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An article about owning too many books (?!)

I have no qualms about getting rid of my books. I would rather have neat and organized shelves full of titles that I love and plan on reading again instead of chaotic clutter. Luckily this way of thinking is spreading to other facets of my life.

I was going to buy a wallscroll of the anime character Yomiko Readman. It was obvious fan service, but I had a problem with it that had nothing to do with the sexy imagery: there weren't enough books on her bed!
 
Fantasy Moon said:
I have no qualms about getting rid of my books. I would rather have neat and organized shelves full of titles that I love and plan on reading again instead of chaotic clutter. Luckily this way of thinking is spreading to other facets of my life.

I was going to buy a wallscroll of the anime character Yomiko Readman. It was obvious fan service, but I had a problem with it that had nothing to do with the sexy imagery: there weren't enough books on her bed!
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I'm with you on decluttering bookshelves. There comes a point where it is just time. I need the storage space in my yarn room..the books that are in there haven't been disturbed much in the last five years. And that's not even counting the home school books we've got boxed to sell on half.com. I might just take them to a local used bookstore that will buy them. It would be lots quicker. I have more of them to cull too; ran out of boxes and storage room.
 
Bibliomania

"Stephen Blumberg, who was convicted of stealing $5.3 million worth of books

Thomas Phillipps[2] (1792–1872) suffered from severe bibliomania. His collection, which at his death contained over 160,000 books and manuscripts, was still being auctioned off over 100 years after his death.

Rev. W.F. Whitcher[3] was a 19th century Methodist pastor who, after having stolen and rebound rare books, would assert they were rare "finds" from local booksellers."

I think the minister can be forgiven, this is a shoulder shrugger to the big guy upstairs.
 
SFG75 said:
Bibliomania

"Stephen Blumberg, who was convicted of stealing $5.3 million worth of books

Thomas Phillipps[2] (1792–1872) suffered from severe bibliomania. His collection, which at his death contained over 160,000 books and manuscripts, was still being auctioned off over 100 years after his death.

Rev. W.F. Whitcher[3] was a 19th century Methodist pastor who, after having stolen and rebound rare books, would assert they were rare "finds" from local booksellers."

I think the minister can be forgiven, this is a shoulder shrugger to the big guy upstairs.
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Perhaps he thought of it as a Union Rescue Mission for rare books. "Saving rare manuscripts, one book at a time.":whistling:
 
SFG75 said:
Bibliomania

"Stephen Blumberg, who was convicted of stealing $5.3 million worth of books

Thomas Phillipps[2] (1792–1872) suffered from severe bibliomania. His collection, which at his death contained over 160,000 books and manuscripts, was still being auctioned off over 100 years after his death.

Rev. W.F. Whitcher[3] was a 19th century Methodist pastor who, after having stolen and rebound rare books, would assert they were rare "finds" from local booksellers."

I think the minister can be forgiven, this is a shoulder shrugger to the big guy upstairs.
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From your link:

Other abnormal behaviours involving books include book-eating (bibliophagy), compulsive book-stealing (bibliokleptomania), and book-burying (bibliotaphy).
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On my way to learn all I can about book eating.
 
Anyway, the future is clear. When the next generation looks upon Wikipedia for information about bibliophagy, it will say:

The worldwide scourge of bibliophagy was ended at the turn of the last century with the invention of the Kindle.
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All you guys lamenting the rise of the e-reader never thought of this, did you? Now stop your whining.
 
Darn right Hugh. Hating on e-readers is a way to not get your ticket punched during the rapture.
 
The moment I realized I needed to be single was when, about 3 1/2 years ago I woke up and realized my partner had forced me to get rid of almost all of my books. She's gone. Unfortunately so are most of my books as I woke up too late :( They live at the library now. I visit them once in a while and am slowly rebuilding my collection. As of today I'm out of space! shelf shopping time!
 
Prairie_Girl said:
The moment I realized I needed to be single was when, about 3 1/2 years ago I woke up and realized my partner had forced me to get rid of almost all of my books. She's gone. Unfortunately so are most of my books as I woke up too late :( They live at the library now. I visit them once in a while and am slowly rebuilding my collection. As of today I'm out of space! shelf shopping time!
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:sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:
 
Prairie_Girl said:
The moment I realized I needed to be single was when, about 3 1/2 years ago I woke up and realized my partner had forced me to get rid of almost all of my books. She's gone. Unfortunately so are most of my books as I woke up too late :( They live at the library now. I visit them once in a while and am slowly rebuilding my collection. As of today I'm out of space! shelf shopping time!
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That sucks. I have lots of books, and my wife is on my case to trim the stacks a little, but it's so hard. It was hoped a Kindle might help, and though I've no problem with reading books on it really, and love the convenience, it's not the same.

I hope you get to rebuild your collection soon! Or maybe a Kindle/eBook reader is a good idea so space will never again be a restraint of the size of your book collection.
 
Given the title of this thread, I must have a post somewhere up-thread in the jungle. But for the moment, this poem from Jorge Luis Borges seems very nice and worth repeating:

The.Zahir said:
...As I write this column I remember vaguely a poem by Jorge Luis Borges that speaks of the books that will never be re-opened.

There is a line by Verlaine that I’ll never remember again.
There is a mirror that has seen me for the last time.
There is a door closed till the end of time.
Among the books in my library
there is one that I’ll never open again.
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If perchance I do not have a post up-thread, I'll remedy that quickly. :D
 
One good poem deserves another:

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Arnold Lobel
 
Psssssst......group intervention on behalf of abec. Read the script and meet at 7 tonight.

Peder, you are in charge of the coffee.

O.K.

I think we're set.........now for her to walk in unexpectedly.......
 
SFG,
The author of that link is definitely an intelligent person with the most complete and logical advice on the subject that I have ever seen.

He goes first!

And if he can actually follow his own advice, then he is not the sort of person whose advice I would trust. :lol::lol::lol:
 
Peder said:
SFG,
The author of that link is definitely an intelligent person with the most complete and logical advice on the subject that I have ever seen.

He goes first!

And if he can actually follow his own advice, then he is not the sort of person whose advice I would trust. :lol::lol::lol:
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Jeesh! While that's a great article, I'm glad I didn't have to buy it. It's like buying a book on how to save money then finding that you're already doing everything right...but you're still in trouble! What I need is a third party intervention; somebody to drive up with a pickup and some boxes, and who'll be willing to say, "Are you ever REALLY going to need this?" Then that person needs to follow through and haul those newly filled boxes to Goodwill.

SFG75: Is there donuts to go with that coffee?
 
Glazed with sprinkles just for you abec, just for you!.:cool:

Really, is having too many books a problem? Maybe I need to watch hoarders or something, I don't know.
 
Some people talk as if books are only the words on the page.

Others, more broadminded, realize that the book experience includes the reaction to reading: the enjoyment, the escape into another world, the knowledge gained, the valuable iinsights into living life, etc.

Many also, especially in this age of Kindle, extol the look, the tactile feel, the fragrance of paper, the beauty of a book in hand as vital parts of the total book experience.

But few extol further the sheer pleasure of the hunting and shopping experience: ferreting out just the right edition/translation/binding, coming across surprise "finds," finding the last one to complete a series at a library sale for just a dollar, spending the money (what's money?), coming home with a new purchase, even getting a "killer" bargain on amazon, and then having it to look at on the shelf, over and over again, as the title brings back floods of pleasant memories.

That's the next stage of true civilazation, the hunter-collector stage. :)

Plus you can even read them if you wish.
 
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