[lukaspriest]

I buy and read so many books that I find I'm starting to have trouble keeping them around. Further, I find that very few of the fantasy books I read qualify as "re-readers". What do you guys do when you finish a book? Just put it back on the shelf? Lend it to a friend? And what about when you're short on space?

A while ago in another forum on this site I had suggested the idea of a books classifieds page...you know, some place to sell the old books you dont read anymore, find the hard-to-find ones that arent published in your country of residence (without paying insane money for them over commercial websites), or even trade. However, the traffic in that particular forum was quite low and the moderator was seemingly less than enthused with the idea. What do you guys think about it? Wouldnt it be awesome to have a place within these forum to wheel and deal with other fantasy lovers? I think it would be a marvelous addition to this already wonderful site.



[This message has been edited by lukaspriest (edited February 10, 2002).]

[James Barclay]

I keep the lot. Hate getting rid of books - even the bad ones.

I used to lend them out but, having seen so many disappear into the ether once lent, I don't do that either.

But, if you're having trouble with the sheer number, perhaps do what I do and (if you can) suck up to your parents, brothers or sisters and use some of their ample loft space...

[willowones]

As soon as I have enough books, I take them to the used book store and trade them. I think the going rate is 3 of mine to one of theirs. Sometimes I get lucky and run across an older author, now out of print. I keep the "rereads", but as you said not all are keepers. With new authors coming along all the time, it's impossible to keep all the books.

[Warewolf]

I keep almost all of my books. Only the ones that I truly hated do I get rid of.

As for running out of space, I have a little trick. On my bookshelves, I'll line up a row of books on a particular shelf. Then, I'll line up another row in front of those. Finally, I'll stack more books on top of those two rows. I've got over 800 books in two bookcases that are only about 6 feet tall and four or five feet wide. And, since they're all in alphabetical order by author, I have no problem finding anything http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[astrianna]

I keep all my books. We have entire rooms built of bookshelves, with books two and three deep. Once upon a time, our basement had a huge empty room. Now that room has become three smaller rooms, with bookshelves for walls. (Thank goodness for Ikea)

[SusF]

I take all the ones I know I won't re-read to the used bookstore for credit. If they don't take them, I donate them to the library. Then go buy more.

Susan

[Vitriol]

Any book I finish (or abandon with some vague intention of finishing at some later date) I hang onto. This neccesitates the construction of further bookcases at regular intervals; they now act as a sort of replacement for wallpaper.

[JohnH]

I truly have to despise a book to et rid of it. Also my reread criteria must be quite different or we just read different books. Much of what I read falls into the reread category. Within that category though are several subsets concerning priority and probability of rereading.

[Keyoke]

I keep almost all my books. As to the truly horrible ones, or ones I bought for whatever dumb reason, I'll usually just take the used bookstore for credit.

It's getting to the point now where most of the books i have I will keep. I'm always of the mind that maybe ONE day, I may want to read that book again. So, keep it to be safe. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

Keyoke

[Midus]

I read a book a time or two and, unless it is really special, throw it out. Rereading books is like watching reruns of a sitcom; I know I have better things to do.