How many books do you own?
Discussion
About 500 here, but frustratingly for me I have about 50 unread.
Two big changes in my life in the last decade are the advent of social media (and the internet as a source of info in general) and getting married and having a kid. Time to read is far more limited than it was in my 'old life'.
Prior to all that I found time to read two newspapers a day, a tabloid and a broadsheet on both Saturday and Sunday, and have a couple of books on the go at any time. Now, it takes me about 3 months to read one decent hardback non-fiction book - biographies, true crime, travel writing, rock music, cars and military history are my go-to genres.
I spend a lot of time on Twitter following a lot of accounts that interest me; I'm on a lot of car/bike forums including PH - last night I fell into a vortex about cylinder head gasket repair on E46 M3's, mine doesn't even need it, yet! - and it's easy to lose two hours in one of those.
Ergo, I do not pick up a book as much as I'd like to. I'm pretty much addicted to my smartphone/tablet - my wife hates it, but she insists on watching a load of soaps which I have no interest in, so it's easy so flick into a tweet about, I dunno, the fate of the XH558 Vulcan bomber - boom, three hours gone!
So, on that note I'm logging off PH for a bit to get back to Red Notice, a fascinating book I picked up from PH thread recommendation. Aiming to finish it tonight!
Two big changes in my life in the last decade are the advent of social media (and the internet as a source of info in general) and getting married and having a kid. Time to read is far more limited than it was in my 'old life'.
Prior to all that I found time to read two newspapers a day, a tabloid and a broadsheet on both Saturday and Sunday, and have a couple of books on the go at any time. Now, it takes me about 3 months to read one decent hardback non-fiction book - biographies, true crime, travel writing, rock music, cars and military history are my go-to genres.
I spend a lot of time on Twitter following a lot of accounts that interest me; I'm on a lot of car/bike forums including PH - last night I fell into a vortex about cylinder head gasket repair on E46 M3's, mine doesn't even need it, yet! - and it's easy to lose two hours in one of those.
Ergo, I do not pick up a book as much as I'd like to. I'm pretty much addicted to my smartphone/tablet - my wife hates it, but she insists on watching a load of soaps which I have no interest in, so it's easy so flick into a tweet about, I dunno, the fate of the XH558 Vulcan bomber - boom, three hours gone!
So, on that note I'm logging off PH for a bit to get back to Red Notice, a fascinating book I picked up from PH thread recommendation. Aiming to finish it tonight!
A lot (many many) over a thousand plus some my wife has decreed redundant, maybe twenty five more for a local charity shop
I have four double width rows of books at one end of this room six feet long, at this end four rows of single depth books three foot six wide
Behind me three shelves double depth about five foot six wide
And in another room...
(plus another four I have just discovered I need to have, Denzil Meyrick's Scottish Police CI Daley)
I think I may have more books left than time
I have four double width rows of books at one end of this room six feet long, at this end four rows of single depth books three foot six wide
Behind me three shelves double depth about five foot six wide
And in another room...
(plus another four I have just discovered I need to have, Denzil Meyrick's Scottish Police CI Daley)
I think I may have more books left than time
Goaty Bill 2 said:
All paper. Don't do, won't do e-books. I spend enough hours reading screens as it is.
There is something much more tangible about a physical book, beyond the knowledge/stories they contain.
I used to think that, and initially wasn't that impressed when my Mrs bought me a kindle. But having recently read a paper back after having read a dozen or so kindle books in a row I've got to say I absolutely love the kindle. Easier to hold, easier to travel with (loads of books in less space than 1 paperback), the e-ink screen is nothing like a tablet/monitor screen, and as I have the kindle app on my phone if I've got 5 minutes to kill somewhere I can sync my phone and carry on reading the book that couldbe sat 50 miles away.There is something much more tangible about a physical book, beyond the knowledge/stories they contain.
No good for pictures though and probably not great for reference books.
RizzoTheRat said:
Goaty Bill 2 said:
All paper. Don't do, won't do e-books. I spend enough hours reading screens as it is.
There is something much more tangible about a physical book, beyond the knowledge/stories they contain.
I used to think that, and initially wasn't that impressed when my Mrs bought me a kindle. But having recently read a paper back after having read a dozen or so kindle books in a row I've got to say I absolutely love the kindle. Easier to hold, easier to travel with (loads of books in less space than 1 paperback), the e-ink screen is nothing like a tablet/monitor screen, and as I have the kindle app on my phone if I've got 5 minutes to kill somewhere I can sync my phone and carry on reading the book that couldbe sat 50 miles away.There is something much more tangible about a physical book, beyond the knowledge/stories they contain.
No good for pictures though and probably not great for reference books.
perdu said:
I think I may have more books left than time
The countries I haven't seen, the roads I haven't travelled, the women I haven't slept with, the books I haven't had the time to read.Oddly enough, it has (nearly
) always been the last that has worried me the most.Yes even back when (not oh so long ago), the penultimate of that list was still of considerable personal importance...
Goaty Bill 2 said:
perdu said:
I think I may have more books left than time
The countries I haven't seen, the roads I haven't travelled, the women I haven't slept with, the books I haven't had the time to read.Oddly enough, it has (nearly
) always been the last that has worried me the most.Yes even back when (not oh so long ago), the penultimate of that list was still of considerable personal importance...
Well I am not worried about the books that much, there's so much else to get on with
My LibraryThing account (I keep them all on there, so I know what NOT to buy in shops) says 761 but I suspect there are a few still unlogged - mainly some old paperback Agatha Christies and the like from my Nan. My wife is always telling me to stop buying. I mostly shop in used bookshops (there's a thread on here somewhere about those) and charity shops but have had to curtail my visits for now due to having chronic fatigue. Thanks to that I can't even read much due to brain fog most days, which is ironic really as probably at least half of those 761 I haven't actually read yet.
Thousands. Mrs da Greek's an English teacher. The kids are as happy reading as watching telly. I'm a voracious reader. Even the garden shed is full of books from when we extended the house and put them in "temporary" storage there. By the time the house was sorted all the "spare" bookshelf space was alreay taken.
Then there are the dozens of graphic novels, thousands of comics and hundreds of old magazines...
Sometimes I worry the house will just hit critical mass and turn into a collapsar
Then there are the dozens of graphic novels, thousands of comics and hundreds of old magazines...
Sometimes I worry the house will just hit critical mass and turn into a collapsar
I've got a bookcase downstairs, another in my office and I also store books in the loft. I started to move them to a more convenient area this afternoon but got through about 15% after two hours.
I've been converted to digital books, if only for space. I have some novels that I enjoy rereading. I noticed today that I have printed copies of some I've bought on Kindle. So they'll be off to the charity shops in the week.
I have quite a few history books, especially on the British Civil Wars and of UK history from around 1810. I'm rather nerdish on the BC wars and suffrage. Many of the earlier books have been contradicted by later research but I can't bring myself to discard books that I know I'll never read again.
I've got lots of car books.
I've been converted to digital books, if only for space. I have some novels that I enjoy rereading. I noticed today that I have printed copies of some I've bought on Kindle. So they'll be off to the charity shops in the week.
I have quite a few history books, especially on the British Civil Wars and of UK history from around 1810. I'm rather nerdish on the BC wars and suffrage. Many of the earlier books have been contradicted by later research but I can't bring myself to discard books that I know I'll never read again.
I've got lots of car books.
Couple of hundred in my office.
Probably 2 or 3 times that in storage.
Then the families books (wife and 2x kids).
So well over a 1000 I would think and that's not including electronic stuff.
My boy (7) really cracked the reading lark recently and he loves books "reading is my favourite thing daddy" he's gone through all the wimpy kids and half way through Horrible Histories series. Makes me happy.
Probably 2 or 3 times that in storage.
Then the families books (wife and 2x kids).
So well over a 1000 I would think and that's not including electronic stuff.
My boy (7) really cracked the reading lark recently and he loves books "reading is my favourite thing daddy" he's gone through all the wimpy kids and half way through Horrible Histories series. Makes me happy.
I've about 1200 physical books, about half that again that are digital only. I switched to ebooks about 8 years ago (gone from a Sony ereader to a Kindle paperwhite) and I only buy physical books now for my favorite authors/book series as I want to collect them, I still read those books on my ebook reader.
I prefer reading on my Kindle as I travel a lot and being able to take a handful of books in something that is similar in size to a small paper back is most welcome.
I also like that it has a built in backlight as I often wake up at night so I normally read in the dark for an hour or so most night without waking the wife. I did have a very good traditional book light, the lightwedge, which was great for reading traditional books in the dark but it is nowhere near as convenient as the built book light of an ereader. I also like that I can read one handed for many pages, unlike a traditional book where I have to keep turning the pages over.
I prefer reading on my Kindle as I travel a lot and being able to take a handful of books in something that is similar in size to a small paper back is most welcome.
I also like that it has a built in backlight as I often wake up at night so I normally read in the dark for an hour or so most night without waking the wife. I did have a very good traditional book light, the lightwedge, which was great for reading traditional books in the dark but it is nowhere near as convenient as the built book light of an ereader. I also like that I can read one handed for many pages, unlike a traditional book where I have to keep turning the pages over.
Ayahuasca said:
What about you?
No idea really, but a quick guesticount of those here in the 'computer room' reveals around 200.Similar number downstairs and others scattered about, so I'd guess 500 or so.
I'm not a big fan of ereaders, but I do find that having books on my phone, Lenovo 7" tablet and iPad has greatly increased the amount of reading I do.
I tend to only buy books that take my fancy on Amazon's deal of the day, though, probably got about 50-100 on there, most read.
I used to read a lot of books from the library, for years, and I often recycle books through the charity shop (fiction anyway).
M.
Edited by marcosgt on Thursday 9th February 16:51
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