Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
With regard to paper books, I think I'm going to put a limit on how many my girlfriend can have at any one time after she moves in with me. I had a book/DVD-collection in 5 book cases, and that collection was a bear to move. I'm not going down that route again.
There will be room for 3 IKEA Billy-sized bookcases, and each will hold around 200 paperbacks. I know. I had 600 of them in three cases at one point. When outfitted with the maximum of 7 shelves, a Billy holds 25 to 35 x 7 normal sized paperbacks. More if you actually double-stack some.
Part of one case will be for my absolute favorites that I just can't have or want as e-books, such as my Tolkien-collection and illustrated works. These books are huge hardcovers and take up around half a case at this point. My girlfriend can have up to 2.5 cases, which comes down to around 500 books.
As she now only has a handful (50 or so?) in her current tiny condo, 500 books should be a venerable library in comparison. If the space is filled up, she'll have to cull the collection to make room for new books. It's impossible just to keep adding bookcases as there isn't more room without spilling over into the bedroom or living room. (Also, there are book shelves built into the sides the living room table, and they'll hold 20-25 paperbacks each, which potentially comes down to having up to 100 books in the living room.)
IMHO, there is no -need- any longer to have novel as a paper book except for wanting it in that format. It's just a wall of text with some front and back matter, and that's it.
When I moved 7 years ago, I took the chance to get an e-reader and didn't move my books except for the absolute favorites and illustrated works. I replaced everything with e-books and gave all paper books to charity. Same with DVD's: I had a 700 disc DVD/Blue-ray collection (50x7 in one Billy case and I had two) but I don't feel the need to own movies anymore, except for some extreme favorites (less than 30 at this point).
Strangely enough, my GF is green with envy with regard to my personal library containing 1200 well-tagged and organized books, among them 60 Delphi Classics, a load of Barnes and Nobles Classics from the time when they gave a bunch of them away each week, and (in a separate library) almost 3500 public domain books from the Feedbook servers.
Still, she refuses to touch an e-reader. She actually buys paper copies of books I have, even though she'd be able to read them if she'd just ask.
The only exception when she uses an e-reader is when going on vacation, to avoid having to check in a second suitcase...
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The solution to having too many books to move is not to move! I've had my townhouse for over 20 years. Moving in was a bear, but hey I tipped the movers well.