your home library

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Two of my dear friends have built beautiful homes. What they share in common are: they are married with children. Their homes have tile floors and fancy countertops. They live in good neighborhoods and followed smart houseplans. Each woman has an eye for decorating; she knows what she wants her home to become.

And neither house has a single bookcase or shelves for books.



At each of their housewarmings, I noticed this and asked where they were going to store their books. Both women told me that they aren't into books. Books are to be read and passed on. The first housewarming took place over the summer, and I mulled it over at the time. But last night was the second gathering, and I sit here stuck in my thoughts about it.

How important is book storage in your home? How important are books in your life? What is your "policy" about reading/keeping/distributing books?

[blueyecicle]

Re: your home library

You know it drives me crazy to hear people tell me "I don't read" What does that mean?? Does that mean you can't or don't want to? And even better is "I don't do books" ???
In my childrens room I feel it is SUPER important and they have at least 500 books...of course grandma is a librarian

I do not have a book shelf in my livingroom because we only have 1000 SF home but I have boxes stored neatly and we have 4 bookshelves in the playroom.

We also welcome friends to share books and take books. I trade with g/f 's all the time and we go to goodwill to buy books and trade them in when we are done. Now we may only read horror novels! BUT it is reading. My children see me reading and I feel it is of the utmost importance for them to be exposed to books every single day.
We even have childrens and magazines in the bathroom. Even in the smallest home you can store couple books. We are blessed to have so many available for us. Grandma buys books for every birthday/Christmas....we also buy the boys books as presents.

All views, cultures and religions. very important in our home anyways.

The all bring books to me daily and always have.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: your home library

I've never counted how many books we have... but there are about a dozen store-bought bookcases around the house. I really need to build some shelves on the walls.

[lavagal]

Re: your home library

When we bought this house from my in-laws, we inherited a wall of books, in a floor-to-ceiling book case that is probably 15-feet wide. I've got books from ancient times (early 20th century) to modern times and the books continue to pour in what with avid readers all over and within our extended family. My collection is primarily cookbooks, and people give me old ones and I love having so many of them around. We have atlases, a few Time-Life collections, books on art, home improvement, plants, health care, and a trillion story books for kids and adults.

Not having bookshelves is not an option. The two women who were cited as saying they had no need nor room in their lives for books were probably embarrassed for saying so. And if they weren't, then that's kinda sad. They should be.

I probably have more books than money in the bank.

[scrivener]

Re: your home library

Pua`i, I swear we were meant for each other. When are you going to come to your senses and get over here?

For as long as I can remember, the location of my books has been a constant awareness, the way the location of my shoes is, or the location of my keys. My parents each had bookshelves that were "theirs," 'though my mom tended to read stuff then pass it along to others, since her reading consisted almost entirely of magazines and novels from Japan -- she would read them then give them to her Japanese-speaking friends who were not as well-connected to a good source. My own limited book-space was a yearly concern: Because I knew I'd be getting books for Christmas (and for my birthday a few days after that), my mom required that every winter before the holidays, I pick out several for donation to the Salvation Army in order to make room for the next year.

When I'm invited into someone's home, one of the first things I look for is the bookshelf (the music shelf is the next). Every time I've had to move from one house to another, the biggest concern has been which books were going to make the move with me. I simply do not understand (and I try) people who do not read. Perhaps that is snotty of me, but I know there are people who don't understand people who don't like seafood, or who don't go to the beach at least once per week, so maybe that wouldn't be a fair assessment of my attitude.

A very, very close friend of mine was engaged to one of my best friends, and in most ways I could think of, it seemed like a good match, except that the guy just doesn't read. I was sure the marriage either wouldn't last or wouldn't happen, and I was right. How much is attributable to that one difference I do not know, but it probably was symptomatic of a few other differences. That's what I think, anyway.

I dream of having a place to live where one whole room is just for books. I have the space now, actually, and keep meaning to set up the extra bedroom for that, but, well, you know how those things go.

ps:
Please don't steal this idea from me, anyone who might be reading this, but I'd like my wedding to be in the Hawaii State Library, in the courtyard. I know that as the guy in this eventual (maybe) relationship, I'll have very little say about things like this, but it would be so cool.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: your home library

Books have been a gift in my life. They took me off my island, and expanded my ability to think beyond my culture, cirumstances, and era. Although I am quite the internet junkie, ebooks and the sort will never take the place of a hardbound book. I love the smell of old books; those old fonts hold my fascination, as does the feeling of the paper turning beneath my hand.

For the size of our home, a significant % of wallspace are dedicated shelving for books. I considered this a necessity, as we don't live close to a library. It was that way in our home growing up. Nobody was poorer than us, but every dime spent on books was considered money well-spent.

On a tangent, I find that those "home improvement" shows deeply bother me because for all of their luxurious appointments, a family library is never among them. I find websites like this one delicious.

[Adri]

Re: your home library

/snip My collection is primarily cookbooks, and people give me old ones and I love having so many of them around. /snip.

I love reading old cookbooks. They provide a little window into the times and society in which those recipes were used. When my mom got married, her sister gave her a cookbook (with two aspirin in an envelope taped to the inside cover). Every recipe in there that wasn't a dessert called for ajinomoto (and now we ignore the msg part and if we eat out, we actively try to avoid places that cook with msg). Many old cookbooks call for cream and butter and wine sauces and slow cooking methods that call for roasting and braising and basting. The newer ones tend to focus on quick healthy meals.

Sometimes I will borrow a book from the library or a friend and if I really like it, then I will go out and buy it. Some books feel like old friends upon re-reading. I find it really hard to give many books away but book storage is an issue with me. I am running out of space to keep books.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: your home library

another question:

how do you like to read? What is your preferred environment? I have "reading in bed" time, "reading in the parlor" time, and "reading on the porch" time. Different sensory experiences seem to heighten (or detract) from the quality of reading.

As for my girlfriends: I love them dearly, and we have been buddies for years. Still, neither woman prioritizes books, and I have to say that their decorating schemes are consistent with who they are as people. They are good, honest, trustworthy people, neither of whom feel embarrassment for not being "into" books.

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: your home library

My personal library (more like a bookcase) contains mostly ethnic studies books. Most friends who visit are shocked that I have "Rolling The R's" by R. Zamora Linmark. "That's a super gay book," they say. Meh...I've always felt that books contain knowledge, experience, and perspectives that can be passed on forever, so I tend to buy some off-the-wall stuff.

[Marco]

Re: your home library

Books are to be read and passed on.

How important is book storage in your home? How important are books in your life? What is your "policy" about reading/keeping/distributing books?

I would say I agree with the above statement. Books are meant to be read, then shared with others. It almost seems a disservice to me not to share it, though I can understand wanting to keep a valuable first edition book in mint condition or something along those lines. We have a bookshelf in our home, but it doesn't have much except old childhood books and school textbooks right now. I used to read all the time growing up, but find I have little enough time these days. I still hold on to my copies of Where the Red Fern Grows, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. so I can share them with my keikis when they're old enough to read.

I don't really have a "policy" when it comes to books. Sometimes I'll keep it, other times I'll loan it out; I've even bought books for friends when I didn't want to give up my copy. Not many of my friends read for pleasure, anyways.

another question:

how do you like to read? What is your preferred environment? I have "reading in bed" time, "reading in the parlor" time, and "reading on the porch" time. Different sensory experiences seem to heighten (or detract) from the quality of reading.

I can usually only sneak in a chapter or two of "pleasure reading" in-between class and work, but my preferred environment is about 1/2 hour before we go to bed. Sometimes, if my wife and I get some alone time, we'll just go to a coffee shop and read all morning.

[Bard]

Re: your home library

It's been an ambition of mine to have a nice sized library for a long time. Now thinking about moving to the islands, we're wondering if it was a good goal...

But we have two book-cases here, stuffed top to bottom with books. Literally. The one is all fiction and philosophy books, and most of the shelves or double-deep with books stacked on top. The other is all reference books and comics/graphic novels. We need more shelves really badly but our house is 950sqft so we just don't really have much room for it.

They're in our office, which is the smaller bedroom (and also contains the "geekosphere" ). There used to be a comfy reading chair in here and a nice bright light, but we moved the chair out to the living room during a rearranging. So now it's not as much of a reading room anymore, but there are plenty of other good reading spots in our house.

I think we have some overflow shelf space in my wife's office area, which is located under a loft bed we built last year. She's short so it works out. =)

Edit: Oh and loaning policy... I actually keep a check-out list because I found that if I don't, books and videos tend to walk away, usually by accident, but it still sucks to go back and want to look at one later and realize it's gone. I've got a few friends I'm reluctant to loan out to now because they tend to come back a lot more worn or smoky (grr).

[pzarquon]

Re: your home library

Our own Linkmeister has been quite enthusiastic about a site called Library Thing. He's blogged about it here and here and here and here... It helps you inventory, organize, and search your library, browse others' collections, and -- thanks to the cell phone interface -- check it while browsing the aisles of your library or bookstore to make sure you don't buy a second copy of something you already own.

Link's library of 1,400 titles is here.

Do you keep an inventory of your library? How do you keep it all organized?

[nachodaddy]

Re: your home library

Got books everywhere and to my admission, they are not categorized as neatly as they should be. My reasoning is that books are meant to be read and I am afraid that if I find nice happy homes for them, they won't be read as much. I am like that with tools too, I know where they are at, if I find nice happy homes for them, I won't use them and they will collect dust.

Got "going to bed" books next to the bed, tech and gardening books in my office, everything else on horizontal surfaces throughout the house.

Yeah, I lose track of books sometimes but looking for them is in a twisted way, fun.

Everytime I make it to Portland for any length of time, I drop a benjamin at Powell's books. The best bookstore in the entire world. Yes, sometimes I pay more than say Amazon but I am paying for the vibe as well. Kinda like buying a beer in a bar for $3.50. I have also found absolute steals for out of print or used books as well. It all evens out in the end.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: your home library

Some of my favorite books are the ones with which I heartily disagree. Others are the ones I have inherited from my grandparents, complete with their vehement scribbles along the borders. How they consumed their books! In recent years, they both discovered the "stickie", which revolutionized their commentary.

As for first editions, all pretty and prestine? You can have it. Gimme the bus' up copy. The well-worn one. I want not only the book, but the reactions of those who read them. I want to know if I would come to a similar conclusion or not.

[CranBeree]

Re: your home library

i love love love to read...during recess in elementary days...i would be in the library instead of out in the field.. i read shogun when i was 8 yrs old :P anyhow, i am teaching my kids my obsession ...one fiction and one nonfiction book a week. sometimes we miss a week due to other activities but we try.. i used to like Sci-Fi back in high school..now am bent on murder/mystery series, throw in some Christian reading and a few odds & ends.