Part of the big bookcase in my study. If you look closely you can see the black covers of three other large "In Death" paperbacks in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture. No room for the new one there, though. Oh, and there is a shelf above this lot I just couldn't fit into the picture.I've reached the stage now that I have no more room to store new books. Every bookcase in the place is absolutely packed with them and I try to hide the fact that there are now piles of the things surreptitiously hidden wherever I can find space. And still I buy them. A trip on my own to St Thomas' Hospital in London last Thursday gave me the afternoon free, and thus an opportunity to visit some of my favourite bookshops in Charing Cross Road. I bought only three books, all paperbacks but two of those are the big sized ones. One of them was "Memory in Death" by J D Robb which was published in the UK on 2nd February but it took me a week of searching bookshops until I found a copy in Murder One. I don't particularly like visiting Murder One since it moved premises as it is now in such cramped accommodation that one feels almost claustrophobic in there. But I knew it was virtually the only place I would be able to find it. And I did. And it was one of the best in the "In Death" series. Now I have the problem of where to put the book until the next time I read it.
Yes, I do reread the books I buy, some of them again and again. The fiction ones tend to range from whodunnits, some thrillers, vampires, some straight romances, some sci-fi and fantasy, Terry Pratchett (a class of their own) Phillippa Gregory's historicals and straight "women's books" and I chose what next to read according to how I feel at the time. Then there are the non-fiction ones which include gardening books, crafts (sadly neglected at the moment) some travel and, of course, cookery books. These have a bookcase of their own and I have still run out of room for them. I now have been forced to have a run of cookery books next to the bookcase that they would be in if there was any room. My argument with these is, of course, that I do use them "and here is a recipe from the book for your lunch". (Let him get out of that argument easily!)
I am stuck. I just cannot get rid of most of my books (I still regret parting with "I Capture the Castle" and must replace it as I want to read it again). And so many good new ones are still being published, especially by some of my favourite authors (Terry Pratchett, J D Robb, Mary Janice Davidson, Catherine Aird, Lillian Jackson Braun,.... the list just goes on and on....) and I just cannot not have them. So the walls of the house are beginning to groan and the numbers of books increase.
Perhaps there should be an organisation like AA called BookBuyers Anonymous. I'd certainly join.
8 comments:
Val--I'm a huge believer in using the public library, so that I save the purchase price of books and have no need to figure out where to store the books, themselves!
If there were an AA for bookaholics, I should sign up my Hunky Husband, Bogie, Dudette, and Wichi Dude. Early in life, I got in the habit of getting rid of old books--when I needed the money garnered from selling my high school or college text books of one year to pay for the books for the next year. The books that I do have on hand are pretty well scattered throughout the house--1) cook books in the breakfast room book cabinets, 2) encyclopaedia (my grandmother's 10-volume set from 1923), foreign language dictionaries, poetry books, and the complete works of William Shakespeare are in book cases next to my recliner in my den, 3) gardening and craft books are in my den closet and/or in carry-about file boxes in my den and sewing room, 4) bird, nature, and other reference books are in a bookcase in HH's living room, 5) airplane books are in book cases in the "pool room" (where the pool table would have been had we moved it with us!), 6) music books are in my front room, 7) clay and glass books are in the kiln room, 8) engineering books are in book cases in my sewing room, and 9) HH's books are in his walk-in book closet and several book cases in his den.
Oh! And the old, family school books (books used by my parents/grandparents/ other relatives when they were in elementary or high school are in shelves in my sewing room. I can't bear to part with them.
Cop Car
BTW: I should have asked if you have the space to add a room to your home. Your books are probably breeding and will soon start to bubble over into whatever space they can find. *Cop Car--laughing*
Grin. Perhaps I should consider adding a room for my books. Certainly the plan is that when the work to the house is done that the room that is currently the study will become a bathroom and what is currently a spare bedroom will become the new study, a much bigger room.
I can't even think of not having lots of books around. The problem with public libraries is that you have to decide what to read depending on what is available in the library at that particular time. That's also true with the books I have here at home, of course, but on the other hand I know that if I want to read a particular book I know that I have it as well as just where to put my hand on it.
Sometimes I look at pictures of houses in design magazines and think that the designers have produced a dwelling with no room for any books. Attractive but shallow - how can you possibly live in a house with no books?
It wouldn't be possible for most of us to live in a house with no books! It's just that most of the books that I, personally, own are for reference. Pleasure reading comes from the library (and, I've purchased some books after using the library copies--quilting, for instance.) I request books through the inter-library loan system if it isn't available, locally.
Your plan for you home, sounds great! You are sure to enjoy it. According to the builder, our home has twice the "normal" amount of storage cabinetry built into it--for a house of this one's size. Of course, he was willing to build whatever we told him, as long as we were willing to pay him the money!
Cop Car
I can remember te last time we went househunting seeing houses with no books anywhere. So there must be some people who have no interest in reading. I can't imagine that at all. Fortunately the last lot of househunting was some time ago. I hope I never have to go through that again - no wonder it's said to be one of the most stressful activities ever.
Hmmm...interesting. I hadn't heard about the stress of househunting; although, I've well experienced it. Come to think of it, my good friend and exercise partner probably has fewer than 10 books in her home--and they are probably for "show". I know that she does a goodly amount of reading, and she keeps up on what's happening in our little burgh better than I do; but, reading books isn't her thing in life. Her late husband wasn't a reader, either--except of newspapers.
Other than my mother, everyone in my family was/is a heavy reader. (Just ask Bogie and Dudette how much reading they do!)
Cop Car
Cop Car
Well, over here thestress of moving house is well recognised as being near the top of the list of things that cause stress. Personally I find househunting all part of that same thing.
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