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darklyscarlett.
How many of your books do you part with after reading (other than books that were dreadful)?
Almost none. I’m a hoarder, and see below about my formative habits on rereading. I once sold a bunch of books to a used bookstore when my parents were moving out of my childhood home, and even through the books I parted with were all rather bad, I’ve never quite gotten over it. I’m pretty picky these days about what I buy, though. If I do buy a (rare) trash novel of some kind, and it does turn out to be truly dreadful, I might get rid of that. I will give away multiple copies, but I don’t end up with too many of those. I'm always happy to lend books though, but too often I end up regretting it.
What makes you keep or discard a book?
See above. I can't remember where, but didn't someone once compare the shelving of books once read to the mounting of animal head trophies? I don't see that myself. Each read book becomes a little part of myself, even if it's less than a masterpiece, and I’d at least like to have the chance no revisit it if the fancy strikes.
Do you ever purge your shelves? Does that only happen when you move to another country?
See above. Even if I move across the world, I’d either find a way to take my books with me, or store them.
Is there anything weird about having a large-ish personal library?
Personally I think it’s more weird not to.
Do you re-read the books you have? Often?
I used to be an unrepentant, multi-time re-reader of any book I liked. It was not uncommon for me to finish a book and flip to the beginning and start again (although this was often a result of my habit of starting a book at a random place in the middle). These days, I’m more linear in my reading and I don’t have time to reread, but, if my time freed up, I’d no doubt return to my old ways--at least the rereading part. I do still occasionally pick up old favorites and reread them, but not as often as I’d like.
Is it freakish and self-indulgent to have entire rooms shelved with tasty, tasty text?
Is it freakish and indulgent to eat? Actually given a choice between food and books . . . .
Do you head straight for the shelves when you visit someone's house for the first time, to find out who they really are? And are you slightly alarmed when you find yourself in a bookless house?
Yes and yes. ;) Although I know a lot of quite nice people who are not big readers, so I try not to get too freaked out by book-less living arrangements.
What's the rough balance of your library in terms of genres or other splits?
The majority is fiction, but it depends on what you mean by library. If you mean what’s in my apartment, I’d guess around 30-40 percent nonfiction, mostly history. I also have my old books stored at my parent’s house, and those are almost entirely fiction.
Any strange clusters?
Not sure what’s meant by strange. I have a space problem, so books are often arranged more by what fits where than any kind of logical scheme. I do have a lot of magna, but it’s mostly packed away. When I was young(er), I read a lot of fantasy, but not much anymore, and most of that is at my parents‘ house. I have a lot of history books. I also have a number of old childhood favorites, purchased in fits of nostalgia.
How many books would you say you are usually reading at any given time?
For pleasure, I try to read only one at a time. I have a problem getting back to books that I put down and a bad memory.
Has the internet significantly cut into your reading of printed text?
Probably. There’s more reading material available to vie for my time, and I‘m a bit of a news addict.
Do you also have yards of music or films?
I have a lot of dvds and quite a lot of cds. The cds are mostly from my school years. Nowadays, when I do buy cds, I tend not to keep them. I pass them on to my sister once I get them on my computer--it’s the space issue. I probably have more tv series collections than films; I have as grandiose illusions of my ability to watch stuff as I do read stuff.
darklyscarlett.How many of your books do you part with after reading (other than books that were dreadful)?
Almost none. I’m a hoarder, and see below about my formative habits on rereading. I once sold a bunch of books to a used bookstore when my parents were moving out of my childhood home, and even through the books I parted with were all rather bad, I’ve never quite gotten over it. I’m pretty picky these days about what I buy, though. If I do buy a (rare) trash novel of some kind, and it does turn out to be truly dreadful, I might get rid of that. I will give away multiple copies, but I don’t end up with too many of those. I'm always happy to lend books though, but too often I end up regretting it.
What makes you keep or discard a book?
See above. I can't remember where, but didn't someone once compare the shelving of books once read to the mounting of animal head trophies? I don't see that myself. Each read book becomes a little part of myself, even if it's less than a masterpiece, and I’d at least like to have the chance no revisit it if the fancy strikes.
Do you ever purge your shelves? Does that only happen when you move to another country?
See above. Even if I move across the world, I’d either find a way to take my books with me, or store them.
Is there anything weird about having a large-ish personal library?
Personally I think it’s more weird not to.
Do you re-read the books you have? Often?
I used to be an unrepentant, multi-time re-reader of any book I liked. It was not uncommon for me to finish a book and flip to the beginning and start again (although this was often a result of my habit of starting a book at a random place in the middle). These days, I’m more linear in my reading and I don’t have time to reread, but, if my time freed up, I’d no doubt return to my old ways--at least the rereading part. I do still occasionally pick up old favorites and reread them, but not as often as I’d like.
Is it freakish and self-indulgent to have entire rooms shelved with tasty, tasty text?
Is it freakish and indulgent to eat? Actually given a choice between food and books . . . .
Do you head straight for the shelves when you visit someone's house for the first time, to find out who they really are? And are you slightly alarmed when you find yourself in a bookless house?
Yes and yes. ;) Although I know a lot of quite nice people who are not big readers, so I try not to get too freaked out by book-less living arrangements.
What's the rough balance of your library in terms of genres or other splits?
The majority is fiction, but it depends on what you mean by library. If you mean what’s in my apartment, I’d guess around 30-40 percent nonfiction, mostly history. I also have my old books stored at my parent’s house, and those are almost entirely fiction.
Any strange clusters?
Not sure what’s meant by strange. I have a space problem, so books are often arranged more by what fits where than any kind of logical scheme. I do have a lot of magna, but it’s mostly packed away. When I was young(er), I read a lot of fantasy, but not much anymore, and most of that is at my parents‘ house. I have a lot of history books. I also have a number of old childhood favorites, purchased in fits of nostalgia.
How many books would you say you are usually reading at any given time?
For pleasure, I try to read only one at a time. I have a problem getting back to books that I put down and a bad memory.
Has the internet significantly cut into your reading of printed text?
Probably. There’s more reading material available to vie for my time, and I‘m a bit of a news addict.
Do you also have yards of music or films?
I have a lot of dvds and quite a lot of cds. The cds are mostly from my school years. Nowadays, when I do buy cds, I tend not to keep them. I pass them on to my sister once I get them on my computer--it’s the space issue. I probably have more tv series collections than films; I have as grandiose illusions of my ability to watch stuff as I do read stuff.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 06:10 pm (UTC)Ah, the perfect answer from a book-fiend, as a friend of mine calls us. I hope you get lots of reading time this holiday season, despite the work!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 11:42 pm (UTC)Shelley
no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 09:57 pm (UTC)