Personal Libraries

[carter]

Originally posted by MrNewportCustom
. . . And I think we all agree.

"Old books that have ceased to be of service
should no more be abandoned than should old friends
who have ceased to give pleasure." - Sir Peregrine Worsthorne

Lee, Thanks for posting this. It reminded me of something.

When I worked in the Corporate sector, I kept a small library of paperbacks in my office for lending. Whenever someone was travelling and wanted to borrow a book, it was theirs for the asking. I don't know that they were all reurned but it really didn't matter. At least someone was reading them.

 

[zaika]

that website was great!
i love book plates! but i'm such a nerd that the only bookplates i've actually picked up were Star Wars related. [huh] it would be great to get some nostalgic ones.

 

[zaika]

. . . And I think we all agree.

"Old books that have ceased to be of service
should no more be abandoned than should old friends
who have ceased to give pleasure." - Sir Peregrine Worsthorne


Lee

geez...make me feel bad!! lol

 

[Ecuador Jim]

That software has got me drooling...if only I had money and iSight. lol

I have such a hard time getting rid of books. Most of what I have, I haven't read...but they're on my list. The list is just so long and all the borrowed books are at the front and people keep lending me books...it's a mess! hehe

BJB - how dare you post that link! Now I have to restrain myself from buying everything on there! Such beautiful books!

I agree with you Ben...it would be good to buy them as I read them. I was thinking of doing it that way, anyway. Maybe keep an eye out for a copy at thrift stores or whatever and slowly convert it over to hardback.

Jack- that's a fabulous idea! I will do that.

Ask for gift certificates to Powell's Books!

 

[zaika]

Ask for gift certificates to Powell's Books!

haha! i should. i'm so close to one of the powell's...it's very dangerous. a gift cert would do juuuuuust fine.

 

[imoldfashioned]

I love bookplates (great site!) but I know I'd be too lazy to use them. I would love to see what Lady Day could design though.

 

[Diamondback]

a gift cert would do juuuuuust fine.

And she's even easy to buy Christmas presents for! I think I'm in love, or at least have a serious crush...lol

Of course, you'd have to give your admirers some idea where to send those gift-certificates...

Oh, BTW, there's a big difference between passing a book you no longer use on to someone who will use it and "abandonment".

 

[zaika]

And she's even easy to buy Christmas presents for! I think I'm in love, or at least have a serious crush...lol

Of course, you'd have to give your admirers some idea where to send those gift-certificates...

Oh, BTW, there's a big difference between passing a book you no longer use on to someone who will use it and "abandonment".

lol! i'm easily satisfied, i guess. don't give me crap, give me gift certificates to a bookstore. lol.
passing them on...that's a good idea! i've opened my library to friends, but i don't think they care for what i have. oh well. [huh]

I would love to see what Lady Day could design though.

me too! i'm sure she would do something fabulous.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

geez...make me feel bad!! lol

It just means to not forget either.

See my new thread, inspired by this one, Zaika.


Lee

 

[Flivver]

I've been accumulating books since I was a child...they'll push me out of the house yet!

Like several others here, my library is pretty specialized. It consists mostly of books on the history of the auto industry, radio industry and movie industry. I also collect magazines on those subjects.

I don't like to write in books and tend to use business cards as bookmarks.

My dream has always been to have one of those huge libraries you see in movies...multi-level with the upper story in mezzanine style, overlooking the main floor. Alas, that will never happen...but it's nice to dream!

 

[poetman]

I have no idea where this sort of a thread will go, so I picked this one. I'm happy to see it moved to the right place.
Okay...so here's the sitch. I want to revamp my personal library so that every book I own is in hardback. As of now, most of my books are paperback and falling apart and look awful on my shelf. Do you think it would be unreasonable to have this standard and rid myself of perfectly good classic novels just because they are in paperback?
Some of the paperbacks that my mom handed down to me are disinigrating every year and I don't want the same thing to happen to the books I get. I figure that hardbacks will a) keep longer and b) look nicer on my shelf. Oh, and c) prevent me from going nuts at the bookstore and buying a ton of books that I will never read. lol Moderation would be a good rule of thumb for me to hold to when in these fantasy lands called bookstores. lol
I'm curious to hear what your standards are for your own personal libraries.

It's interesting you should bring this up. I did this a whie back. I buy most of my books used: they are less expensive, and it is much easier to find hardcover copies. I read a lot of poetry, particularly collected works, so I pick up poetry in whatever binding is readily availalbe.

For fiction, I purchase everything hardback. I brought some old paperbacks to used bookstores, and slowly purchased hardcovers for the same reasons you site. To me, paperback are a joke; any reader knows, the bindings come apart, the covers tear. It doesn't even make sense. The only paperbacks I purchase are the books that are not really classic for my tastes. Again, I order most of my books online, as they are much cheaper and easier to find in hardcover.

For non-fiction, it depends on what is available, and on how classic the book is for me. I tend to settle on paperbacks if the book is slim--the larger the book the more necessary the hardcover becomes.


Just make sure you never choose a book because of the binding rather than the edition or translator.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

[dhermann1]

Getting rid of books

There are two basic classifications of books to get rid of: stuff that has quickly become obsolete, like all those books on DOS and MS Office 97, Lotus 1-2-3, etc., and real books. I recently had a goodly pile of real books that I wanted to get rid of. I was given the great suggestion of donating them to a hospital. I sent about 5 shopping bags full of good reading books to a local hospital and they were delighted to get them.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Bookmarks: nothing works better for me than the "blow cards" that fall out of the magazines to which I subscribe.

Library Fines: I happily pay them knowing the library will use it (hopefully) to buy more books. Plus if I am a few days late on a book, it is still cheaper for me to pay the fine than to have purchased the book.

Below is a pic of my personal library. I need another bookcase! Also, I have changed the lamp to a vintage one.

 

[Kishtu]

What do you get if....

... you cross a librarian with a bookworm?

Well, it's sort of like this. When I left my ex, I took a bed, three bags of clothes, three cats in a crate.... and twelve boxes of books. (I didn't even have a coat to wear - but heck, I had lots to read!)

I now live with Conan the Librarian.

I don't think there is a single room in our house where books do not take up a good 20% of the space, and that includes the bathroom. Hardback or paperback, don't bother me none.... torn covers, missing covers, I don't care, as long as none of the pages are missing!

 

[MAGNAVERDE]

I really like the looks of Brian Sheridan's library, but unfortunately, I don't have an unbroken wall space big enough to keep all my books--mostly architecture & interior design books--together in one spot. The real problem with art-type books, though, is that their coated paper makes them a lot heavier than other books. Most commercially-available bookcases aren't strong enough to hold them without bowing, and if there are antique versions strong enough for the job, well, I can't afford them.

I solved the problem by using metal shelves--the heavy-duty kind meant to hold engine parts--to whose fronts I attach antique door frames & whose sides I cover with the separated leaves of bifold panel doors that I faux-grain to match the old wood. Here's one such cobbled-together set in my old apartment, with the top of a Renaissance Revival-style dresser on top.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Anyone here use LibraryThing to catalog their books? A while back someone tried to get a group of Loungers going there, but I haven't heard anything more about it lately.

At any rate, here is my LibraryThing link --
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lizziemaine

Post yours if you've got one!

 

[Samsa]

I started to catalog mine, but would have to pay money to catalog all of my books, so stopped.

 

[zaika]

i started... but i realized that i don't have as many books as i thought i did!

http://www.librarything.com/profile/annikaraaen

 

[Twitch]

Since I write to produce articles long ago I created a bibliography as a separate file in Word. Any time I get a new book I add it in its proper alphabetical place. Then I just cut and paste the volumes I reference at the end. I have no facility to show locations like a library and don't need or want to.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I really like the looks of Brian Sheridan's library, but unfortunately, I don't have an unbroken wall space big enough to keep all my books--mostly architecture & interior design books--together in one spot. The real problem with art-type books, though, is that their coated paper makes them a lot heavier than other books.

Thanks for the compliment and I totally agree with the art type books. I have them either stacked on top of the case or in another case in another part of the room.