Physical book collections?

[odeazy]

Yea I'm the same.. I just got an e-reader just when my bookcase was starting to fill nicely! But there's still one or two series I'm reading that I'll want to complete the hard copy collection.. The best of both worlds I guess!

[DixieGal]

In Dec 2009, I finally got rid if the last of my books. Except for our travel books and the coffee table art books we get at museums that we visit. So we made a valuable donation to the library. It was mostly my college textbooks (lit major, so it was all classics) and Tim's (math). I searched Amazon used prices and made a detailed list, to verify the amount of the charitable donation for tax purposes. It was a huge deduction which got us extra $$$$$ on our refund check.

Never underestimate the beauty of an uncrowded bookshelf.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I'll still stop by the second-hand book store if I'm in town. And I'll still come home with new second-hand books

It took me a while to stop doing it. I absolutely adored going to second hand book shops.

The last time I got a couple of second hand books, was 1 year ago.
It is my guess, but I guess it is a pretty sound one.
Our neighbour, a few houses down the street was moving. He was about 70 years old. He had a big rubbish skip. He was getting rid of a lot of stuff. Emptied the skip once and refilled it again. Our postman, our friend as well, told me that the man is throwing away lots of books.
Then one day, when I returned from work I remembered that I have to pick up our empty orange rubbish bin (recycling stuff that has been emptied on this day) from the road and put it back to our garden.
I went outside, grabbed the bin - it is heavy! I looked inside....and discovered some 20 books in it. The youngest was from 1965 I think. I didn't need most of them, so I got rid of some of them, some that were in a better condition I took to the nearest second hand shop, but some of the books I left.
I don't remember which ones I left for myself, 2 or 3 I think.
2 others I gave to our friend. I knew she loves old things because she feels like they have history behind (she and her husband often buy old things on auctions). She also used to be religious Christian, until she was excommunicated for...a sin. I gave her 2 Bibles dated 18xx year! One of the bibles was not a traditional one, but had 3 more parts that are omitted in the modern Bible. She said she could never read it before, when she was part of the Church but she felt like it was time to read the forbidden bits. She was so happy

It is still a mystery why he took all the trouble to put the books into my rubbish bin. He had close neighbours and he had a rubbish skip.
Probably I look very intelligent and he decided I am a reliable person who can find a use for the books
"astra ducks his head"

P.S. I am not religious and definitely not a Christian, so it would be a waste for the Bibles to sit on my bookshelves but I just could not throw such old books into rubbish bin. I simply could not.

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by inkyness

... I'll probably end up using my reader 90% of the time when I'm out, and maybe up to 50% of the time when I'm at home ...

It's the same for me. I absolutely love my Sony and I have ordered a Kindle which will arrive this week, but I still buy pbooks. I just love to have a book in my hands every once in a while.

There's a really nice secondhand bookshop in town, the owner sells English books only. I really like to snoop around there and will always buy something. The good thing about this shop is the fact that you pay cash only. So you can't spend more on books than what you have in your wallet at the time.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

In Dec 2009, I finally got rid if the last of my books. Except for our travel books and the coffee table art books we get at museums that we visit. So we made a valuable donation to the library. It was mostly my college textbooks (lit major, so it was all classics) and Tim's (math). I searched Amazon used prices and made a detailed list, to verify the amount of the charitable donation for tax purposes. It was a huge deduction which got us extra $$$$$ on our refund check.

Never underestimate the beauty of an uncrowded bookshelf.

Wow! You're all the way there. I'm not there yet. I bet if I had to move a few times I could be persuaded.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Dodge

I must admit that the sight of bookcases filled with print books is great. Seeing all the titles stacked and in rows creates a great ambiance as well as something to talk about and show off

well, that was what I thought some months ago when I lived in my parents' house and had a huge bookcase full of well-known novels and a small warehouse full of carton boxes full of thick books But now when I live alone, physical books are quite expensive and heavy and take up much space so I think and e-reader is a good choice

I'm a big fan of old books: I nearly can't find the enthusiast in new editions the book with old stained pages and the smell of years are addictive to me the words are vague and hard to read, but that old font type they used to print is awesome

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by inkyness

I'll probably end up using my reader 90% of the time when I'm out, and maybe up to 50% of the time when I'm at home.

I think you'll find you'll use it* 100% of the time when you're out, and 95% of the time at home.

I very rarely read a physical book now.

*For reading books - not counting newspapers and glossy magazines, of course.

[HarryT]

I still far prefer physical books for reference books (eg, I can't see myself ever getting rid of my "Oxford Classical Dictionary"), but for fiction, it's the eBook reader every time.

[inkyness]

Originally Posted by Iridal

It's the same for me. I absolutely love my Sony and I have ordered a Kindle which will arrive this week, but I still buy pbooks. I just love to have a book in my hands every once in a while.

Awesome - I was beginning to think everyone here had converted almost entirely to ebooks, haha.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think you'll find you'll use it* 100% of the time when you're out, and 95% of the time at home.

I very rarely read a physical book now.

*For reading books - not counting newspapers and glossy magazines, of course.

Well, I very rarely read newspapers or magazines anyway. Honestly, though, I've thought about it a lot and I think my original estimate is going to be more or less accurate. Just because a lot of other people have ended up using ereaders exclusively doesn't mean I will end up doing that too.

The thing about print books from libraries is that they're still the only way you can read most books for free, and with a few exceptions (i.e. classics, library ebooks, or I guess piracy) that won't change.

Even now, except at library sales, I basically don't buy any books because I think I might like them. I read them from the library first, and if I absolutely love something I buy it in hardcover. So in order to use my reader for 95% of all my reading, I'd have to end up either changing what I read, or buying significantly more books than I do at the moment. (I'm sure I'll buy a few ebooks, for convenience, but it would cost a fortune to buy everything I read before I read it.)

And I think I'll probably buy close to the same amount of hardcovers even after I get my ereader, because I just like the feeling of them. I like the cover art, the jacket text, the fonts and typography that are used, the fact that authors are able to sign them. I like being able to physically flip through them, to sometimes physically put a marker in various scenes and physically see where each of them are in the story. (I don't know, perhaps part of this "obsession" is because I'm an aspiring author myself.)

I do think it would be interesting to keep track over the next year of what books I read, what formats I read them in, and how many books of each format I buy. I can make another post to share the results if I remember.

And even though I spent a lot of this post defending physical books, I'm not trying to be anti-ebook or anything; obviously they have plenty of their own advantages, and if I didn't believe that I wouldn't be eagerly waiting for my Kindle's scheduled delivery on Friday.

[natasha_fawn]

My plan is to buy all new entertainment books in ebook format first. Then if a book becomes a real favorite, or if for whatever reason I want to support an author more, I will buy a paper book version. I already have books scattered between three houses in three different states (mother's house, pseudo-mother-in-law's house, current apartment) so I really don't need more! I have such a hard time getting rid of things anyway. I tend to become unreasonably attached to bound stacks of paper with words on them.

Reference books and school books will probably be paper, I find it a lot easier to look things up in paper books.

(We'll see if this plan holds up, I've only had the ereader since Christmas. I already foresee two deviations, there's a series I have to complete.)

[Bookworm_Girl]

I read almost exclusively all ebooks now. 2010 was the tipping point for me because my library really expanded its digital media collection. I even find myself checking to see if my library has the digital version of some paperbooks that I previously purchased. I restrict my paperbook purchases mostly to significant bargains or books that aren't available in e-format. And I also still buy paper for reference, travel, photography and personal favorites as others have noted.

[Kindle Worm]

My preference sits around how good the book is. I will by a hard copy if I deem the book good enough to add to my physical library. In my opinion, a physical library is needed in a home, especially to teach children the importance of non-digital media. (At least in my home).

[jaxx6166]

i have a problem. =) While I do most of my reading exclusively on the Sony, I can't keep away from paperbooks. It's kind of like one of those horrifying car crashes where you just can't peel your eyes away. I received six books for Christmas. And the first thing I did when I got home was buy them in digital format.

I did the same thing with Way of Kings, Bearers of the Black Staff, and probably more than I can count in recent memory. If only the publishers would join the Bluray craze. I'm really loving the BR/DVD/Digital combo packs.

[stop__dreaming]

Great thread.

I am in a predicament of whether I should get the book in physical form rather than ebook form as I've found some are more expensive for the Kindle.

I just picked up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for under £8 from Play.com (RRP £12.99) but the Kindle version is only £6.39. I purchased the book because I noticed in store it had a nice looking cover and pages.

Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes is the next book am about to read, and acquired this for £5 on eBay (Kindle price - £7.65).

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck and World War Z by Max Brooks are also in the pipeline, but with the physical editions only 20p more expensive, I sometimes wonder whether it's nicer to have the book.

I love my Kindle and think it's the way forward so I need to start 'using' the device to its full potential.

Thanks for reading.

[IvyRose]

When I bought my first ereader in September 2009 I thought I'd use it mainly when travelling and at home I'd read physical books. Well that was then. Today I'm reading 100% on the Kindle. When there's a book I cannot get in digital form, I don't buy it. But if there's a book I really really liked, I buy the paper edition (usually hardcover) to put it on my bookshelf (e.g. collector's edition of Lord of the Rings).

The only physical books I still buy are photo books, travel books, actually all the books with mainly photographs or paintings in it, since they are not really fun to look at on an e-ink screen.