Personal Libraries

Dexter'sDame · Oct 10, 2010

MikeBravo said:
apparently a few years Ikea took the Billy of their list. There were so many complaints that they had to put it back on again

I'll bet! Those who have them tend to be devoted fans. I originally bought mine because I was trying to recreate Coco Chanel's wall of books without Coco's budget and kept seeing them in interior design editorials.

Bonus no one tells you about having a wall of books: they're fantastic insulation, in terms of both sound and temperature.

~Kate~ · Oct 17, 2010

I prefer hardcover books but I have a lot of paperbacks. I find paperbacks are much easier to carry around which is important since I do most of my reading when I am on the go (either between classes or on the bus/train). My bag is heavy enough with all the textbooks I have to carry around! Most of my "ugly" looking paperbacks are hidden on my bookcases though. I either place a piece of artwork or a hardcover book (cover facing outwards) in front. It disguises them very nicely and I think it makes my bookcases look more interesting

splatt · Oct 22, 2010

I have a mixture of hardcovers and paperbacks but my biggest problem is that for a few of the authors and books i collect, such as the Peter Corris "Cliff Hardy" series, Eric Ambler and the Agatha Christie "Hercule Poirot" books i refuse to have anything but 1st editions (unless i can't find one after months of looking)...which can certainly get pricey on some of the older books :eusa_doh:

martinsantos · Feb 12, 2011

Love books! My parents made a huge library (around 15.000) in last 50 years, and I think I'm doing the same way... (in my parents's home the books invaded all rooms, except the bathroom and kitchen).

Usually I can't choose about paperback or not. Usually I buy 2nd hand books. When I have the chance to choose, I get the paperback, as they are cheaper.

Isis · Apr 8, 2011

My darling and I had 6 Billy-bookshelves each when we decided to move in together. We had the enormous luch to find a lovely apartment in a house built in 1954. It's in 2 stories and the only room upstairs is the living room. It's enormous, 8 meters long, but the ceiling is tilted, so it's 5 metres high in the middle of the room, but only 1.8 metres at the sides. The only room where we can have our books is the living room, but a Billy is too high to fit in. Our solution was to have a bookshelf built along the whole of one wall, and amazingly all our books fitted! It's in several sections and two of them have the shelves closer together for the paperbacks.

I prefer to buy hardbacks, especially books that I think I will re-read. If a paperback get's worn out, we re-place it with a hardback.

DNO · Jun 3, 2011

I just found this thread.

I’m a lifelong avid reader and as a result I have books upon books upon books. Lots of military history, Canadian art, cookbooks and tons of fiction.

I’ve always preferred paperbacks for my fiction. They’re easier to hold, easier to shove in a pocket or bag and inexpensive enough to treat roughly. But…I also reread books frequently and paperbacks lack durability. So a few years ago, I started replacing my frequently reread favorites with hardcover versions. I’ve continued to do this to the point that three months ago I ventured into my basement and filled 50 boxes with paperbacks that ended up at Goodwill.

It has become a hunt. Since retiring, I’ve been haunting the local thrift stores and I can’t tell you how many first editions, even signed first editions, I’ve found, and at much lower prices than one would have to pay for a current paperback. Great sport, and to find some of the lesser known books, like William Manchester’s “Goodbye Darkness”, or Kenneth Roberts’ “Northwest Passage", is a real thrill.

For bookmarks, I’ll use anything handy. People have given me little brass book darts and nice bookmarks…and I’m sure they’re around here somewhere.

As for writing in books…no. Not even my name. I figure that it’s not my work…so I leave it alone. When I write my own book, I’ll annotate it as much as I want.

Great thread.

potemkin_city_limits · Jan 30, 2012

I read a lot of books on my Kobo digital book reader then I seek out either the hardcover or the trade paperback version of a book to put on my shelf afterwards.

I dont find there is anything wrong with owning paperback copies of books though. I cant really see how they would deteriorate that much faster than a hardcover copy of a book.

DNO · Jan 30, 2012

potemkin_city_limits said:
I read a lot of books on my Kobo digital book reader then I seek out either the hardcover or the trade paperback version of a book to put on my shelf afterwards.

I dont find there is anything wrong with owning paperback copies of books though. I cant really see how they would deteriorate that much faster than a hardcover copy of a book.

There's nothing wrong with paperbacks...I prefer their smaller size. However, they are produced with cheaper paper and much less durable bindings than hardcovers. As I said in my other post, if I find that I re-read a particular book (and I do that a lot), I'll seek out a hardcover version. For a book lover like myself, thrift stores are a blessing.

And welcome to the Fedora Lounge, Potemkin+. Nice to see another Torontonian hanging about.

Derek Cavin · Feb 4, 2012

Love books! My parents made a huge library (around 15.000)...
Wow that is amazing.

hatguy1 · Oct 30, 2013

zaika said:
Okay...so here's the sitch. I want to revamp my personal library so that every book I own is in hardback. As of now, most of my books are paperback and falling apart and look awful on my shelf. Do you think it would be unreasonable to have this standard and rid myself of perfectly good classic novels just because they are in paperback?

Oh, heck no. I, too, am far fonder of HB editions than PB for the very reasons you state. If a person values their books enough to consider them reference material, a collection or worthy of keeping round for future generations, then HB is the way to go IMHO.

zaika said:
Some of the paperbacks that my mom handed down to me are disinigrating every year....

Have you considered having these rebound as HBs? I just recently had a PB book rebound as HB at Houchin Bindery in Nebraska and they did a fantastic job.

zaika said:
Moderation would be a good rule of thumb for me to hold to when in these fantasy lands called bookstores. lol

Oh, I so feel your pain about that.... I tend to ascribe (rationalize with?) a lady friend of mine who says "One can never have too many books."

Tux Toledo · Nov 2, 2013

These days it's hardbounds for the bookshelf and ebooks for the road.

Hatter4 · Dec 9, 2013

I have both hardcover and paperback books in my library. I enjoy both equally. I get most of my books from either Amazon.com or Edward R Hamilton in Connecticut. My library is close to 5,000 volumes. Here's a picture of the main room - I have another room off to the left of this one with more books.

Captain Nemo · Dec 20, 2013

Hatter4 said:
I have both hardcover and paperback books in my library. I enjoy both equally. I get most of my books from either Amazon.com or Edward R Hamilton in Connecticut. My library is close to 5,000 volumes. Here's a picture of the main room - I have another room off to the left of this one with more books.
View attachment 6874

That looks like a comfortable place to sit and read. What subjects do you collect?

Decodence · Jan 4, 2014

Every darn bookshelf is stacked double deep these days... I need a bigger house and more shelving.

LizzieMaine · Jan 4, 2014

The only purpose of a house is to keep the books dry.

Hatter4 · Jan 5, 2014

Captain Nemo said:
That looks like a comfortable place to sit and read. What subjects do you collect? I collect mostly history, bio's, religion, nature, hats, archeaology, architecture, art, literature, and pop-up books.

Alice Blue · Jan 6, 2014

I plan to (try to) sell my house later this year and I'm trying to make some space by selling books. However even though I successfully cleared out ten boxes of books, the tide seems to be coming back in and the shelves are overflowing again.

I try to find e-versions of books just to save space, but my interests are specific enough that an awful lot of things are only available in hardcover.

I did notice that my reading became more serious again after I joined the Lounge about a year ago. Prior to that I had gone through quite a long period of reading escapist fluff, but now I am reading for reasons of intellectual curiosity rather than escape.

lolly_loisides · Jan 6, 2014

Here's a small corner of our book room.

Yesterday I decided on a clear up. I'm half way through & still have over 100 books that are going to goodwill.

lframe · Jan 7, 2014

LizzieMaine said:
The only purpose of a house is to keep the books dry.

A woman after my heart.

Hatter4 · Jan 7, 2014

100 books--that's a lot to weed out at once. What were the subjects?

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