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We have moved several times in the 27+ years that my wife and I have been married, thankfully none for the last 15 years. The last two moves were contracted out to the same firm. When we called them to come and estimate the last move they paused and then said, “Oh yeah, you’re the people with all the boxes of books.” How nice they remembered us.
Both of us read a great amount and a lot of the books are never available at the library until we donate them. Many we keep and others are set free to find new homes and enrich other lives. The only regret we’ve had was several cases of books that were ruined when the last house developed a mold problem. (It also claimed several cases of 12” Lp albums.)
Over one-half of the eBooks around here are technical. Most of these are in PDF and a surprising number are in CHM with no DRM restrictions.
The look, the feel, the smell of a great book is unique. The typography of many is a beauty in themselves. This can never be captured fully by an eBook although some PDFs come close visually.
The library is full and overflowing on the floor, the extra bookshelves in the office area are two to three deep, there are stacks in the back of the walk-in closet that can’t be walked-in anymore, and then there are the shelves and cases of books in the basement. We are now down to our last case of 12” Lp albums as the rest have been converted to electronic form (FLAC and APE format.)
One thing the eBooks can never capture is the first edition exuberance or the author’s signature and dedication from the book signing. (See, there’s the signature right on the face of the CD.)
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