Shifting back to physical books...

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Mivo

The latter is tedious and probably not worth the trouble and expenses. Basically, all options are unappealing.

If you don't need to get any money for them, then split them up into genre, and package each genre in a box. Give them away by the box through Ebay.

"Oh, there are 48 books in this box, and you want only 12? Bad luck. You must take the entire box; that's why it's free."

If the box moves to an English-speaking country, the person there can give the books away that he doesn't want. (Or take the effort of actually selling htem.

Originally Posted by Mivo

I have about 120 "Go" (the board game) paper books, which I could probably sell as a bundle -- quite a few are OOP and fairly rare --, but I'm emotionally attached to them. I guess I could keep those, especially since they are likely to retain their value (Go books are generally printed in tiny editions in the west) as collectibles. I would probably regret if I ditched them.

It's hard to break attachment.

Go books? What rank are you? I play chess and go; and while my chess is respectable, I don't know my Go rank as I only play unranked people. Giving or throwing away those books wouldn't do. They are great references for when your active play surges up once again. That's why I kept many of my chess books. (I don't have many Go books; only about 20 or so.)

[ProfCrash]

I have all my books from grad school and a few other shelves of books. But I don't add to the collection.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

One thing that I would suggest doing is making the library your friend. You are likely paying for them through your property taxes, and they are there for everyone to use. This is true for ebooks and pbooks.

The library is and always shall be my friend...

[simon89]

Honestly no, I'm shifting more and more to ebooks. For years I only bought paper books, was happy and could never think of changing to an ebook reader. What annoyed me the most back then was probably the fact that very little books were offered digitally. It went better but as I recently read in some other forum only 45 percent of publishers were planning to distribute over three quarters of their titles as e-books. (http://www.statista.com/topics/1453/digital-publishing/) That's not much in my opinion. And when this number will increase in the next years hopefully - then I'll be totally convinced by ebooks I guess.

[Sregener]

I just purchased Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual from Kobo using a discount code, making the eBook $9.29. The printed version was $26 from Amazon. It is a large book, and it would take significant storage space on my shelf. The eBook was tempting at $16 on Amazon, but a no-brainer at $9. I could always sell the pBook version to make up some of the difference, but probably not enough to make the pBook cheaper.

And the value of the eBook came to light the next day at the chess club where another member had a question about a position and I whipped out my phone (not my primary reader) and opened it up to the page in question and we examined the diagram and description together. I would never have carried the pBook with me on the off chance someone had a question about it.

[chromedome]

Originally Posted by Mivo

I have about 120 "Go" (the board game) paper books, which I could probably sell as a bundle -- quite a few are OOP and fairly rare --, but I'm emotionally attached to them. I guess I could keep those, especially since they are likely to retain their value (Go books are generally printed in tiny editions in the west) as collectibles. I would probably regret if I ditched them.

It's hard to break attachment.

I hear you, there are still some books such as my hard bound copies of LOTR Hobbit and Silmarillion that I cannot bring myself to part with. I guess these'll reside in a box somewhere safe until the inevitable. I hope that whoever finds them, after I bid my farewells, take good care of them. Daft thing is, I read the paperback versions ten years prior to obtaining the hardbacks. The hardbacks are mostly unsullied by human hand as I never actually read them. I re-read the Hobbit and Fellowship as e-books only a year or two ago.



Regards,

Greg

[pdurrant]

I've been reading ebooks for over ten years. I very rarely read a paper book now, and I can't see myself switching back.

I do have full bookshelves, but unless I move I don't feel any need to actually dispose of my paper books.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by chromedome

I hear you, there are still some books such as my hard bound copies of LOTR Hobbit and Silmarillion that I cannot bring myself to part with. I guess these'll reside in a box somewhere safe until the inevitable. I hope that whoever finds them, after I bid my farewells, take good care of them. Daft thing is, I read the paperback versions ten years prior to obtaining the hardbacks. The hardbacks are mostly unsullied by human hand as I never actually read them. I re-read the Hobbit and Fellowship as e-books only a year or two ago.



Regards,

Greg

I bought the beautifully illustrated hardcover editions as well, just to have. I've never read them either, but my old Tolkien Centenniary Editions are almost trashed from being manhandled so much over the years.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by graycyn

The library is and always shall be my friend...

Mine too. Borrowing from the library so often is one of the reasons why I still read so many paper books. Public libraries' e-book collections aren't nearly as robust as their traditional collections. Plus, e-books can't be loaned on interlibrary loan. Even many of the books I buy are still paper. Part of it is price (buying used is cheaper than buying either paper or e-books new) and part of it is genre (I usually buy non-fiction as I like to make notations in them and I usually let my husband read them after me).

I still read e-books. I love reading novels as e-books and when I can get them at a very cheap price or from the library, I'm very happy. It's just that having a book as an e-book isn't a must for me. I ultimately get a book in whatever format is the best and the most frugal for me.

[DreamWriter]

For reading fiction, I strongly prefer e-books. I haven't purchased a paper book in a long time.

[FanciFreez]

Originally Posted by laughingdragons

I haven't read a pbook since I got my reader and don't plan on it. I'm reading more than I ever have since getting it.

It's just too easy to find and get books now. The only books I do prefer in paper are cookbooks.

I agree.. pbooks are losing their luster fast.. if I could grab that paper page and use two fingers to expand it, then it would be a different story.. plus not to mention the old ink print on pbooks looks very fuzzy and blurry compared to eInk..

[speakingtohe]

I may be a lot different in that I have rarely wanted to own a book, and when I did it was reference, specialty non-fiction or cookbook. Even then all I wanted was the information.

But I have also never bought a book with resale or trade value in mind. I bought books for the information or for the sole purpose of reading them once. Sometimes I bought books because the price was too good to pass up and I thought I would enjoy them or find them useful. A high price would have me thinking it over, but more often than not, I would bite the bullet and pay the price if I wanted the book.

I did trade books at one time, but generally because I was running out of room. In recent years (past 20?)it wasn't worth the time and aggravation. Of they would go to the Salvation Army. (I could not throw them out in any circumstances)

With ebooks, I can always find something I want to read, and more often then not exactly what I want to read.

Library borrowing is also much easier and a lot cheaper, no fine for lost or mislaid books, and if I spill ketchup on my ereader, nobody knows but me. Typically library borrowing cost me $20 - $50 a year. I once had 5 expensive library reference books stolen to a tune of over $300. I knew who took them but what could I do. I did not begrudge the fines, mostly my fault and a very small price to pay, but nice not to hav to pay it again.

Ebooks cost me less overall
Ebooks are not taking over my closets and hallways and storage.
Ebooks are more convenient to buy or borrow.
I never have to physically tear the place apart to find one.
Barring a total disaster they are pretty indestructible.
I put an ereader in my pocket, I don't have to check my backpack to make sure I have books to read when I am away for a while.

It is just so much easier for me in so many ways that even if all my ereaders and computers were destroyed I would just start over.

Helen

[estelle58]

Originally Posted by laughingdragons

I haven't read a pbook since I got my reader and don't plan on it. I'm reading more than I ever have since getting it.

It's just too easy to find and get books now. The only books I do prefer in paper are cookbooks.

Same thing here

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Ebooks cost me less overall
Ebooks are not taking over my closets and hallways and storage.
Ebooks are more convenient to buy or borrow.
I never have to physically tear the place apart to find one.
Barring a total disaster they are pretty indestructible.
I put an ereader in my pocket, I don't have to check my backpack to make sure I have books to read when I am away for a while.

It is just so much easier for me in so many ways that even if all my ereaders and computers were destroyed I would just start over.

Helen

Helen's Ode to Ebooks.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Helen's Ode to Ebooks.

I love it. It's like a soothing mantra.