Kevin's Watch

MsMary wrote:

Murrin wrote:How the heck are you meant to pretend to be intellectual if you can't put all your books up on display?

In our case, it's gotten beyond our ability to display them neatly.

Hahaha, that happened long ago to me. Hardly anybody else sees mine, but they fill my study...thousands of the damned things. But I do love them.

--A

E readers are GREAT!! I got a Kindle for Christmas last year and since then I have found that I really enjoy it more than I ever would have thought. Lately Ive been reading .99 cent books and Ive read some really good stories.Some werent professional caliber but were really good for enjoyment purposes.

Inexpensive Kindle reads from the last few months

(Chronicles of the Dark Sword) 3 books
(The Kinshield Saga) 3 books
(The Tormay Trilogy) 3 books 3rd not out yet
(The Kingkiller Chronicle) 3 books 3rd not out yet

aliantha wrote:.... I used to have the same dream as DotD: a house with a library that has floor-to-ceiling bookcases on three sides (the 4th side would be windows, for lots of natural light), a comfy easy chair or two, a simple Queen Anne-style writing desk for taking notes, etc.

But then I got tired of paying to have all those books moved every couple of years, so I got rid of nearly all of them. Now I'm down to two folding bookshelves worth. Well, three. Maybe four. And the knitting books. And the reference books by my desk. *And* the Reader.

This is pretty much the only reason I've considered getting an e-book reader. I love the look and feel of being surrounded by books, I like them as a type of 'furniture'/object that I gaze at, and I love being able to pick them up and touch and smell them (I used to feel the same about other people's children but they freak out for some reason?) When it comes to travelling or moving however... Removalists love me: "Just that table there, the bed, one box of kitchen stuff, the cats.... and um, those 30 boxes of books." I've culled my collection 2-3 times but it's like a cancer (a really good cancer) that keeps growing back.

We used to resort to renting a U-Haul for the books and moving those ourselves, while hiring movers for the rest of the stuff....

Manga are the absolute worst to move. I almost got to the point where I'd tell the kids, "Okay, any boxes of manga are *your* responsibility for getting on and off the truck."

LOL! Good idea, but if I'm going to hire big burly men, ("or women" <- said in my best Python voice), I'd rather they move the boxes of heavy books!

And excuse my Manga-ignorance, but why are they the worst to move?

Anyway, moving is definitely the best motivation for book-culling. Although I did experience severe regret after my last cull. It was like going in to the hairdressers for a trim and coming out with a number 1. I still miss some of those little babies

I dunno why manga weigh more. They're paperback, and not huge. But maybe the paper's heavier than that for regular paperbacks so that the drawings don't bleed through to the other side? Whatever it is, they are really heavy.

Thanks. Wasn't sure if it was a heaviness or a 'fragile, to be protected' issue.
No doubt to the 'friendly-disgust' of many here, I'm a manga virgin!

I'm still on the fence. I gave up a couple thousand books when I moved a few months ago, only keeping what I could fit in two boxes. I like the idea of e-books, in that they don't take up space or gather dust. We recently started selling the Kindle at work, and I'm tempted to buy one. I'm way behind on my reading because of my vow to not regain any clutter - which I'm doing really well with; I have purchased exactly two new books this year. On the other hand, that's not really something that I'm proud of. Several of my favorite authors have had new books, and I haven't read 'em. But e-books are expensive, and not having the e-reader gives me a reason to not buy any. Like I said, still on the fence, but probably close to breaking down. Life is expensive, and books are sorta necessary.

aliantha wrote: We used to resort to renting a U-Haul for the books and moving those ourselves, while hiring movers for the rest of the stuff....

Hell, I'll pay them to move my books and I'll do the rest... (No, not really...I'll pay them to do everything. I hate moving.)

And clutter...yes...I am guilty...really struggle to throw things away.

--A

Sorus wrote:I'm still on the fence. I gave up a couple thousand books when I moved a few months ago, only keeping what I could fit in two boxes.

I did almost the exact same thing several years ago. I had a couple hundred, not thousands of books, though. I still miss them and wish I hadn't been so cheap. Every month or two, I find myself wanting a book I no longer have.

The thing with e-books is that they don't feel permanent. Of course, with the arm, they are not. Even without that, though, they feel very transitory. But, I do really enjoy reading on the iPad.

One thing I wish ios5 had done was to update the ibooks app's dictionary. It is a bit limited. I end up using full dictionary apps about half the time because the word isn't found.

Ananda wrote: The thing with e-books is that they don't feel permanent. Of course, with the arm, they are not. Even without that, though, they feel very transitory.

That's a big part of it. I don't like having all my eggs in one basket.