"I Cannot Live WIthout Books..."

After having to move too many times, I am now able to part with books after reading. Most of them, anyway. When my father died and Mom had to move into an apartment, we donated several hundred books to our local library. I have one daughter who still reads and one who hasn't read since she got out of school!

I agree with the avaliability of books at your local library. We visit the library at least once a week these days. It is one of the highlights of my 8 year old's week.

My friend and I decided to start Bookbuyers Annoymous, since we buy so many books (and almost never tell the other not to buy one). However, it's not so anonymous since we're friends.

My parents always encouraged my reading, even if they didn't always read that much on their own. and look at me know -- 200 books in 14 months for my exams, and I'm still going strong afterwards!

When we had to clean out my home office to make a nursery, we donated three bookcases (six shelves each) full of books to our local library. We hated to get rid of them but we really needed the space.

We are all bookworms nonetheless. At least once a week we go to our wonderful local library.

My sons have quite a collection of their own books on a bookshelf my deceased father-in-law made for them.

We all read every single day and not because we are supposed to - it's because we all want to.

Sometimes I have to insist my 8 year old son go outside when he's been inside all day reading. What does he usually take with him? A book!

Yes, we like books!

Sue - Sounds similiar to our household.

Heather - YOU ARE MY HERO!! 200 books, yikes!!!!

I read and release... I used to save them but they just collected dust and were heavy to move. I would keep special books that have more meaning to me than just a good read but that is all for now.

Yes, I have acculumated a lot of historical books through my studies and even personal choices. One day I may make it into a PH D program. Who knows. My husband was also a history major in college as well. So, as you can see we have accumulated a big chunk of history books in our library.

PAM .. read and release? I like that term! I'm trying to train my husband to do that and buy only the books he likes the best but I think he doesn't like the 'pressure' of having to finish a book before it's due.

I showed this article to my husband and asked was it possible that he was a left handed descendant of Jefferson. He said no. Neither am I. Apparantly it is learned behavior and not genetic.

LOL Barbara! Yes it must be a learned behavior or at least an acquired one. My parents aren't the book collectors that I am - at least not to the same extent.

"Read and release" is a noble practice, but I must confess an emotional attachment to most of the books I read and own. When I want to lend a particularly wonderful book, I now just buy a new copy and offer that one. I can't bear to part with the ones I really love!

My wife told me about this strange institution some of you have mentioned. However, it seems a bit odd to me. Let me see if I get this straight. You go to this place, find a book you like, take it home, read it, then give it back. If you don't, they fine you. If you write in the book, they fine you. How does one carry on a conversation with the author?

Why on earth would you want to visit such a vile place?

I understand the need for libraries, especially academic ones. Publishers foolishly let good books go out of print, and we readers have to share them fairly. But when a perfectly good hard-bound copy of some title is available for purchase--to own! to have! to decorate your home and office! to sit by your side as you live and read and write and think!--what could compel a person to pass it up for one you have to give back?

I also cannot part with my books. I moved to Hong Kong 2.5 years ago, sold most of my belongings except for my books which I moved, complete with bookshelf, to my parents house. My dad has been reading his way through them. I am now due to move back home in a few weeks and will be bringing all the books I've accumulated back home with me, and selling all my other belongings. I don't just read my books, I have a relationship with them. I learn from them, I experience emotion as a result of them, I dream about them, I discuss them with friends, I lend them out ... how could I let them go?

Sounds like you belong to the Jefferson Club, Cally.

My parents read in front of me.. drove me nuts.. and then I leanred how to open that golden door.

L.

Luckily my oldest loves to read as well - and he is just beginning his journey. But I attribute it to the fact that my husband and I love books (collecting them and reading them) and because from the time he was born until he was three we were still in college always in the books.

I LOVE my books! Before my computer crashed about a year ago I had catalogued them (I even found one printed in 1713 that I had picked up in my Grandparents attic). There is something about being in a bookstore that makes me giddy!

I'm with you. I had catalogued many of our books when my husbands computer crashed a couple years ago and I have yet to start over. It is a huge job!

Like Jefferson, I also love books. Unlike him, however, I do not have the space to keep them. So far, I've given away about 2000 books to libraries, schools, or charities and hope that this has helped impart wisdom as well as knowledge.

The quest for truth and knowledge promotes peace and understanding and settles many an argument. Knowledge is indeed power.

I do. I have around 4000 books. I love each one those.

I have never counted my books. And many rooms in the house are make-shift "libraries" because I don't really have a specific room dedicated as such (only the rich do, as a rule, no?). But I have book shelves. Plenty of groaning bookshelves. And they always call out as I pass. And I sometimes stop and browse. They are needy, but I am even more so.

Jefferson and Adams. What a pair. Enemies who respected each other and died within hours of each other. In fact, Jefferson's name was one of Adam's last words on earth ("Jefferson lives," he said). In fact, John had outlived TJ by a couple of hours. Obviously there was no CNN for breaking news back then....

Very true, KR (About TJ & JA). As for the libraries, I try to keep all my books in one place now. In my last house, we had a retreat off the master bedroom where we had 7 book shelves. We aligned them in rows, back to back. And in this new house we've tried to recreate that. But eventually, we want to get into a bigger home and a library/office will be a requirement.

I am just starting the very very painful process of *GASP* whittling down my book collection. I have various stacks of books including "What possessed me to aquire these" (a very small stack, indeed), "I've so outgrown these," "Realistically, will I ever re-read this?," "I could probably part with this and have forgotton in a month," "I'd better hang on to these, just in case" and "Absolutely positively nobody is ever parting me from these even if they try prying them out of my cold dead fingers." I love the feel of my books, the cover art of my editions, the weight in my hands, and the smell of my bookshelves on their pages. I love the worlds they have shown me and the people they have introduced to me and the knowlege and trivia with with they have enriched my mind. Eventually practicality will win out and I will have to give some away, since the only other option will be stashing them in boxes, and that just seems like a waste to me. Why move faceless mounds of cardboard around the house when someone else could be enjoying the worlds trapped inside the box. I hadn't actually thought about donating to libraries until I read this message board, though. I didn't know libraries accepted donations. Thanks for the tip! At least then I'll know my beauties are going to a good home where they will be loved! :)

Oh, BTW, I found a great tool for cataloging our books (and DVDs and CDs) called Delicious Library. You can probably do a Google search for it. We downloaded it and bought it for something like $30 for the Mac. The great thing we love about it is that you can hook up your video camera to it and use that like a UPC scanner, then it goes online to pull up the book or DVD or whatever info. It makes loading your library into it really fast! Well...a lot faster than it would've taken typing anyway. Just FYI (and no, I'm in no way affiliated with them...I just like the product).

Read and Release is the tag line of BookCrossing.com. Quite a number of Gather members are part of that website as well. The site is free to join, you register your books (they each get their own number) and then you release the book "into the wild", turning the world into a library. There are close to half a million members around the world, and over 3 million books running around.

I encourage you to check it out.