Post by: Car Knocker on July 28, 2006, 08:49:40 AM
It seems odd to me that so many highly successful people apparently don't read at home. Schools around here often have fund-raisers to buy a poor kid a book of his own. It looks like rich kids may have the same problem.
Post by: K Frame on July 28, 2006, 08:52:53 AM
When Mom and Dad moved, we stopped counting at 20,000. Mom had her personal library, Dad had his personal library, I still had a lot of books there, and then there was the family library...
Post by: cosine on July 28, 2006, 09:02:58 AM
Quote from: Mike Irwin
I grew up in a home loaded with books.
Same here. Half of our basement is so full of bookshelves you can hardly walk on that side, our dining room is full of loaded bookshelves instead of a dining room table, and I'm running out of space in my room for my own personal library I've been building for the last 4 or 5 years.
Post by: BozemanMT on July 28, 2006, 09:04:07 AM
look at the decline of newspapers (some of it self-induced)
look at how novels shrink and the quality goes in the toliet
people want the cliff notes to everything.
Besides, people who don't/can't read and don't/can't do analysis are much easier to control.
Post by: mtnbkr on July 28, 2006, 09:04:36 AM
Chris
Post by: charby on July 28, 2006, 09:29:09 AM
-C
Post by: Preacherman on July 28, 2006, 09:36:15 AM
I feel profoundly sorry for those who don't read. They're missing so much! The worst of it is - they don't realize just how much they're missing. It's like a dead element in their lives that will never awaken.
Post by: K Frame on July 28, 2006, 10:12:06 AM
"Home is where the books are."
Then there's Thomas Jefferson's take on the matter...
"I cannot live without books."
Post by: 280plus on July 28, 2006, 10:41:25 AM
Post by: JAlexander on July 28, 2006, 10:48:01 AM
Sadly, most people today don't seem to see the point of reading for pleasure. I'm lucky in that my parents both loved to read, so they always encouraged me to read whatever I could lay my hands on.
250 feet of books is mighty impressive, Preacher. You are now my hero. I went and measured our shelves and it comes out to about 65 feet. That's not counting the manymany boxes I have in storage, though.
James
Post by: Chris on July 28, 2006, 11:04:27 AM
Post by: Matthew Carberry on July 28, 2006, 11:20:08 AM
I also have have the "My Fair Lady" two story mahogany and leather library plan for the Carberry Dream House. Green shades on the lamp, bits of militaria on the walls, perhaps an elephant foot waste basket holding an umbrella and an assegai.
I am being serious, BTW.
Post by: El Tejon on July 28, 2006, 11:25:56 AM
First room I re-modeled in the Alcazar del Tejon was the library, er, home office (still did not get the deduction, darn it). Certain it is not a function of location, Car?
Here in Yankeeland people value education and learning and that is directly related to the culture. Libraries are big up here as well. I still remember being told how important books are as a freshman in undergrad by a professor of history who told me that we would be living on the moons of Jupiter if the library at Alexandria did not burn.
El Tejon, friend of the library, and proud of it: http://www.wlaf.lib.in.us/friends.html
Post by: Perd Hapley on July 28, 2006, 12:10:12 PM
Quote
"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."
"I'm just going to put this out there, and if you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can just send it right on back."Wait, should we be quoting movies in this thread?
Post by: Car Knocker on July 28, 2006, 12:17:55 PM
Quote from: El Tejon
Certain it is not a function of location, Car?
It's possible. Some of the homes are used seasonally, usually in Park City, however the vast majority of the homes are principal residences in non-recreational areas. Perhaps it's a Utah thing?I'm reminded of when I had a doctor's appointment a couple of years ago. I, of course, had a book with me and the nurse asked about it. I told her I was rereading it (I don't recall the title) and she said she just couldn't understand people who reread books. I asked if she had CDs or DVDs and did she dispose of them after listening/viewing once? She didn't understand the correlation. I just figured her lips got too tired for her to do much reading.
Post by: Preacherman on July 28, 2006, 12:24:25 PM
I had to organize mine, just to keep track of stuff. I established four major categories: General (fiction and non-fiction, biography, etc.), Military History (ancient to modern), SF & Fantasy, and Religion. General's about 54 linear feet, Military History about 45, SF & Fantasy about 25, and Religion about 40. I also have several dozen linear feet of books being sorted out, minor categories (e.g. Shooting), and so on, as well as my totes outside in my store-room, which will get sorted bit by bit.
I'm hoping to reduce my library to under 200 linear feet by the end of the year - I hate doing it, because I love all my books, but I've got to be realistic. My rule of thumb is that if I haven't re-read a book in a year, it goes into the "Questionable" category. Within that category, if it's a really good book that I know I'll re-read occasionally, I'll keep it: if not, it goes out.
I also sort the books alphabetically by author within each category. That helps me keep track of them, avoid buying duplicate copies (something I've done too often!), and helps me remember to put them away after I've read them - when a shelf looks like it's moth-eaten, time to pack books away again!
Post by: JAlexander on July 28, 2006, 12:35:25 PM
Quote from: Preacherman
How many of you organize your library into a specific order?
Guilty as charged. We have two IKEA shelf units which contain our fiction, one very large unit that holds all the non-fiction, and one smallish set of shelves for my wife's music books. The fiction is arranged alphabetically, and the non-fiction is divided by subject and alphabetized within each subject. The non-fiction subjects are Texana and the West/Southwest, dictionaries and language studies, poetry/literature, and other. I don't touch my wife's music books at all; she has her own system.James
Post by: cosine on July 28, 2006, 12:53:32 PM
Quote from: Preacherman
My rule of thumb is that if I haven't re-read a book in a year, it goes into the "Questionable" category. Within that category, if it's a really good book that I know I'll re-read occasionally, I'll keep it: if not, it goes out.
What do you do if you have my problem though: you consider all the books you have to be really good books you'll re-read occasionally. That's a big stumbling block to ever reducing the size of your library.
Post by: 280plus on July 28, 2006, 12:57:05 PM
Post by: doczinn on July 28, 2006, 02:24:27 PM
Post by: brimic on July 28, 2006, 03:25:38 PM
Oddly enough, I've never seen my wife ever crack a book open for reading pleasure, she prefers the TV.
The only books of mine that are out are 1 in my 'quiet room/office' (bathroom) and 1 or 2 in the living room. I'm usually consuming 2 or 3 books at a time.
Post by: mfree on July 28, 2006, 08:02:15 PM
Post by: Matthew Carberry on July 28, 2006, 09:46:27 PM
Quote from: fistful
Wait, should we be quoting movies in this thread?
We'd be fools not to.(book quote, famous mystery series, 10 points to first ID)
Post by: Azrael256 on July 28, 2006, 10:24:23 PM
Quote
We'd be fools not to.
Eh, Parker sucks, IMO. It's Holmes or it's toilet paper.
Post by: ...has left the building. on July 29, 2006, 03:41:56 AM