tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post112927535598866519..comments2024-03-14T00:16:32.077-07:00Comments on 50 Books: BOOKS: The UnbookeningTammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-49309292183483225432007-06-21T07:22:00.000-07:002007-06-21T07:22:00.000-07:00you have my sympathy. i went through the same iss...you have my sympathy. i went through the same issue when i moved - may i suggest a couple of things?<BR/><BR/>for non fiction/text books. if you can get the information off the internet. you don't need to own the physical book. <BR/> <BR/>unless the book hold some personal meaning for you, like the kind you pull down off the shelf at the spur of the moment. check it against internet stocks, if you can replace it very easily, say under $5 or $10 - then you don't need to own the book all the time. <BR/><BR/>downgrade - replace HC's with paperbacks, single editions with omnibus editions, sell expensive copies and buy reading copies. Library of America editions rock. 1 book taking the place of four.<BR/><BR/>narrow your focus. i used to have hundreds of cookbooks on many topics, instead i choose 1 TYPE of cookbook and got rid of nearly everything else. now my collection is more specialized.<BR/><BR/>i still have hundreds of books but when i go to cull the shelves it is easier to have parameters.jgodseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09361695956977017963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1164226824117116112006-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:002006-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:00People tell me to go to the library, it's cheaper....People tell me to go to the library, it's cheaper. Just reading them is not the point! :) So sad, but it sounds like you're taking precautions to make sure you can handle it. There's a neat site out there that promotes releasing books out into the wild, for someone to randomly find, and hopefully, read and enjoy. You could maybe send a hundred or so their way... it's a fun idea. http://www.bookcrossing.com/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1139204477688542732006-02-05T21:41:00.000-08:002006-02-05T21:41:00.000-08:00Em, I wish I could tell you something different, b...Em, I wish I could tell you something different, but yes, this is going to cause problems later. I had exactly the same tendencies as you 15 years ago, and look at where I am now. But hey, it's a hell of a toboggan ride!Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1139185344551458092006-02-05T16:22:00.000-08:002006-02-05T16:22:00.000-08:00Oh my God. Breaking from study for just a moment, ...Oh my God. Breaking from study for just a moment, I've been meandering over the archives here and just hit on this one...and I can see myself in ten years.<BR/>The Norton Introducton to Literature is sitting by my hip, with freshly high-lighted passages in preparation for an essay or two...(I will NEVER look fondly back on English 125--not anymore...) and I can't even look directly at it now. It scares me. I'm going to die because I go regularily on a Sunday morning to a tiny book-mart where everything is a dollar and this is going to cause problems later, isn't it?Emhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06894215177878536537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129979216471745252005-10-22T04:06:00.000-07:002005-10-22T04:06:00.000-07:00Hello.I wandered in randomly from somewhere - I th...Hello.<BR/><BR/>I wandered in randomly from somewhere - I think I started at <I>Tomato Nation</I>, but I'm not sure - and enjoyed your page. Your baby is very cute :). Anyway.<BR/><BR/>I have a big, big, thing for books. I read a <I>lot</I> and it's always been a problem. However (I'm a bit new-Catholic about this) since I joined www.bookcrossing.com I've found it a lot easier to get rid of books as soon as I've read them: I have a different attitude about them, and I've probably got rid of about 200 books this year as well as sorting through all the ones left at my parents' house. I still pick up a lot of cheap second hand books, but any that don't make me want to do a little dance go on to a new home. Some of them vanish for a while, but it's a lovely feeling when they turn up having been "picked up in a church in Oregon" or "taken to Finland" (I'm in Switerland). :) <BR/><BR/>In someways, though, it's like having a massive library at your disposal - I know if I'm really craving something a bit unusual I can just ask for it and someone will send it to me - so I think I'm probably reading more. People giving you books is a bit of an occupational hazard - like my boss just gave me a box of about 15 books "for that bookclub thing".<BR/><BR/>If you'd like to see it in action, my bookshelf is here: www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/causticangel <BR/><BR/>Elizabeth/causicangel on LJAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129690240053480422005-10-18T19:50:00.000-07:002005-10-18T19:50:00.000-07:00I feel for you! I come from a family of pack-rats...I feel for you! I come from a family of pack-rats and book worms, our house has more book space than people space!<BR/><BR/>Good luck! You have our sympathies. Do write about it, I can just imagine how I’ll have to go through this once my family migrates to Canada (in about three year’s time). <BR/><BR/>I promise to gain strength and inspiration from your experience no matter what the results are!<BR/>Be strong!Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07343656251368408420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129686662545156632005-10-18T18:51:00.000-07:002005-10-18T18:51:00.000-07:00Thanks, Deborah! I'm heading over to check it out ...Thanks, Deborah! I'm heading over to check it out right now.<BR/><BR/>Now there's an ad for <I>odor masks</I>. Lordy.Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129681540723785592005-10-18T17:25:00.000-07:002005-10-18T17:25:00.000-07:00I like the one entitled "Freezer smell." Heh.Btw, ...I like the one entitled "Freezer smell." Heh.<BR/><BR/>Btw, I bumped that thread on Chicklit for you, Doppelganger. -- DeborahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129667980702301322005-10-18T13:39:00.000-07:002005-10-18T13:39:00.000-07:00Okay, I'm honestly not trying to pimp these Google...Okay, I'm honestly not trying to pimp these Google ads, but how much do I love that the ad for this entry goes to a site that sells "stylish air purifiers" and mold tests. Ha!Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129667749087556212005-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:002005-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:00Whew. I'm so close. I think my zeal has frightened...Whew. I'm so close. I think my zeal has frightened poor Rusty. I'll have a full report tomorrow. In the meantime thanks for the tips and the moral support. That and regular trips to the coffee shop around the corner for high-voltage mochas are the only things getting me through this. <BR/><BR/>Seriously, if I hadn't talked all big on my site about how I was finally gonna do this, I would have skulked to a corner in defeat... if my corners weren't all full of books.<BR/><BR/>This literary packrat behaviour -- it's a SICKNESS, I tells ya.Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129658821501358882005-10-18T11:07:00.000-07:002005-10-18T11:07:00.000-07:00You weren't joking! I have thousands but I am a bi...You weren't joking! I have thousands but I am a bit "anal" for want of a better word as to how they're stored. I have bookcases in nearly every room and books must be upright and tightly packed. Otherwise they are arranged by size only on a shelf.<BR/>All my shelf space is always occupied so when I buy something new I give something old to charity so my books remain upright and contained.Low Flying Angelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17092284437675919695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129627220731811032005-10-18T02:20:00.000-07:002005-10-18T02:20:00.000-07:00Oh, man. I remember going through this when I mov...Oh, man. I remember going through this when I moved to Scotland, including this bit:<BR/><BR/><I>Deep down, I worry that, by getting rid of these books, I'll be forgetting something important about myself. I worry that my tabula will become too rasa. And so long as I'm baring my soul here, I'll also confess that I worry that people meeting me and seeing my house for the first time won't realize that I'm ever so smart. (I must be! Look at all those books! Right?)</I><BR/><BR/>You could do what I did:<BR/><BR/>The college I attended does a trip to India every year, and they donate books to the schools there that need them for teaching English. Students that are going to India put three or four books in their luggage, because it means no shipping costs. I donated every one of my books to that cause. The ones that aren't appropriate (I had a few too many erotic novels to unload) were donated to the senior center for their used book sale.<BR/><BR/>(Of course, there's a funny end to this story: I don't actually live in the city that I attended college in, but a friend of mine does. She came up to visit, and I gave her all the many many many stacks of books, because she is nice that way. She wanted to repack them out of my dingy boxes, and went through all the boxes carefully. Apparently half of my books are now on her bookshelf. Yay!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129590533886470772005-10-17T16:08:00.000-07:002005-10-17T16:08:00.000-07:00I felt the same way about my books when I left Can...I felt the same way about my books when I left Canada to move to England four years ago - I saved my very <I>VERY</I> favourites, and gave the rest to charity. (I limited myself to 10 books to bring with me. That was a brutal decision.)<BR/><BR/>Now, I'm still in England and moving into my own flat and my mom? Is sending me all my books! 400 books that I haven't read in four years! Joy!<BR/><BR/>But that doesn't help you, does it? Good luck with the culling. It's always very hard.Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09349066685963927931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129588368562805922005-10-17T15:32:00.000-07:002005-10-17T15:32:00.000-07:00Wait, did you come over and take pictures of my ho...Wait, did you come over and take pictures of my house while I wasn't looking? <BR/><BR/>This is a great post, and reflects almost exactly the way that I feel about my books (although you missed describing my trashy chicklit phase). This is the first house I've ever lived in where when we moved in, I thought, "I'll never be able to fill this whole house with books." Guess what? six years later, and I was totally wrong.landismomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10328094347362872558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129576686459118192005-10-17T12:18:00.000-07:002005-10-17T12:18:00.000-07:00I don't think it bodes well for me, personally, th...I don't think it bodes well for me, personally, that after seeing pictures of your ever-growing book piles, I'm jealous that they're bigger than my ever-growing book piles.<BR/>Good luck with the book purge; hopefully, you'll be stronger than I could ever be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129576349852384182005-10-17T12:12:00.000-07:002005-10-17T12:12:00.000-07:00You may want to check the link to confirm we're st...You may want to check the link to confirm we're still doing this, but I work with a theater company that is accepting donations of used books to sell on Amazon as a fundraiser. (There's talk of us stopping this soon, because our office is starting to look like your house.)<BR/>Take a look at http://www.reverieproductions.org if you do a purge, or email one of us through the site and see if it's still on.<BR/><BR/>You may be amused by a sign I saw at City Lights Books in San Francisco -- a poster someone had made that read, "The buying of more books than one can possibly read is the soul's way of aspiring towards infinity."<BR/><BR/>KimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129576226885141652005-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:002005-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00This is so timely! I have just been thinking that ...This is so timely! I have just been thinking that I need to cull our book collection. My collection isn't as large as yours, but we have limited space in our apartment plus more books sitting in storage, so somthing has to give. Plus, if I'm being honest with myself, I don't treasure all of them (Anne Rice collection, get on out of here).<BR/><BR/>Once the painful sorting process is done and the books are gone, I think I'd feel a lot better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129575898760185372005-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:002005-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:00I hate parting with books, even the evil books tha...I hate parting with books, even the evil books that I was supposed to read for grad school. But I finally decided that the library was a better home for many of them, especially with the move of doom coming up (my boyfriend is a book packrat and a comic book horder). I once read about this releasing of books into the wild program, bookcrossing.com and wanted to try it, but I couldn't give anything away.Tamarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490717536182570475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129574991059390082005-10-17T11:49:00.000-07:002005-10-17T11:49:00.000-07:00I don't know how much those Atlas shelves are, but...I don't know how much those Atlas shelves are, but I'll bet if you sold 1500 books on eBay or half.com you'd make a nice dent in the price tag. I'm just saying. <BR/><BR/>One criterion I use for getting rid of books is, "if this burned up in a fire, would I spend the money to replace it?" Surprisingly often the answer is "no." Also, the library really is our friend. Every library in the English-speaking world probably has a copy of <I>Great Expectations</I> -- what do I need one for, unless I love the book and can't imagine not having it in my immediate vicinity? I used to keep a lot of classics until I realized that I was never going to re-read <I>King Lear</I> and I just liked the way it looked on the shelf. Which is fine, if your shelves aren't suffering from literary gridlock. I keep things that would be hard to replace, rare and out-of-print books, but it's not like you're ever going to be unable to get a copy of <I>Pride and Prejudice</I> if you need one. <BR/><BR/>There's a thread on Chicklit about how to get rid of books, with some good suggestions. Next time I'm there I'll try to remember to bump it for you. -- DeborahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129573675204068892005-10-17T11:27:00.000-07:002005-10-17T11:27:00.000-07:00Goodness, woman! You weren't kidding about having...Goodness, woman! You weren't kidding about having a lot of books. Not that I should be surprised, as my parents' basement look similar. I aspire to have that many books someday. When I do I will also be lusting after such gorgeous shelves. Wall o' books. That's what I want.Veronicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11347668755122258274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129572814603185642005-10-17T11:13:00.000-07:002005-10-17T11:13:00.000-07:00So, a piece of advice for those wanting to get rid...So, a piece of advice for those wanting to get rid of books: never become a teacher--especially a Lit teacher. I moved a year ago. I had a yard sale. I got rid of 5 books. That's it. I convinced myself (and am STILL convinced) that some day in the future I might teach a class in which I will desperately NEED my copy of Oroonoko or the Narrative of Frederick Douglass or my 3 copies of the complete Shakespeare or that Norton Anth. of World Lit that my dog very obviously chewed on. These will SO come in handy one day! Like when I'm asked to teach some obscure, upper-level Lit class; and you'll see me standing there clutching a gnawed up Norton and 3 copies of Will. Whoo-rah!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129572114223876652005-10-17T11:01:00.000-07:002005-10-17T11:01:00.000-07:00You can set yourself up as a bookseller on Abebook...You can set yourself up as a bookseller on Abebooks.com, though you would have to factor in shipping charges. Also, Amazon marketplace is another site for people to sell there used books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129571980179363222005-10-17T10:59:00.000-07:002005-10-17T10:59:00.000-07:00First of all, I wish you much luck with the de-boo...First of all, I wish you much luck with the de-booking. . .it's a tough but necessary move. My suggestions for getting rid of your excess? Give away to friends/family to start, then the local library. With the current administration, they are usually hard up for books (even if they wind up selling them to raise money to buy more/other books). Next, shelters, daycare and other non-profits.<BR/><BR/>Finally, if you're willing to invest the time and effort, I've had great luck selling on amazon.com. Given the amount you're "releasing back into the wild", tho', you may want to limit the amazon venture to those select few that you think would sell.<BR/><BR/>Persevere! (you can always buy more!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129569041359840632005-10-17T10:10:00.001-07:002005-10-17T10:10:00.001-07:00One of my fantasies is to have a library... you kn...One of my fantasies is to have a library... you know, like in old colonial houses, a whole hall filled with bokstacks only, and they're set so high you have to use that moving ladder...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1129569001413733872005-10-17T10:10:00.000-07:002005-10-17T10:10:00.000-07:00Yeah, Half-Price Books never really netted me much...Yeah, Half-Price Books never really netted me much. <BR/><BR/>Ask Lisa Rage Diaries, I think she got rid of a bunch of books about a year ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com