Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion

Over the last day or so, Illinois has felt some extremely heavy rains which have resulted in severe flooding. This flooding area unfortunately for me included my basement resulting in several boxes of books being turned to pulp. :-( At final count, while I have been able to dry out about 50 books that should be still readable, I had to throw away about 250 of my books! Some have certainly suffered worse losses, but for me this was bad enough! I know they are just books and can be replaced, but still it is years and years of collecting, whole sets gone! I am angry, annoyed, aggrivated! I'm grateful that that is the worst of my damage, but it may still be awhile before I can get over the loss of all those books. Thanks for listening.

Sorry to hear that Joseph, I can definitely understand where you're coming from, even though nothing like that has ever happened to me - and I live in a country that is below sea-level ;-)

I would hate it if something happened to my books, music cd's or movies!

How terrible. I would be upset too. I hope your home is ok.

That's awful! I'm really sorry to hear about the flooding, and your loss. I know if I were in yhour shoes, I'd be terribly upset.

OMG, I would be devastated. Yes, the life keeps going but I can feel your loss. :(

I live in Illinois, too, and have learned to keep the things in my basement stored in plastic tubs. FYI, containers made by Sterilite are acid free and work the best at preserving valuables such as paper. Sorry for your lost collection, hope you enjoy replacing things. The hunt is half the fun!

So sorry to hear that Joseph - does your insurance cover any of it?

L11Beverly wrote: "I live in Illinois, too, and have learned to keep the things in my basement stored in plastic tubs. FYI, containers made by Sterilite are acid free and work the best at preserving valuables such a..."

This is a good idea!

Keep your things up high or in plastic tubs

Unfortunately most insurance companies are very hard on books. I lost a good part of my library to a flood about eight years ago and was told that books have only an old paper value. Live and learn; I now have my library on the second floor so if it ever happens again (in Holland floods are always possible) it will go under with the rest of my life.

Thanks all for your support. Unfortunately, pretty much all I'll be able to do is possible take it as a loss when tax time comes around again. Hindsight of course is 20/20 and I would have probably kept them up high or in plastic tubs if I had even suspected the possibility of flooding, but there was no sign of any water damage when I moved in, and in any case, it seems like this was a fluke to begin with, so much water saturated the ground that it just came up through the cracks in the floor. Oh well, can't go back so I'll just have to go forward. Fortunately what was damaged was mostly classics which are easy to find and juvenile fiction that I've read so many times I practically have the stories memorized anyway.

Thankfully, it wasn't the hard to replace copies that were ruined.

Still, I feel your pain and sympathize with your loss!

Oh wow thats so terrible. That would bug me a lot too. I completely sympathize :(

So sorry to hear about the loss of your books. Perhaps you will find some exciting new titles while you are searching to replace your lost treasures. I would be very upset if I were in your position.

Sorry Joseph - I sympathise, really. But one door closes, another opens: forget about the past and enjoy discovering new books.

ASP wrote: "Sorry Joseph - I sympathise, really. But one door closes, another opens: forget about the past and enjoy discovering new books."

Yeah, you're right. It's funny, I felt the need to try and find new copies of my damaged books so I hit a couple of the local libraries used book shelves. I didn't find any of my old books, but I did end up picking up a couple of new ones. One of which I discovered when I got home was signed! And think, I never would have found that signed book if I hadn't gone hunting for replacements. One door closes, another opens. The hunt goes on! :-)

I am so sorry for your loss! I know how much it hurts, but eventually new books will help heal the loss. On August 2, 2000 my house burned down. The loss of my books was one of the hardest things to deal with! Fortunately, MOST of my pictures were saved. Of course the favorite ones were framed and on the walls and therefore a total loss. But I had all of my picture albums and shoe boxes of pictures in a cedar chest. The firemen carried that chest out to the yard!

I ended up replacing some of those books that were lost, and I have had the opportunity and the pleasure of discovering new ones. I now have a library that contains over 850 books. I know this, because NOW I have all of my books entered in to an Excel database. At the time of my fire I was a renter and had renter's insurance. The insurance company paid replacement value, or I could buy a new book to replace the old.

So true, one door closes, another opens. I also say, The Lord gives, the Lord takes away; blessed be the Name of The Lord.

Jan wrote: "I am so sorry for your loss! I know how much it hurts, but eventually new books will help heal the loss. On August 2, 2000 my house burned down. The loss of my books was one of the hardest things t..."

What an ordeal for you and your family! I am so glad that you were able to save many of your pictures. As a scrap booker, the loss of pictures would seem devastating to me, so I can't begin to imagine how hard that was for you. How wonderful that you have rebuilt your library. I hope you had a little fun buying all those books.

Yikes. so sorry.....rain was heavy out in the DeKalb area too, but I don't have any books in my basement. My in-laws had a bunch in their basement when they first moved to IL and flooded. I'm sure I learned some trick in a preservation class back in library school....but I'm couldn't say for sure what it was now...

Laurel wrote: "Jan wrote: "I am so sorry for your loss! I know how much it hurts, but eventually new books will help heal the loss. On August 2, 2000 my house burned down. The loss of my books was one of the hard..."

Thank you Laurel. Yes, I have had great fun buying new books, and now that fire is just another family story among many!