Ribh's D'Coopage

[Shadrach]

Hmmm. That is an interesting framework. I will have to give that some thought. I certainly keep those. But I also keep the following categories:
1- Books I might re-read one day (many, many)
2- Books I might refer to one day (many, many)
3- Books that remind me of certain times or events in my life even if I don't need to re-read them (slightly fewer)
4- Books that have come to me via dead relatives who have written in the fly leaf. I have a lot of volumes of poetry and a complete works of Shakespeare with inscriptions from relatives going back to 1870s or so (not many of these, but they feel precious)
5- Books written by relatives (some)
6- Books I intend to read (many, many and worse since my retirement party had a 'bring a book' theme, so there is literally a crate of them!)
7- Books that are duplicates of category 1, but I still can't bear to part with the original

I think it is obvious that I have a problem!

I got rid of most of my books when I moved to Catalonia. I miss some of them now.

 

[RoyalChick]

Hmmm. That is an interesting framework. I will have to give that some thought. I certainly keep those. But I also keep the following categories:
1- Books I might re-read one day (many, many)
2- Books I might refer to one day (many, many)
3- Books that remind me of certain times or events in my life even if I don't need to re-read them (slightly fewer)
4- Books that have come to me via dead relatives who have written in the fly leaf. I have a lot of volumes of poetry and a complete works of Shakespeare with inscriptions from relatives going back to 1870s or so (not many of these, but they feel precious)
5- Books written by relatives (some)
6- Books I intend to read (many, many and worse since my retirement party had a 'bring a book' theme, so there is literally a crate of them!)
7- Books that are duplicates of category 1, but I still can't bear to part with the original

I think it is obvious that I have a problem!

Oh I forgot a category:
8- Books given to me by the author with a personal note in front (a few), and one book where I am mentioned in the acknowledgements (I haven't actually read that one!)

 

[RoyalChick]

I got rid of most of my books when I moved to Catalonia. I miss some of them now.

I am trying to get better about moving books out - but I honestly find it emotionally difficult! I have a short list of ways I am most likely to die and one of the top three is being crushed by a falling bookcase.

 

[Shadrach]

I am trying to get better about moving books out - but I honestly find it emotionally difficult! I have a short list of ways I am most likely to die and one of the top three is being crushed by a falling bookcase.

My current book problem is shelving my oversized books. I used to have a shelf I made that fixed to the wall for just these. Not even sure who I gave the shelf away to, or I would be asking for it back.

 

[Ribh]

I hope he works out for you Ribh.

Me too. I tend to become emotionally attached to the animals I keep & I would hate to pass him along for soup.

 

[Ribh]

Oh I forgot a category:
8- Books given to me by the author with a personal note in front (a few), and one book where I am mentioned in the acknowledgements (I haven't actually read that one!)

I have 1 or 2 I have to keep because either there's something I've written in them or there's a dedication to me ~ so sentimental attachment.

 

[fuentemoon]

We keep books for all those reasons too, although most of ours are in storage sadly. Another category for us is books we are likely to want to lend/share.

 

[Perris]

I used to have great difficulty parting with any book, mostly for various of RC's reasons. But when I retired I decided to clear out those I had or used only for teaching, which might also be useful for students of course, and I made some progress there. I still have far more than I have shelf space for and there are few rooms in the house that don't look like library stacks . One day I will have to grasp that nettle.

The trouble is, the only sort of recipient who'd want most of what I've got is other academics, and most Uni libraries here are run now by people who are great with digital resources but who view books as a burden. Collections are measured in miles of bookshelf needed to house them, in true 'never mind the quality, feel the width' style. Culls go on regularly and those not rescued by someone get pulped. I don't want to give my books to such people. Most of what I've got hasn't been digitized, so would be truly lost. Some are very valuable precisely because there are hardly any copies left. Not all old knowledge is redundant. A lot of what's claimed to be new is just old ideas re-packaged.

 

[BY Bob]

I am trying to get better about moving books out - but I honestly find it emotionally difficult! I have a short list of ways I am most likely to die and one of the top three is being crushed by a falling bookcase.

I can't let any book go. Even if I didn't like it. I still have them all. Fortunately the ebook was invented and saved me from being crushed by a bookcase.

 

[BY Bob]

Very large cat playing with earrings in the sink. Happy Caturday.