text in my intellectual development.

The answers vary infinitely but a lot of people when asked "why do you have that" will answer "because it's a book" as if that is a meaningful answer. Try the same excuses for keeping every pair of underwear you've ever owned.

Has anybody seen Clean Sweep on TLC? I love that show for the brutality it has in showing cluttered people just how pointless most of their stuff is and how their possessions come to own them. Maybe they've done it but I'd love to see how they'd handle a book accumulator.