Home book collection

[everywhere and nowhere]

As in the poll title: how many books do you have?

 

In Poland readership is horrifyingly low, less than 10% of people read even 10 books a year. I, on the other hand, am an absolute literature junkie and proud of it. I never even say "I like books" because I'm too serious about it and such a phrase falls woefully short of my feelings - instead, I say that "Literature is my passion".

I have never counted them, but I estimate that I probably have about 3000 books at home, which is a very large collection for today's standards. Still, given how expensive have books become, I rarely buy them anymore. I have lots of books, some of them still unread, and still I also borrow tens of books each year from libraries...

My books are mostly in Polish, but I also have books in English, German, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, French, Norwegian, Czech and Latin. I read both printed books and e-books, however, I never listen to audiobooks. For me it's a waste of time - the most adult people, even those who have never learned any "speed reading techniques" (and, to be honest, I seriously doubt if it's really possible to read a page in a few seconds and assimilate all content), read silently substantially faster than the speed at which a text is read aloud...

[Captain_Tass]

This thread is very fitting, as I'm currently sitting at a tavern with an 800+ page book on my legs.

 

@Nowhere Girl have you ever heard of biblio.com? It's an online marketplace for used books, and they are very cheap. They're mostly english, but you can certainly find books written in other languages. You mostly pay for shipping, which is about 4€ if you can find a book that ships from the UK. I've never tried it myself, but I'm certainly going to! (As an added bonus, none of the money you spend there goes to Jeff Bezos)

 

Other than that, there's goodreads.com where you can keep track of which books you've read and which you want to read. You can also review and discuss books there. It's helped me a ton!

 

I don't like audiobooks either, mostly because I find it impossible to focus on audio alone. For example, whenever I'm watching a show, I have to have some sort of subtitles. Even if I speak the language fluently, subtitles help. Especially if they're in the same language as the audio.

[Redot]

I don't have a large collection because I choose books very carefully.

 

9 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

For me it's a waste of time - the most adult people, even those who have never learned any "speed reading techniques" (and, to be honest, I seriously doubt if it's really possible to read a page in a few seconds and assimilate all content), read silently substantially faster than the speed at which a text is read aloud...

I think assimilating all content is impossible unless you have an eidetic memory, but I often scan pages very quickly to pick out important sentences when I want to know the content of the book roughly. It's useful at a bookstore.

[NickyTannock]

I don't have a lot of books, because I mostly do my reading online, but I do like reading.

[CajunAce]

I have no clue how many books I own ( and how many of those are 'borrowed' from someone else). I also own books I haven't even read yet. 

[everywhere and nowhere]

53 minutes ago, Life Of Tass said:

I don't like audiobooks either, mostly because I find it impossible to focus on audio alone. For example, whenever I'm watching a show, I have to have some sort of subtitles. Even if I speak the language fluently, subtitles help. Especially if they're in the same language as the audio. 

I too can't focus on the audio alone, or rather - find listening without doing anything else extremely boring. If I'm listening to a discussion on political topics online, I always solve logic puzzles at the same time.

[daveb]

I love to read and have around 1000 books or so. At one time I was cataloging them and had around 1200 at last count, but then I donated around 200. My biggest problem with audiobooks is that my mind tends to wander when I try to listen to them and I lose track of the story. I think I need something that occupies my hands but doesn't require much thought, like household chores or come craft/hobby work. I don't drive enough or commute to make those good options for audiobook listening.

[Infinita_Nox]

I read novels, graphic novels and comics. I don't read as much as I used to, I'm quite selective of my books as well. I have around 70 something without including comics, I have a shelf of Star Wars, another of Fantasy style books (Warcraft, Forgotten Realms, DragonLance, etc), a shelf of miscellaneous titles (like Assassin's Creed and Harry Potter), and a shelf of rulebooks and tabletop RPG related books.

 

Edit: I listen to heavy metal while reading, it helps to block out other sounds and I can hear it as ambiance rather than listening to the lyrics. I read quickly and prefer not to skim.

[banana monkey]

5 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

As in the poll title: how many books do you have?

 

however, I never listen to audiobooks. For me it's a waste of time - the most adult people, even those who have never learned any "speed reading techniques" (and, to be honest, I seriously doubt if it's really possible to read a page in a few seconds and assimilate all content), read silently substantially faster than the speed at which a text is read aloud...

I understand your (and other posters) feelings about audiobooks if it doesnt suit them. However, I would like to point out that different types suit different people. I never read e-books. I have a SpLD which has the effect that I read much slower on screen and am more likely to get lost and get a headache from the concentration so I much prefer a printed version. I support people with learning disabilities many of whom cant read (or can only read basic simple language) but enjoy audiobooks because they would find reading print too hard or frustrating and  too long to do. Similarly, my mother used to love reading but is now physically disabled and pretty much paralysed apart from the head. Occasionally, we use audiobooks instead given that she cant physically read a book. All she needs is someone to put it on for her. 

[Anthracite_Impreza]

5 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

less than 10% of people read even 10 books a year

Just to break up the monotony, I fall into the '90%' category. I haven't read an actual book for years, only fanfic, and the only books I have at home are non-fiction (some of which were bought for me years ago and I have never read). I like reading, but nowhere near as much as I like watching or doing, and I actually write more than I read.

[Guest]

I really like reading. I've approximately 60 books from the old Expanded Universe of Star Wars, 10 classic literature books, 5 books about philosophy, tons of science books and a few satiric and funny books. So, all in all I have slightly more than 100 books.

[iff]

I guess I have about 500 books.

 

When I get my own place, for the sitting room, I hope to get some really nice shelving units. 

[Tunhope]

Most of my paperbacks and hardbacks are non-fiction. A lot are text books - geology mainly. A few audiobooks but mainly when I know that it's important to hear an accent in the words. For fiction, I prefer ebooks. Easy to hold  , backlit, and I can enlarge the font size.

[fuzzipueo]

All told, I probably have close to 2000 books, hard copy, electronic, and audio, because I love the art of storytelling. The vast majority are SF/F, mystery, some pulps, and nonfiction, like science fiction histories, etc. 

 

I love audiobooks. If you get the right narrator(s), they can bring characters to life in a way they don't when I'm just reading on my own. I listen to them in the car, while doing housework or yard work, even just sitting up in bed if the story is gripping enough. Sometimes, I will listen to books I otherwise wouldn't read (stuff that's supposedly intellectually stimulating but tends to make my eyes glaze over). I also love full cast audios, which are like radio plays. Great fun.

[kiaroskuro]

8 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

I never even say "I like books" because I'm too serious about it and such a phrase falls woefully short of my feelings - instead, I say that "Literature is my passion".

Same here. I don't even like calling reading and writing 'hobbies' because they are so much more than that. There's this quote: 'Asking me if I like reading is like asking me if I like breathing.'

I possess lots and lots of books, but I still don't have them here at my new place. And I'm pretty bad at estimating numbers ...

[everywhere and nowhere]

1 hour ago, fuzzipueo said:

I listen to them in the car

Well, I'm proud to be a non-motorist. Because, first, I believe that cars are harmful and that their use in the cities should be reduced as far as possible, and second: that people who completely lack any talent for driving should feel safe that by not driving, they are making a responsible decision and not being "losers".

Not having a talent for driving should be perceived as an entirely neutral trait. Nobody is talented in all possible areas. I am intelligent, I have knowledge in many different areas, but I can't drive and typically can't repeat melodies despite remembering them. Not being able to drive and having no pitch may be a pity, but obviously neither of these traits makes anyone a person deserving less respect.

[fuzzipueo]

19 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Well, I'm proud to be a non-motorist. Because, first, I believe that cars are harmful and that their use in the cities should be reduced as far as possible, and second: that people who completely lack any talent for driving should feel safe that by not driving, they are making a responsible decision and not being "losers".

Not having a talent for driving should be perceived as an entirely neutral trait. Nobody is talented in all possible areas. I am intelligent, I have knowledge in many different areas, but I can't drive and typically can't repeat melodies despite remembering them. Not being able to drive and having no pitch may be a pity, but obviously neither of these traits makes anyone a person deserving less respect.

I l ive in a place that has NO public transportation to speak of, so driving isn't just an option, it's a neccessity. Also, you are being quite rude. You asked a question, I answered, not expecting to be attacked for what I do in my life. Further, I do not see what your response has to do with my response in the first place, since it goes completely off the topic you started.

[everywhere and nowhere]

I'm really sorry. I didn't intend to be rude. I'm just showing that I couldn't listen to anything in a car because I don't use one. And I'm so strongly against forcing people to drive that this topic always makes me a little agitated.

And I deeply support public transportation. I hope that, over time, everywhere will the authorities recognise what is already recognised in Western Europe: that universal motorisation is a dead end and instead public transportation must be provided. Just as most people will agree that access to housing, medical service and so on are something the authorities must provide, so too is public transportation.

[Anthracite_Impreza]

10 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

And I'm so strongly against forcing people to drive that this topic always makes me a little agitated

Literally no one's forcing anyone to drive. I'd rather idiots not be driving, less chance of vehicles getting hurt and mistreated. Also, I'm a massive car lover and obviously militantly pro-car, but guess what? My best mate can't drive cos of anxiety. Do I think any less of her? Absolutely not. She's my bestie and I love her to bits. I think you're tarring us all with some brush that you've kinda made up.

[Ldlelee]

I love reading a lot--always have, always will--but I'm trying to be more selective about what I buy and not pick up every book in sight. This way, I treasure my library more because it's full of books that I love. That's why I usually buy books that I've already read, ones I really want to read, or ones I have a hard time finding.

[Jinkx]

About four years ago I began cataloguing all the books in my house, and with everyone in my family being readers, we have well over 1600 books. I'm guessing there's at least a hundred more in my brother's room, since he never let me catalogue his stuff. I got worse with updating the catalogue last year, so we've definitely accumulated a bit more than what's on it currently. 

 

In my personal library I have over 600 books, but I've read less than 100 I'd say. Which is unfortunate. Haven't read much in the past few years, but at some point I'd like to start up again. 

[everywhere and nowhere]

Just by the way, I live alone, so my ~3000 are my personal property, When my mom moved out, we divided our books. Mom and her husband read too, and generally don't use libraries (I simply couldn't afford all the books I'd like to have), but I probably have more books than they have. They could be more selective, like @Lee ❀ (btw, how are signs other than letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation included in usernames - and how, technically speaking, are they typed?????), and I'm a literature junkie.

[Ldlelee]

4 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Just by the way, I live alone, so my ~3000 are my personal property, When my mom moved out, we divided our books. Mom and her husband read too, and generally don't use libraries (I simply couldn't afford all the books I'd like to have), but I probably have more books than they have. They could be more selective, like @Lee ❀ (btw, how are signs other than letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation included in usernames - and how, technically speaking, are they typed?????), and I'm a literature junkie.

I just copied-and-pasted the flower, if that's what you mean. It's really cute and everything until you accidentally get signed out and have to look it up again. -___-

 

Also, to all with over a thousand books: teach me your ways. 😭

[Jinkx]

1 hour ago, Lee ❀ said:

I just copied-and-pasted the flower, if that's what you mean. It's really cute and everything until you accidentally get signed out and have to look it up again. -___-

 

Also, to all with over a thousand books: teach me your ways. 😭

I used to have three used bookstores in my area. One was a dollar bookstore and one often had a buy 2 get the third free deal. I'd often go into those and come out with ten to twenty books. 😂 Unfortunately both of those have closed and I'm sad. And I get an employee discount at Barnes and Noble, so.

[Skycaptain]

I have several hundred books, some of them I collect as a hobby, some I've inherited, and others I just by to read. My yearly book reading is fairly low, because of car magazines and AVEN 

[everywhere and nowhere]

7 hours ago, Lee ❀ said:

Also, to all with over a thousand books: teach me your ways. 😭

A large portion of my home library was inherited, and it includes more than just books bought by my parents which, by my mom's and my decision, later stayed at my home. I also have a few books which are about 150 years old.

When I was still a child and didn't have to pay for everything - food, telephone etc. - myself, I would buy more books. It was also a time when books in Poland were much cheaper than today. The prices skyrocketed around 2000 and since then they are rather stable, but still unacceptable for me and just not for the average Polish income. Well, maybe the difference isn't as huge as the word "skyrocket" implies, but still in the 1990s, the typical price for a not very thick book was the equivalent of about 3$ and now it's rather about three times this amount.

Also, when I was about 15-21 years old, I would go every year to the National Book Fair and International Book Fair in Warsaw. I would look at the program to see which writers are signing books, I would take books so that I could catch a personal dedication... But I also bought books at the fair and my mom was even willing to give me some extra money specially for the fair. By the way, I never received typical "pocket money" - no weekly sums, I only received larger sums of money for birthday and Christmas, plus at the end of semester and school year (which is around the same time as my birthday, by the way) - some money for each "5" ("very good") or "6" ("excellent") on my school report.

[Kelly]

On 4/27/2019 at 9:16 AM, Nowhere Girl said:

In Poland readership is horrifyingly low, less than 10% of people read even 10 books a year. I, on the other hand, am an absolute literature junkie and proud of it. I never even say "I like books" because I'm too serious about it and such a phrase falls woefully short of my feelings - instead, I say that "Literature is my passion".

I have never counted them, but I estimate that I probably have about 3000 books at home, which is a very large collection for today's standards.

Wow. That is awesome. I have not counted the number of books that I have, but it is certainly in the thousands--my main library is housed in a 1000+ square foot room, with books piled up in all other rooms.

 

According to this, some Europeans read even less than those in Poland:

 

 

You mention the book fair of your youth. Cool. It has been many decades since I was young, but when I was a young teen, I would skip school so that I could go to the library and read.

 

[Calligraphette_Coe]

It really broke my heart last year when my landlord refused to fix the heat while accusing me of hoarding. I had to get build some new bookshleves that extended from floor to ceiling so that all the books would be perfectly diplayed to their ideal of neatness. I probably got rid of  20% of my collection of books and media before they would act. I finally had to go see the authorities who advised me to try to work it out with them. Even after I got rid of a lot of stuff, they still didn't do the work until they were read the riot act by said authorities. 

 

Thanks to technology, one can now store all those words in a fraction of the space and access it faster. 

 

But I would still feel somehow less confortable without at least some books sharing my space. There's just something about a book that doesn't translate well into bytes on optical or magnetic media.

 

A question that I would ask: how many notebooks do you have? I look upon them fondly, too.

[everywhere and nowhere]

17 minutes ago, Calligraphette_Coe said:

A question that I would ask: how many notebooks do you have? I look upon them fondly, too.

It depends on what kind of notebooks. I have thrown school notebooks away, but I keep all my diaries I have been writing since the age of 9.

[daveb]

Notebooks, sketchbooks, and blank books; I tend to collect those, too.

 

Having several bookcases full of books makes me feel more at home. When I moved I felt I was home once I finally got bookcases set up and was able to unpack my books. When I go to other peoples' houses I look at their bookcases. I love pictures of libraries. I love hanging out in bookstores (especially quirky independent ones with cats). I find comfort in a room full of bookcases jammed with books.