A book you enjoy takes you out of yourself, perhaps music does something similar for you? A good film is similar for me but not as good at taking my mind away from the real world.
What's a good age:book ratio?
- Thread starter Skunkworks
- Start date
A book you enjoy takes you out of yourself, perhaps music does something similar for you? A good film is similar for me but not as good at taking my mind away from the real world.
As a figure, I have more books than DVD's which according to my missus currently stands at 327 (in alphabetical order, she's such a geek)
Can I borrow your missus to come and sort out our CDs and DVDs? Thanks.
Not strictly true - some books (and wine for that matter) may increase in value over time. I suspect some people may also use them as elaborate ornaments ("Care to join me in the library for a cognac? Did I mention my first edition Romeo & Juliet over there??"). The main difference of course is that generally speaking books aren't a consumable like wine is - in other words opening/reading a book rarely costs you anything, but opening/drinking wine will ultimately diminish the value/utility.
Soldato
- Joined
- 2 May 2011
- Posts
- 12,315
- Location
- Woking
My father has some very valuable books. They certainly don't all diminish in value with time.
But not opening either is still just an investment, it gives you no pleasure.
You may try to use it to demonstrate your wealth to gain access to a woman's nether-regions but chances are if your wealth is sufficient to do that it's quite obvious enough without showing her your first editions.
- Joined
- 3 Jun 2005
- Posts
- 7,614
I would say that popup/colouring books don't count, but that would hurt my ratio too.
I would say that popup/colouring books don't count, but that would hurt my ratio too.
I wasn't counting them!
I try to keep my owned books under a couple of hundred for reasons of space. I only have about 50 that I really want to keep, mainly for sentimental reasons not directly related to the book itself (e.g. a book I've had since I was a child). There are a few I value because of their age. They're not valuable as such (I can't afford to collect books like that), but I see value in, for example, a late Victorian Latin textbook.
But I have books for reading and for my own enjoyment, not for other people to look at and be impressed by my erudite ways. I would like a traditional library/study room with big comfy chairs and shelves of books for that lovely "old books" smell, but it would be purely for my own enjoyment.
I've owned many books over the years, probably low thousands, but I give them away when I've read them. Mostly to the local library - I've had a shipload of books from there over the years, so it's my first choice for giving books to.
But I have books for reading and for my own enjoyment, not for other people to look at and be impressed by my erudite ways. I would like a traditional library/study room with big comfy chairs and shelves of books for that lovely "old books" smell, but it would be purely for my own enjoyment.
I've owned many books over the years, probably low thousands, but I give them away when I've read them. Mostly to the local library - I've had a shipload of books from there over the years, so it's my first choice for giving books to.
I grew up in a house with ~3000 books. Yards and yards of books of all kinds, everywhere. It was wonderful. My mother taught me to read when I was very young and it seemed something like magic to me. Thoughts communicated from someone else's mind to mine - it's sort of like a spell written in a spellbook! Awesome! Stories by magic!
Permabanned
- Joined
- 20 Nov 2011
- Posts
- 3,814
- Location
- Cambridge/Chicago
same.
Doing a PhD is what killed my reading appetitie. After spending all day reading and writing the last thing I wanted to do in the evening was bury my head in a book.
Now a days I mostly read non-fiction work, largely Wikipedia TbH. But like you I sometimes burn through a large tomb in a few weeks like lOTR
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 Oct 2005
- Posts
- 8,706
- Location
- Nottingham
Same here ... growing up me and my sister were very much encouraged to read and we did ... a lot. Visiting second hand bookshops and getting obscure sci-fi and fantasy books was always fun.
Now I don't read as much as I used to (due to time) but there are still ~9 six-shelf bookcases worth of books around my house (two of which are non-fiction) plus a knee high pile of books and DVDs across the bottom of the triple doored wardrobe in the main bedroom. I have a kindle as well. Of these I've read ~95% at least once and many of them multiple times. Personally I find that reading requires you to use your imagination a lot more than watching a film (which I also enjoy) where everything is handed to you which leads to a better, deeper, experience.
I always think that I don't get as much time now to read as I used to but in real terms I probably do as I probably read for over 2hrs a day on my commute and tend to get through several books a week (depending on the books).
I've quite a lot of books at this moment, but I have reduced the amount in recent years. I've been too busy to read much for a while now though, and have only bought about two books in the last year. In truth, I find almost everything I want to read freely available online - the benefits of non fiction!
Unsurprisingly, this thread is rapidly turning into a (e-)book waving thread. But in answer to the OP : there is no answer. You should read because you want to, not because others say that you should. Even at 2.3 per year, you are still ahead of a significant part of the population who haven't read a proper book since they left school - assuming that they read any before they left. Many people do not read as adults except on the beach. This is not wrong, but not right either, because it's individual choice. As a reader myself, I'd rather that you read a week a month at least, but I'm aware that is a rare level of commitment.
And because I like waving my e-peen as much as the next man, I read about a book a week, which is way down on my youth when it was two to three a week. However, I only possess about 450 books.
And because I like waving my e-peen as much as the next man, I read about a book a week, which is way down on my youth when it was two to three a week. However, I only possess about 450 books.
I currently have one book. How many you possess seems a fairly poor measure of how many you've read, or how much you value reading. I have a storage locker with 2000+ of my Dad's books in it, which I'll crack on with once I end up back in the UK.
That said, I don't read nearly as much as I should any more, but I rarely have quiet time to myself, and I find it hard to read with any distractions around.
That said, I don't read nearly as much as I should any more, but I rarely have quiet time to myself, and I find it hard to read with any distractions around.
I couldn't tell you, that is how many books I own, a couple of large cases is about as definite a number as I can give.
And I don't often keep books, often I will read them and sell them on or give them to charity, or just to a friend to have and pass on.
Pretty much what I keep are textbooks, gifts and a few favourites.
And I don't often keep books, often I will read them and sell them on or give them to charity, or just to a friend to have and pass on.
Pretty much what I keep are textbooks, gifts and a few favourites.