Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

I got a new tiny bookshelf off the side of the road today. Approaching the first of the month for the summer gets people moving out. It is in quarantine for three days and then I will finally have somewhere to put all the library books that I cannot return (they have all auto-renewed until June 30th).

Bookcases my husband built into our livingroom wall when we bought the house: (the little packets are a loose-leaf tea advent calendar, lol)



We've got a further 7 & 1/2 Billy bookcases in the house (with extra shelves), and one different type of 6ft bookcase.

And a box of books up in the crawlspace where people would normally have an attic (I'd kill for one of those! lol)

I really like books, lol.

Yay for Wheelathon! I have signed up. Hopefully this ends the reading slump I've been in for the last two-ish months... :-|

I am finally back to work in the office though, and most of my reading hours include listening to audiobooks on my commute, so that should help.

Sammy wrote: "Bookcases my husband built into our livingroom wall when we bought the house: (the little packets are a loose-leaf tea advent calendar, lol)



We've got a further 7 & 1/2 Billy bookcases in the ho..."

House goals!! My fiance and I are currently trying to buy a house (not having much luck!) and I must now look into doing something like this...

One of the reasons I bought my flat was because there was a shelf for books at a high level in the hall.

I then had a cupboard ripped out and put deep shelves in.

I can't see half my books (they are stacked three deep on the shelves, but they are there for me...

I haven't totalled the number of physical books I have, but it's enough that my brother point blank refused to help move out of my last place! (25ish boxes)

Kaley wrote: "Sammy wrote: "Bookcases my husband built into our livingroom wall when we bought the house: (the little packets are a loose-leaf tea advent calendar, lol)



We've got a further 7 & 1/2 Billy bookc..."

It took him three days to build this, but sooooo worth it! Still my favourite thing about the house, and even 12 years later, the shelves are still 100% straight, unlike most of the shop bought bookcases we've had over the years!

Cat wrote: "One of the reasons I bought my flat was because there was a shelf for books at a high level in the hall.

I then had a cupboard ripped out and put deep shelves in.

I can't see half my books (they..."

I scanned most of mine into Librarything a couple of years ago, and now add as I get them. The total is currently 1979, but doesn't include the box in the crawlspace, or the books on the bottom two shelves of the bookcases behind the sofa, because the darned thing is too heavy for me to move, lol.

The little free libraries being so active in my area have helped a lot for me getting rid of books. I like to think that someone else will like the book more than I did. I enjoy checking on the libraries to see how fast some books disappear. ( I still keep the ones I plan to reread).

Yeah, I put all the books I didn't like into the little free library too (we only have one in the area, which went up last autumn). Just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean someone else won't :)

Are you all tuned in to the launch? T-minus 45 minutes!!!!!!!

Aborted at 16 minutes 54 seconds left due to weather. Damn.
I was really looking forward to seeing what cool things humanity can do. Oh well.

Ugh, my daughter was really excited about it. Just have to wait until Saturday!

Totally bummed it was cancelled! Has the new time for Saturday been published yet?

Cathy M. wrote: "Totally bummed it was cancelled! Has the new time for Saturday been published yet?"

NBC News was saying 3:22 EST

Poor husband was exhausted, but stayed up to watch. He's unconscious now, lol.

I was 4 years old when Armstrong walked on the moon. I remember seeing it on tv. Ever since then I get excited at launches and really any space stuff.

I can get all 4-year-old-excited again on Saturday!

Last Christmas I got the coolest present from my son. It's a book bag with the slogan proudly displayed "It's not hoarding if it's books" . I love it and use it for my library books.

I've already told my kids when it's time for me to go to the big library in the sky they have to donate my books to the library or a thrift shop. If they throw them away I am going to come back and haunt them, LOL.

Yeah, I have told my family a similar thing. They all get to go through the books to grab titles they want, and then they have to find a woman's shelter or some such to donate them to. Of course, I won't be there to yell if they just throw them in a bin, but I think they all have too much respect for books to do such a thing.

And of course it is not hoarding. There is no such thing as too many bookcases. I firmly believe that.

Sammy wrote: "Chava wrote: "My bookcase literally collapsed last week with the weight of unread books. They are on shelves 2 deep and then some on top of that."

That doesn't mean you have too many books. it mea..."

I love the support, guys!
I have 1 bookcase in my room, a huge TBR pile next to my bed and the hallway bookcase is full with books as well.

Sammy wrote: "Bookcases my husband built into our livingroom wall when we bought the house: (the little packets are a loose-leaf tea advent calendar, lol)



We've got a further 7 & 1/2 Billy bookcases in the ho..."

That is awesome!!
We went to London for a wedding in Feb (right before the world closed down, literally 2 days after we landed the borders closed!). We stayed with this lovely family and they had a floor to ceiling book case with books for adults and kids. My kids are super early risers (sigh!) and usually really noisy once they're up. Not this time, they got up, went to that bookcase and just read and read.

I think you have too many books ONLY when you don't know what you have and where to find it. If it causes you to re-buy books because you can't find what you need or you need to fulfill a challenge and can't locate something to fit the challenge then you are out of control.

I have over 3000 print books in my house mostly on shelves in the basement. All are listed in a database, so I can locate by lots of criteria. So I feel I am in control of my books and they don't control me.

As an aside - we moved from a house to a condo 3 years ago and I had to downsize my collection. I went through everything for a couple of months prior to the move and got rid of 2000 books (donated to the library for their book sale). I moved about 2600 books. As you can see I have added back about 400 in the last 3 years.

I am ready for anything a challenge throws at me, so am looking forward to the Wheelathon!

PS: this does not include things on my Kindle

Haha, all of my print books are in a database too. I keep the database sorted by LC call number, but on the actual shelves there is a lot of leeway given for oversized items, etc.
But the scheme mainly ends up being fiction in the bedroom and hallway, and nonfiction in the living room and dining area. My partner is a food blogger and has a rather extensive collection of cookbooks, so they have their own large area, and many of the bigger volumes have spread over into the art/music books.

My daughter (9) has amassed a great many books as well, which remain uncataloged. However, a few of my books have migrated into her room, or to grandma's house. Those get a special note in the database in case I ever need to find them!

Cataloguing my books. I so want to do that. Some day.

I do have them vaguely alphabetical by author in fiction (most of them) and non fiction is mainly in one place. Well, three places. I have a science bookcase, and an art (and large things that don't fit elsewhere) bookcase, and a general non-fiction bookcase, oh, and a cookbook bookcase But that one is only three shelves.
I do have to re-alphabetize my fiction books, as I keep adding more, and of course I never leave enough room. First world problems.

Jenny wrote: "Cataloguing my books. I so want to do that. Some day.

I do have them vaguely alphabetical by author in fiction (most of them) and non fiction is mainly in one place. Well, three places. I have a ..."

I tried cataloguing my books....there are just too many. I have absolutely no order in my book location. They are wherever I can find space LOL. At times I see a book and am like 'I really want to buy that' to then go 'or do I already have that?'. I seriously could have doubles without knowing

Mods: can you please change my estimated number of books from 25 to 20? My summer plans changed a bit and I realized there will be three weeks when I'm not able to read quite as much as usually.

I've done doubles a few times. I hate it when publishers change cover and book size. I can be fooled.
Then there are the books that I keep buying because I give them away. Occasionally there will be an extra copy floating around.

Jenny wrote: "I've done doubles a few times. I hate it when publishers change cover and book size. I can be fooled.
Then there are the books that I keep buying because I give them away. Occasionally there will ..."

at risk of adding to my TBR pile, what are the books you often give away? I am assuming they are the ones you recommend to everyone

All my fiction is alphabetical so every so often I have to move them all over a shelf to make room for a new book or five.

at risk of adding to my TBR pile, what are the books you often give away? I am assuming they are the ones you recommend to everyone

Be careful what you wish for. teehee. These are ones that I have given away (and had to buy again) at least three times...

and .

I'm sure I am forgetting a few, but...

Lexi wrote: "All my fiction is alphabetical so every so often I have to move them all over a shelf to make room for a new book or five."

So, do you have an empty bookcase to move things into?
I have such a hard time culling the books. Unless I really didn't enjoy it, I always think I may revisit a title someday. Or, I just like the security blanket aspect of being surrounded by books. Take your pick.

Jenny wrote: "Lexi wrote: "All my fiction is alphabetical so every so often I have to move them all over a shelf to make room for a new book or five."

So, do you have an empty bookcase to move things into?
I h..."

Actually, I recently gave one of my bookshelves to my brother when he moved in since he needs them for his schoolbooks, so I have stacks of books for the first time in a while. Otherwise, my books are often moving in and out with finding them and returning them to free libraries. (I have at least six I visit on walks every day to every few weeks). Otherwise, like most people on here, I have doubled up shelves for certain authors, including my Discworld collection. I need to be able to go to the post office soon as I am up to four I have collected for my niece. I have moved a lot so I am good at letting things go. (In Aug, this will be the first time since high school, I will have lived in the same place for more than 2 years.)

I love that I'm not the only one having issues getting my shelves organised haha.

I made a list of my books when I moved out of my parents' place because that was an easy way to do it. Grab them from the shelves, put them on the list, and then put them in a box. But then I didn't keep up that list... and now... well.. I have no idea anymore how many books I have. But I still know which ones I have and where they are, so I think I'm still good - going by the definitions we've established here ;-))

Also for those who may not have little free libraries near them and want to get rid of some books, there is another way:

--> https://ibelieveinbookfairies.com/

:-)

Jenny wrote: "I have such a hard time culling the books. Unless I really didn't enjoy it, I always think I may revisit a title someday. Or, I just like the security blanket aspect of being surrounded by books. Take your pick."

That is exactly me, lol.

As for organisation, a librarian would probably not approve, but my system makes perfect sense to me. The bookcases my husband made hold our favourite authors. They're a mix of genres and aren't in any kind of order except being grouped by author, but I can find any book on there in less than 10 seconds.
All the other bookcases have books organised by genre, and then alphabetically by author within each genre. the box in the crawlspace has books we've both read and didn't have space for (Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, lots of Clive Barker... Actually, it's mostly horror up there! lol)
There isn't a book I own that I can't locate in less than a minute (except the ones behind the sofa, because I still can't move the darned thing, lol).

the other thing about lots of well stocked bookcases: added insulation for the house!

Also, I use this database for my books:

https://www.librarything.com/home

Got a lifetime membership because I have far too many to use the free version, but it wasn't expensive, so well worth it. I also got their barcode scanner (It's shaped like a cat! lol), which made entering everything in to the database super quick.
There's lots of ways to search the database, which can be useful for finding challenge titles! lol.

i'd love to have more physical books than I have... but books in Portugal are so darn expensive, plus they have the lousy habit of stopping series mid-way -- Mercy Thompson stopped at #6, and I think the Fever series at #3, for example. Then when the books are bigger, they split them!

Mist of Avalon and Les Miserables are 5 volumes each. Each one of The Game of Thrones books is 2 instead of one. And considering that each one sells at 20ish euros (and no, we don't have hardcovers, just paperbacks) it's...way too expensive.

So I switched to English. All fine and dandy, half the price, but, the options are limited. Unless I'm willing to wait 3 weeks for them. On average.

Now, can you imagine ME waiting for anything Ilona Andrews for 3 weeks?!

Not happening. So. digital editions it is. They're cheaper. And faster to get. I still have enough to fill out two bookshelves on my own.

My mom only invested on beautiful hardbound books with academic value. So, I have lots of classic authors - portuguese, of course - and lots of history books

I'm a math major and Eni always tended to chemistry/biology, plus we both hate classics with a passion, specially Portuguese authors. But hey, they're pretty. And look awesome on bookshelves

Wow, Sammy. Great Stuff - thanks for the link.

I currently reorganised all our books (hubby's, sonny's, mine) hoping against hope that somehow I would end up having more bookspace, but not with too much success.

How I wish there were free libraries in Hungary where I could leave our unwanted books so that they may find a new home with someone else. :)

Sonia wrote: "i'd love to have more physical books than I have... but books in Portugal are so darn expensive, plus they have the lousy habit of stopping series mid-way -- Mercy Thompson stopped at #6, and I thi..."

The vast majority of mine are second hand, found in charity shops or second hand book dealers. It can be a pain because it can take YEARS to find a whole series, and sometimes I can never find what I want, but if I were to buy new (even Kindle) I could never afford my book habit!
The only ones I buy new are my favourite authors (speaking of which, the latest Bernard Cornwell is due today! Woohoo!), and even then a lot of those end up being Christmas presents. My family all know to buy me books, and each of them have a different list to work from (so they don't all buy me the same book, lol). One of my brothers has started doing the same, so now Christmas has become our Annual Book Exchange! :D

Melindam wrote: "Wow, Sammy. Great Stuff - thanks for the link.

I currently reorganised all our books (hubby's, sonny's, mine) hoping against hope that somehow I would end up having more bookspace, but not with to..."

Have you tried searching here: https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/ ?

They are a couple on my region, not that close to home, but it is a starting point

Melindam wrote: "Wow, Sammy. Great Stuff - thanks for the link.

I currently reorganised all our books (hubby's, sonny's, mine) hoping against hope that somehow I would end up having more bookspace, but not with to..."

Yeah, I've decided I need a bigger house. with more bookcases, lol!

You may be able to get a LFL organised yourself, depending on how your local governing agency (council or equivalent) works. Ours is a giant pain, so it took years to get ours up, but most places have far less restrictions, so it may be worth looking into!

There was a little trouble with vandals during the first month or so, but they soon got bored of it, and now it's a great place for all those books that need a new home. I also make a lot of bookmarks and such and leave them in there, which usually go very quickly. Can't keep up with demand! lol.

Sammy wrote: "My family all know to buy me books, and each of them have a different list to work from (so they don't all buy me the same book, lol). One of my brothers has started doing the same, so now Christmas has become our Annual Book Exchange! :D"

That is so cool.

We don't exchange that many gifts. My friends used to give me books BUT, that was back when I had "normal" reading tastes.... We no longer exchange gifts anymore either. LOL.

Nobody tells me I don't real normal. Even normal data distribution has values less similar to the others. Meh

Sonia wrote: "Sammy wrote: "My family all know to buy me books, and each of them have a different list to work from (so they don't all buy me the same book, lol). One of my brothers has started doing the same, s..."

Apparently Iceland has a tradition of people exchanging books on Christmas eve and then staying up to read them. I think it says it all when I say I'm considering moving to Iceland! lol.

Normal is overrated! You should read what makes you happy (or sad, sometimes sad is also good), and not what other people expect you to read!
I don't often read chick lit or thrillers. apparently that makes me weird. I'm good with that.

Camilla wrote: "Mods: can you please change my estimated number of books from 25 to 20? My summer plans changed a bit and I realized there will be three weeks when I'm not able to read quite as much as usually."

Done!

Sonia wrote: "Melindam wrote: "Wow, Sammy. Great Stuff - thanks for the link.

I currently reorganised all our books (hubby's, sonny's, mine) hoping against hope that somehow I would end up having more bookspace..."

Thank you, Sonia.

Sammy wrote: "Normal is overrated! You should read what makes you happy (or sad, sometimes sad is also good), and not what other people expect you to read!
I don't often read chick lit or thrillers. apparently that makes me weird. I'm good with that."

Exactly.

I didn't stop liking chic-lit or thrillers or high fantasy. I just prefer urban fantasy. And if we're going to the romance area, I still enjoy it, I just prefer MM. Specially if it is romantic suspense or has a LOT of banter. Love me some verbal sparring followed by some hot time.

There is no such thing as "normal" reading. Everyone likes different things after all!

It's just sometimes difficult to buy a book for someone with a different taste because you cannot be sure you're actually getting something they'll enjoy because you might not read it yourself to check if it fits reading tastes ;-)

Sammy wrote: "I don't often read chick lit or thrillers. apparently that makes me weird. I'm good with that."

That seems like an odd statement. Why would that make you weird?

I'd figure people would call those readers who enjoy gory and bloody murder books all the time weird, rather than those who don't often read thrillers or chick-lit. Hmm..

Maybe I am the one who's weird hahah ;-)

There are some random bookshelves in our house, but Jane Austen and Terry Pratchett have always had dedicated their bookshelves in all of the places I stayed. :)

Eldarwen wrote: "Sammy wrote: "I don't often read chick lit or thrillers. apparently that makes me weird. I'm good with that."

That seems like an odd statement. Why would that make you weird?

I'd figure people wo..."

The one that gets me is the people who read nothing but non-fiction books about people who were abused as kids. When I volunteered for our local charity shop, there were about half a dozen people who would read about 3 of those a week and nothing else.
I could never even make it past the blurb without feeling sick, I could definitely not imagine reading nothing but those kind of books!