Should I go down the rabbit hole of physical book collecting...

Should I go down the rabbit hole of physical book collecting? Would I ever really re-read them or it's all just for show? What is your experience with them and is it worthy of doing it?

People who buy all the books they read are pretty much announcing that they don't read very much. There are just too many books for you to be able to do it unless you're rich as shit or you only buy new best-sellers. If you actually read literature and philosophy and stuff, there are tens of thousands of things you'd need to buy.

Anyone who reads a lot uses the library.

I do re-read my books because I eventually forget a lot of what happened or enjoy them just that much or for quicker reference than having to drive 15 minutes to the library.

>tens of thousands of things you'd need to buy
No there really isn't. If you actually read philosophy you wouldn't need tens of thousands of books. In Philosophy you can read the basics and then specialize in certain types of philosophy. And at that you can still read other types of philosophy. At most 100 books on Philosophy is all you need. 100 books is a lot. And when it comes to literature just buy 2-3 books everytime you finish reading 2 of the books you bought previously. It helped me build up my library and thats how I handle my physical books. People will generally not be reading 100 books a year especially when it comes to Philosophy because you should read, reread, then take notes.

I spend a lot of time in the library, but I still own hundreds of books. There are some resources I do not want to drive an hour to the library to use, and plenty of books are worth re-reading often. I own hundreds of books of poetry because I enjoy picking them up.

The only thing I don't buy is novels I'm not using to teach a class.

m8 I own 500-600 books as a guy who likes history, literature, and philosophy, they're all "classic" books (no YA or anything), and my collection is like a haphazard skim of lots of different things. I haven't even begun to feel like I have a real complete collection of anything, not even of one or two authors I really like. Even that would require a dozen books each.

Pic of your shelf?

To cotinue, I think a personal library should contain:

An Oxford English Dictionary

Pertinent dictionaries and grammar resources for your other///non-native languages

Foreign literature in your other languages for regular practice, because libraries will be short on these in a lot of cases and practicing your foreign languages should be a regular part of life's routine

If your field(s) converge with them, having extra dictionaries may be necessary. I own a copy of the Hobson-Jobson because part of my work is in colonial literature. I also own Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit resources/dictionaries and I'd say ancient language resources are quite important as well if you're dealing with old books.

Poetry if you enjoy poetry, because it needs to be accessible in the moment.

Secondary resources - handbooks, term dictionaries like the Harmon/Holman literature resource, etc.

Writing ABOUT literature pertinent to your field. For example, I teach Shakespeare, so I have 3 shelves of writing about him at home. If you're not in an academic field this may not be necessary, but if you're disciplined enough to be specialized you still may find a lot of value in owning books that analyze writers, periods, etc. to come back to as you explore.

I want to say that everyone should own a complete collection of Shakespeare, the Illiad and the Odyssey, Sophocles, etc. for regular reference while reading other things, but I can't justify the argument that these are necessary unless you often come across them while reading other texts.


The thing about a personal library is that, no matter how well-read you are, when you bring home a stack of challenging books from the library you're likely to at least want if not need a resource to fully deal with them. Many of these academic resources aren't available online in good format, plus it's just easier to have them on the shelf.


You should own philosophy too. My philosophy books are filled with inserted pages of notes and thoughts, and I can't imagine having to check them out from the library.

If you're approaching literature academically you should be picking up philosophy books and other resources every time you identify something familiar. The writers were well read, and there's an expectation that you will come into their writing with the same diligence. Having a personal library of good resources makes this an easier job.

they are on my kindle (e-shelf)

>People who buy all the books they read are pretty much announcing that they don't read very much.

Please explain this.

How about if you like books, collect them.

If you don't give a shit, don't.

OP HERE'S WHAT I DO. Buy a really cheap copy of a book you like, like if it's a classic get a dover thrift edition version, or go for one of the books which is in very good or good condition and buy it for like a penny plus shipping. Then if you want to actually own a nice copy of the book later, go for a nicer, more expensive copy. That's what I'm doing with my copy of the picture of dorian grey pretty soon, I got it for like 3 dollars, with free shipping, and I really wanna read it again, so I'm gonna try to find a nice copy for my collection. Wish that easton press or everyman's library had a cheap copy of it.

do whatever the hell you want
i buy a lot of books because my library sucks

Reddit hates people with more money than them.

Apparently that user doesn't think used bookstores exist?

As someone who buys or owns virtually all the books I read now, you're wrong. Think about how fast you can read, then multiply by your free time, and determine how many books you need per year. Then figure gifts, free books, library sales, etc. It's not really that expensive to spend $20-$100 a month on books: it's like having a smoking habit, except in the end you have a library instead of lung cancer. I have several thousand books, and it's wonderful to browse them and pick the latest one to read or re-read.

I want to leave them to someone.

Can you post pictures of your shelves? I don't think we've had many anons here with collections in the thousands.

>not having a library and lung cancer

That would take a lot of photos, and my collection is eclectic, with lots of non-lit-approved stuff, but I'll post a few new photos of the two libraries in my house.
First photo: entering the upstairs ("patrician") library. Don't take the names too seriously, but when I moved all my genre fiction, graphic novels, humor, etc., to the downstairs den, I started calling that one the "plebeian" library.

First cases coming in: smaller one has music-related books and sheet music, and a few small instruments (hence the door). Larger one has children's lit-related books, theatre/drama, art books, etc., not strictly sorted.

I'd only buy books that I've read and loved. Something I can open up to any page and either be captivated or inspired by. It's only happened with one novel ever and I haven't been successful in finding it.

Okay, other corner after the couch: larger case is Victoria/Pre-Raphaelite and print culture books. Smaller one is all poetry, sorted by author. The T.S. Eliot is on top. Generally I put any box sets and odds and ends up top without regard for content, so a lot of "plebeian" and graphic novel stuff is up top of cases.

We only left one bookcase in the living room: antique, rare, older books. Less likely to be read nowadays.

Down to the den: this shows all the downstairs cases (aside from D&D books on the other side, and a few odd cases elsewhere: books on probation, new books, ones for teaching). There's a box and pile of culled titles there I offer to friends before selling/donating.

Oh, it's the user who moved house recently. I've been waiting for you to make a thread dedicated to it--looks like you didn't quite end up using the design for it you posted.

I might've already asked before, but what courses do you teach?

Whoops, forgot the best part of my collection: upstairs fiction/novels (non-genre), and non-fiction, literary studies, smaller categories.

Room of my dreams man. Good for you.

Oh yes, been too busy with courses right now, but I'll do close-up pics some time if anyone cares. I had to compromise on a few points, but I'm very happy with the cases and the libraries are very comfy spaces.
I teach a weird variety of undergrad courses: genre fiction (Fantasy, SF, Horror, Mystery), poetry & drama, medieval, Arthurian, comics, and first-year fiction, essay courses, American, etc. I'm what they call a "generalist" or "course whore": I'll teach anything they think I can handle.

Good advice indeed. Hello, fellow prof. You should share your library as well.

>not going to the antique store and picking up editions like in OP's pic for 5$ a piece
>not befriending the owner of the store who is a chill old dude with a huge grey beard and blind on one eye
>not discussing the evolution of society and eternal recurrence with him over black coffee
>not meeting his qt3.14 granddaughter who helps him around the store
>not seducing her and becoming Veeky Forums lovers

How can you even be such a pseud?

It's retarded consumerism.

this
just pick up an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite today instead

Why is the art on soft covers and dust jackets always so fucking ugly?

Dang dude.

I just have two bookcases, one for books I've read and one for books I haven't read yet.

No, thank you. You do that. I prefer real books, and being a consumer doesn't bother me.

Would this not happen organically?

Idk I come from a middle class background and I always remember having books. I got my own bookshelf in middle school and have been buying/donating books ever since as my tastes have changed. I still use the library a lot, but I dont buy books for the fuck of it, i just buy them as i want to read them.

>buying second or more hand books is consumerism

I read about 100 books a year, and my too read list is probably 10x that. I have a big house, but my library is already overfilled. My wife basically got me a kindle and told me to use the library and fucking stop stacking.

How old are you that it's already overfilled? You can fit a good 1,500 books across one 12 foot wall. Unless you're in your 50s, I don't see how you could already be at max capacity.