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Post by dtesposito on Aug 29, 2014 23:09:30 GMT -5
I have to think about where will I put the book before I buy it
Wow, that's such a foreign concept to me. "It's always been--books are the most important thing, I'll just make room for it somehow!"
I don't think I look at anything in that way except furniture, because with that you pretty much have to know where you're going to put it before it comes in!
I have acquired 3 new books this week, but I think I'm going to wait until the end of Saturday to consider it the end of the week. I do have a couple of other trade books coming but don't know when they'll arrive.
I'm not counting the book from my sister because I put it into the donation pile, didn't think it was a keeper.
Since I've worked so much on the sale books this week I have a large stack of books to add to the "trade" category, which means I either have to get rid of other trade books or else put these in donations. I will do all of that on Sunday.
Every time I look at my stack of "read next" books in the hallway I think "read faster!!" So I can get rid of some of the read books to make room for new ones.
I think I'm pretty hopeless.
Diane
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Post by lostchild on Aug 29, 2014 23:32:43 GMT -5
I don't think you're hopeless. You are at least listening and that's the first step.
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Post by lucie on Aug 30, 2014 1:31:20 GMT -5
Diane, you are definitelly not hopeless, you are only trying what works for you. It took me more than seven years working in a library to get to this stage. I acquired many books during the first years and now I have started taking books to the library. And during those years we did many purges there, so I have a lot of practise in book purging. And I also borrow a lot of them to read. And own a reader so I have many books that are not my absolute favourites, but I like them, there.
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Post by dtesposito on Aug 31, 2014 13:32:02 GMT -5
Okay, my totals for this week: I acquired 3 books for myself. I got rid of 3--I had a word puzzle book that I wanted to look at, I have now gone through it and have it in my bag to give to my sister. There was a fiction book I started reading this week, it was set at the time of 9-11 and looked interesting, but I just couldn't get into it after reading 30-40 pages, so I'm giving it away. And, I chose a mystery book that I read recently, I originally planned to keep it even though I read it, but I decided I don't need to keep it--I'll give that one away too.
Because of my increased work with my sale books, I ended up with 14 books I wanted to add to my trading pile, so I chose 14 other books to give away from that pile. I didn't really like doing that. I guess I'll have to get used to it.
I should mention here, that my book goal is never to get rid of all my books, or even to get down to a small number. Books are my number one hobby, and I always want them around me. If someone has a hobby like playing a sport, or doing a craft, etc., an organizer wouldn't come in and say--all this has to leave because it's not required in any home. On the other hand, if someone's hobby is taking up space in every room, and there are so many items for it that the person couldn't use them in many years of participating in the hobby, then it's reasonable to say you have too much. So my goal is to continue having books as a hobby (perhaps more than a hobby--hobby inplies something casual) but to not have them control my whole home.
It really is a shift in attitude to live by the motto that more, when it comes to books, is not always better.
Diane
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Post by papermoon on Aug 31, 2014 17:02:16 GMT -5
I'm like lucie... I have favorites that stay on my bookshelves for repeat reading and reference. Of those I try to upgrade to the best edition I can get, so most of my books are hardcover and a pleasure to look at and hold. All other books are stored at the library. I also store my art collection at the museum. Both the library and the museum do a marvelous job of taking care of everything for me.
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Post by moonglow on Sept 2, 2014 7:14:46 GMT -5
Hi all, I just read this thread for the first time and wow, is it ever timely for me. I have tons of books, mostly in boxes or stacks. I keep telling myself that I need to have bookcases built and then at some point I will look at the available space and start culling. I have dreaded culling books because, well, you know the end to that sentence. But I have come around to the attitude that my life has gone through stages, and some many books I would never have considered releasing a year or two ago, now I can see that they really don't fit who I am or what I need anymore. That said, I'm really not ready at this point to tackle physical books. I am just carrying the idea around in my head and getting friendly with it. Some time ago I realized that unless I want to buy a bigger house, I will have to curtail buying books (one of my great pleasures) or start getting rid of a lot of them. I decided to experiment with a Kindle. GREAT!!! I love it. It is so easy to shop for and download books! It is easy to read in bed lying on my side! I search the daily and monthly deals and often find cheaper books that interest me (1.99 to 5.99 or so). I have even gotten a bit of an overuse injury - sore thumb joints due to sweeping my thumb to turn the page. Did I mention that I am a voracious reader?? The Kindle will never completely replace books for me. I still prefer hardcopy cookbooks, and of course anything with lots of pictures like travel books. Also I tend to read a lot of off the wall things, not common or readily available books (therefore, nix the library idea). Mostly nonfiction. A lot of Buddhist literature, and lots of it not available in Kindle format. But it has certainly cut down my space needs. The downside? OK, so I bought my Kindle on 05/24/2013 and probably received it a couple of days later. Let the fun begin! A little while ago I ran across an abbreviation knitters use: SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). It is hard to face this, but at 59 years old I recognize that I will undoubtedly die without reading all of the books I want to. It is a compound problem, because the more I read, the more I find other books I want to read... According to the manual, the Kindle has 2 GB of internal storage, of which about 1 GB is available for use. One GB is equal to 1000 MB (or 1024 MB depending on how geeky the person you ask is). So if my math is right I have used somewhere between 96.3 and 96.4% of the space available. In not quite a year and a half. Granted, I did invest in some Buddhist literature and reference books that are quite long, many volumes IRL. Still. I have 439 unread books on my Kindle. 89 read (I have also read hardcopy books in the same amount of time). I also have downloaded ~ 776 ~ samples of books - books I want to buy.Is it just me, or is this truly unsustainable??? sigh. Well, so what, I could say. I could always store books on the Cloud. And I have even considered buying a second Kindle. Don't ask why. But that doesn't solve the REAL problem, that I am buying books much faster than I can actually read them. Costly. And why? Of course it is nice to have a selection of books to choose from when I'm ready to pick out something new. But how much is too much? Not having to find a physical space to put the book removed all the barriers (except cost) and I went hog-wild. If I had unlimited money, it wouldn't be a problem. (Or would it?) But I feel the need to seriously look at my financial priorities at this point and put some kind of limit on this acquisition. I have considered doing 2 out, 1 in (have to read 2 books before I can buy a new one). This would be very difficult with all those tempting daily and monthly deals. But it would make me consider very carefully what I want to spend my money and time on. I have bought some "junk" books I wouldn't have otherwise, just because of the cheapness and ease. At some point (undetermined as yet) I could switch to 1 in 1 out (although not really "out", just "read"). But now it feels like what I have is overly excessive. Embarrassing even. No solutions or commitments at this point, just sharing my pain. And sharing that the Kindle - or any digital format for anything - is not necessarily the answer. (I also have over 5000 messages in my Inbox!) It is still stuff, and it still can bog us down.
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Post by lucie on Sept 2, 2014 8:09:25 GMT -5
moonglow, you have only about 550 books on your kindle? I am not able to have less than 600 or 700 there at a time and at least 1000 more stored in my computer just in case I wnat to read them. Sure, some of them I have already read, some of theme more than once, but I still want to have them at hand. 1 in 2 out seems resonable for your case. go for it
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 7, 2014 15:16:30 GMT -5
Moonglow, I can certainly relate to this:
I recognize that I will undoubtedly die without reading all of the books I want to. It is a compound problem, because the more I read, the more I find other books I want to read...
At one point I would look at my books and say, okay, I have too many, but they do all fit in here, so what's the problem--completely ignoring the fact that NEW BOOKS were being written and printed constantly that I will want also--not sure how I ignored that fact, but I did.
Then for a while I figured, well, if I get rid of everything else that I have too much of, the books can stay. And that worked for a while, but of course, as long as they're coming in, they're taking up more space all the time. So at some point I had to admit that it wouldn't be possible to keep every single book I've ever read, definitely want to read, might want to read, that was on a subject that I liked, that was a subject that my friends liked, that might be worth money one day, that I didn't want to read but thought I SHOULD read....etc. It was necessary to accept that idea before I could break through.
Once I started going through my old stuff, I did find that my tastes had changed, there were many that I could let go. And now for two weeks in a row I've been able to (almost easily, dare I say) take books out to make room for the ones I like better.
I tried an e-reader, didn't like it at all. There was never the threat of my filling one up, because I did discover quickly that most of the cheap books were things that I didn't really want to read, and even the "sale" priced ones ($5.99) are too expensive for me--I never pay more than a couple of dollars for a book now--usually 50 cents at the thrift store. But I think digital collecting is as common as physical, or more so, because of the ease of storage. People do the same with their DVRs--copy all sorts of things that they don't have time to watch. So, you're right, it doesn't solve the problem. It does make your home look neater though--there is that.
Moonglow, I'm close to your age, and something that has helped me recently is--there are a lot of extra good books out there that I'm really wanting to read--how much time do I want to spend reading things that are only mediocre? I like to read a variety of books, a variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction, so I don't mind reading something that isn't a huge favorite, I do feel like I learn something or benefit in some way. But considering that I only read a little over 100 books a year, I want a large percentage of those to be "A" rated experiences, and to only read a few "B" and "C" books (yes I keep track of what I read and give ratings!) So, do you want to spend your time reading a free book on the kindle, that's only free because it's written by someone who's not a very good writer but who's trying to get their book out there? Doing that once in a great while is okay, but think about all the GREAT books you miss out on while reading something like that. I hope you try a 1 or 2 out, it's actually been fun--well, so far, as time goes on the decisions will get harder.
Believe me, even a few years ago I didn't think it would be possible to purge the number of books I have. (I still have thousands, so, no worries there.) It feels wonderful, to be a little more in control of what I have.
Diane
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 7, 2014 15:18:15 GMT -5
Oh, and this week's report:
4 books in, I found 3 fiction books that didn't seem as appealing as the ones that came in, to purge, plus one that I've already read but don't need to keep.
I added 9 books to my trade pile, and took 9 other ones away to donate.
Diane
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Post by hungaryhippo on Sept 7, 2014 17:39:16 GMT -5
Diane, you're doing great and you're so skilful at articulating your feelings and thought processes. They are so similar to mine that at times I was nodding and laughing and thinking "yes, that's so true!" And I don't like the idea of an e-reader either. Last night I was looking through a few books from the 1940s and 50s and I couldn't resist sniffing the pages. Such a lovely smell and I thought "you wouldn't get that from a Kindle".
I too am finding it much easier to let go of old books that just aren't needed anymore (if they ever were). I can't rid of them fast enough and I've got a backlog of books that are waiting to leave the house taking up precious space.
I freely admit to being a hoarder of digital files. I've got over 1 Terabyte of motorsport on an external hard-drive, along with other sport like Strongman competitions (hubba hubba, I lurve those big strong guys), darts (sadly, while most dart players are the same size as the strongmen, they're nowhere near as attractive), golf and tennis. I've also got loads of cartoons - mostly stuff from the 70s like Deputy Dawg and most of the Hanna Barbera back catalogue - the toons I loved to watch as a child.
Many of these files are my own work. I record stuff from my PVR onto DVD, rip the DVD to my PC, and then run the files through a program that turns them into an avi file. Then I can watch them at any time on my el cheapo DVD player that will play avi files from a memory stick. And I do watch them - if I'm feeling ill and need to stay in bed all day then I can load up the 24 hrs of Daytona and doze my way through an exciting motor race. And I do delete stuff if I really don't think I'll ever watch it - I recorded some races for someone else and thought I'd keep copies for myself, but it wasn't really a class I was interested in and I'd missed 1 or 2 rounds so the season was incomplete, so I trashed them.
But, like many areas of my life, my files aren't as tidy as they could be. I've got lots of them sitting around waiting to be named and put into folders. It can be a faff though, as if it's an old F1 race, like "Brazil 1993", I need to go to Wikipedia and find out what round it was so it can be filed in chronological order. And like everything else, I make a start on filing a few away neatly and then feel overwhelmed and stop. But I want to deal with my physical clutter first - the files can wait.
Keep up the good work Diane!
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 7, 2014 19:41:33 GMT -5
HH, yes it sounds like you relate to what I'm going through. As for the digital files, I guess it's good that I never got a DVR. I don't even have a DVD player except the one in my computer, but when they first came out they had ones that recorded, and I really wanted one. Good thing I never got one, I went crazy with videotapes at one time, taping everything but only sometimes labeling them. Plus, the tape degrades after a while, so I ended up throwing all of my unlabeled tapes away--I know that there were a few irreplaceable treasures somewhere in there, but I also knew that there was no way I'd ever go through all of them and watch them to find the good stuff. The digital clutter takes up no space, but I would probably do the same thing--record a bunch of stuff and then not know where it was or ever have time to watch it. Why does it take us so many years to figure some of these things out??? Diane
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 15, 2014 9:29:28 GMT -5
Last week's book tally:
IN--3 books (2 mysteries, and one NF about weather--my obsession)
OUT--3 books, all mysteries--(1 I started and didn't like, the other 2 I decided I didn't need to read)
Trade books: 6 in, 6 out
So far, so good.
Diane
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 22, 2014 14:26:23 GMT -5
I almost forgot this week's report.
I had 4 books in, 2 were nonfiction that I took from a Little Library in the neighborhood. There usually isn't much there to interest me, but these 2 were both there at the same time and looked really good. The other two were from a swap group, one mystery and one nonfiction.
I went into my "Arts & Entertainment" books and found 3 that I could live without. One was a beat up paperback of paintings by Edward Hopper, when I looked through I realized I only like about a third of what he does. So I tore out a couple of pages to keep and recycled the rest of the book. The other two were about film--I think I like the idea of reading about film more than actually reading. I also found one mystery that I don't need to read, so 4 out.
Now, the trade books, I'm actually having a harder time--who would have thought. Once again, I feel the need to get these books to someone who really, really wants these particular books! I'm going to have to get over that. I added 11 trade books, so had to find 11 to go, and it was really hard. So I either have to start actually getting some of these books traded out (which I can't do quickly because I can't afford to spend a lot of postage money at once) or else just close my eyes and donate some of them.
Diane
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Post by def6 on Sept 22, 2014 14:41:38 GMT -5
Hello Diane I actually did this method just recently. I had a couple of pairs of shoes that were just worn out...I found new shoes at deep discounts and I had no problem getting rid of the worn out pairs. It was a no brainer. I will try this again in the future.
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 26, 2014 23:14:22 GMT -5
Hi def, yeah, this method makes a lot of sense but I resisted it for my books for a long time. I'll see how long I can keep going with it.
I'm running into an issue, and that is when I find books to get rid of that don't correspond to books I'm taking in. In other words, I'm going to keep track of anything I decide to get rid of to use against those coming in. I thought about not doing this, but then I will be tempted to wait to get rid of books so I can credit them against the new ones later, and that's not a good thing to do.
This week I looked at my "old" bookshelf (old bookshelf with old books on it--looks like it might have looked if I lived here 75 years ago) knowing that I have overflow "old" books, and that I want to keep them to just the one bookshelf. I got rid of a few that I saw right away I can live without, and I'm going to keep track of them against future acquisitions so I can count them.
So as of right now I'm actually ahead!
Diane
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