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Can You Part With Them Easily?

Cough, splutter.... get rid of what? Books? :eek: Not on your sweet nellie. Never in a million years. I've got books that have travelled overseas with me - thrice now. I hate lending them out as they sometimes never reappear and I'm a wimp at asking for them back. Back in the UK I had my books upstairs in the den so only my nearest and dearest got to see them ;) Alas I am guilty of double-standards here as I do occasionally borrow them :eek: The downside to that is if I enjoy them I have to return them - oh well, I can always add them to my books to buy list - no hardship there :D
 
Of course the library had a table full of books they were discarding-I just had to rescue ten history ones for the sake of doing so. Good things they aren't like cats-you'd hear about me in the news with 500 cats and a run-down house on the news. :eek: :D
 
I also am one of those people who can't stand to part with my books. I don't mind lending them to people but I do have a tendancy to forget who i've lent them too which is frustrating..... i too have a dream house that includes a library! i think the reason i find it difficult to part with them is that they are familiar like friends in a way... and i'm definately a re-reader!
 
I lost a few books when I was in an old job and then left it. I never did get the books back, a few of them I can't even remember what they were.

Another annoyance, of recent note, was that I had loaned out Calvino's if on a winter's night a traveler only to have it returned months later with the cover hanging off it. By way of apology (for apology, read pisstake) I was given a copy of Sean Wright's teenage-adult speculative crossover classic The Twisted Root of Jarrfindor which I promptly wasted no time reading.
 
I like the concept that they have in Spain for the tourists - The Book Swap Shop.

They give you one or two euro's for your old book (as in the one you just spent £10 on at WH Smiths in the Airport) and you buy one of their traded in books for three or four euro's.

The way I look at it, at least you're getting something back and you have the option to keep the book you've purchased if it really grabs you - no hassle of having to take it back to the library or read it within a time limit. One of the benefits is in that you get a lot of good classics at low cost without having to head off to a big bookstore as WH Smith and Tesco don't really hit the mark - the obvious negative is that a lot of them are readable but in a poor state.

Would be a good idea in the UK, but you'd need a shit load of books to start it off.

On the whole, I probably keep most of my books so I can remember what I've read a few years down the line.
 
I can't stand to part with my books. I have loaned many of them to people who have never returned them, so now, I don't even like lending books to people. Like Halo, I still have all my childhood books as well.
 
David Frame said:
I like the concept that they have in Spain for the tourists - The Book Swap Shop.

Would be a good idea in the UK
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I disagree. While I've not seen one, having never been to Spain, I can see the only reason that it works is because lazy Brits head to Spain to sit on their arses all day - whether in beaches or bars - and can't think of anything to occupy their time with other than sunbathing or reading. That, obviously, is where the books are coming from, airport reads abandoned and used by some smalltime entrepreneurs. The only reason those books are bought is because they are time fillers and nobody wants them once finished.

However, in the UK, we already have bookshops and second hand bookshops selling a wide range of books in English. Regular jumble sales in local churches and schoolhouses sell books for sometimes as little as £0.10 per book. And, should any holiday makers come to the UK with books then they'll never read them here and will return to whence they came with their books as people don't come here to sit on our beaches or bars - they come for the castles, the history, those funny little guys with hats in the Tower of London, and the faint hope that they might meet the Queen.
 
This thread reminds me of when I was in 9th grade. My class had finished all of our work on The Catcher in the Rye - the books were read, the essays were written, and the tests were taken. I had all these passages marked with torn little pieces of paper, probably like twenty of them, my favorite parts of the book.

My friend looked at me like I was crazy, and then the teacher came around and collected all the books. I gave the book up willingly, of course, but I knew I would always miss those passages.

I do still miss those passages.
 
Cretin said:
This thread reminds me of when I was in 9th grade. My class had finished all of our work on The Catcher in the Rye - the books were read, the essays were written, and the tests were taken. I had all these passages marked with torn little pieces of paper, probably like twenty of them, my favorite parts of the book.

My friend looked at me like I was crazy, and then the teacher came around and collected all the books. I gave the book up willingly, of course, but I knew I would always miss those passages.

I do still miss those passages.
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That's why you swipe an extra one if you can, especially if the teacher isn't too organized. ;)
 
I totally agree with you. Most of my books now are hard to find so it's even harder to let them go. I was even offered over $100 for one of my books and turned it down. They are, indeed, hard to let go.
 
I too rarely get rid of my books. I have no problems lending them out or even giving my copy to a friend and immediately replacing it with another, but I never sell them back or get rid of them. I'm only an occasional re-reader, but I like to hold onto them all....they are like my souveniers of life!
 
I've decided to start messing around with BookCrossing.com. I'm going to release my first book tomorrow, if all goes according to plan. I do have a problem with just giving away books, but BC seems like a splendid idea.
 
i keep all my books except the ones that sucked (which are few). those i give to the local used book store. i always want the chance to read them again, and i also have a sentimental attachment to them. the first time i had to pack away all my books i was a little distraught.
 
I'm incapable of giving away books. When I lived in Ontario I don't think my wife realized how many books I actually had, until we moved home and we got the stuff (pretty much an entire apartment) out of my parents basement. She kept looking at me and saying "more BOOKS?!" I can't let them go, even ones I will never read again.
 
I used to keep so many books but never, ever re-read them.

Last year I decided to un-clutter things a bit so I made the decision to give away or sell almost every book. It's actually made me read more as I no longer worry about the piles of them all over the place! Also, I get some money back so I can buy more without feeling guilty. I used to sell on eBay but now both buy and sell at greenmetropolis.com, they also donate 5p per book to The Woodland Trust to plant new trees.
 
My books pile up and once in a long while I go through them and weed out the ones I want to keep and the ones to resell. If I have any doubts, the books stay where they are till the next weeding-out. This works for me in that it keeps my book "collection" manageable. If I had the space, however, I'd probably keep all the books.

I used to buy hardcovers if they were by my favorite authors and I was sure I wanted to keep them, but I learned that even my favorite authors have their bad "days" (books) and there are some I know I don't want to read again. I get books at the library, and if I come across one I know I'll want to read again, I consider buying the hardcover version. That's rarely happened though.
 
I went through all my books to donate for a church rummage sale. Mostly what I parted with were some children and young adult level books. The rest were books I've read or didn't find interesting enough to continue reading. It's hard parting with books though because you might want to read them again later.
 
i've never thrown out books. you're better off giving them to a library or some sort of charity than just your garbage bin.

plus, i suppose its similar to how i am at a resturant. if the foods crappy, most of the time i'll still eat it since i'm paying. [unless its completely unbearable]
 
i kinda "collect" books-i have lots of books on my shelves. i go to the library a lot, but i buy a lot of books too. i rad them and then i leave them, and ijust can't part with them! i never reread books(except for harry potter). sometimes i buy books that i've read just to have them and enver rereead them. crazy, eh? but yes, i can never give or sell my books either.
 
I just can't part with my books

No, I can't part with my books. I have this re-occuring dream where my house is burglarized, and I cry when my books are stolen. Even if I have two of the same book, I'm still selfish about giving away one of them. But, I usually do give away an extra copy or two.

Nelly
 
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