# how many books do you own?



## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

easy enough really.

options allow approximation


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

You can help me count them tomorrow


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## N_igma (Aug 8, 2009)

Fuck knows, hundreds.


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## spring-peeper (Aug 8, 2009)

I'm guessing close to 1000.

All bookshelves are full - two lines per shelf and we still have boxes of them in storage.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> You can help me count them tomorrow


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

I'm not unpacking the ones in the loft though.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

The best compliment I have ever been paid was from Pickman's about my books.


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 8, 2009)

About enough to fill 8 shelves.

A few hundred, I'd imagine.


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## Roadkill (Aug 8, 2009)

Somewhere around 1,500 - perhaps a bit over.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

stupid dogbot said:


> About enough to fill 8 shelves.
> 
> A few hundred, I'd imagine.


8 shelves = approx 240 > 300


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> The best compliment I have ever been paid was from Pickman's about my books.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

Between me and mr paw I think it's greater than 500, less than 1000. Probably closer to 500 than 1000.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

probably around 500. I need to do my infrequent sorting of the wheat from the chaff and dump probably 50-100 shit books on the charity shop


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## quimcunx (Aug 8, 2009)

I've gotten rid of a lot more than I've bought over the last couple of years. 

Probably 200 or so.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

The problem is, even though I've been removed from temptation's way by having been made redundant from the big golden W, mr paw has made it his mission in life to trawl all the local (and not so local) charity shops for books, and comes home with at least 5 each time. His best haul was 14 for £1.40 from a place in Longton. He was very chuffed with that. He's promised not to buy any more until his PhD is finished though. Which at it's longest estimate gives me until the end of the year to weedle out the crap and send to charity shops.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

There are over 400 in the room I call my own (tiny box-room with my computer in it). Haven't started on the ones in Pip's old bedroom yet. That's what I do. I wait for them to leave home and then put in bookshelves to accommodate books accumulating in piles downstairs. Most are of my books are still downstairs on two floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelves in the sitting room though.


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

About 250-300 by my calculations. Mostly reference books - my novels come from the library. Most of them bought in the last two years  as I lived down the road from an amazing BHF bookshop.


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## maomao (Aug 8, 2009)

I lost about 400 books when my last flat flooded.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> There are over 400 in the room I call my own (tiny box-room with my computer in it). Haven't started on the ones in Pip's old bedroom yet. That's what I do. I wait for them to leave home and then put in bookshelves to accommodate books accumulating in piles downstairs. Most are of my books are still downstairs on two floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelves in the sitting room though.


how many shelves up?


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Eight bookcases upstairs and can't remember how many shelves high the ones downstairs are.


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## spring-peeper (Aug 8, 2009)

We had lined one of the upstairs rooms with bookshelves and piled all the big heavy ones into them.

After a few years, we noticed a crack forming along one of the house's main support beams.  

We moved the bookcases downstairs.  I hope the house doesn't fall down on us.


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> how many shelves up?



They were built by a carpenter. They start at the floor, go up to the ceiling, and the two walls they're on are about 3.5m I think. 
I think upstairs there are about 4 tall Ikea bookshelves.

ETA: they're wider than 3.5m actually. Get the tape measure out ma.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

5 tall ones, 3 shorter


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Eight bookcases upstairs





Pip said:


> I think upstairs there are about 4 tall Ikea bookshelves.



Shows how attentive I am.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

I have 4
Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero
Dan Brown's The Davinci Code
The Highway Code
Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 Manual


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I have 4
> Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero
> Dan Brown's The Davinci Code
> The Highway Code
> Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 Manual


I don't believe you. Wot about the book wot you wrote? Or was that a lie too? 







He told me he wrote Mills & Boon romances and I believed him! 
He has written a book though, he told me so with a straight face.


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## spring-peeper (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 Manual



We are going to be buying one of those.  Can I borrow your manual?


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## twistedAM (Aug 8, 2009)

i do a fair bit of reading but then give them away. I keep McCarthy, Camus and Faulkner books and that's about it.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I don't believe you. Wot about the book wot you wrote? Or was that a lie too?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i wouldn't believe everything he says - he told me he was in a churchill ad


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Mine are largely non-fiction.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Mine are largely non-fiction.


i'd go 2001-5000 for you


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## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

90% sci fi and fantasy here, although I do have a few biographies, histories and a few bestiaries (books on magic creatures)


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

I probably only have a hundred or so - I left loads behind when I left the country, and didn't bring many back, and I've rather got out of the habit of buying them. Or, for that matter, reading them.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

You might be right, Pickman's. I reckon about a fifth to a quarter are natural history/horticultural. I forgot about the ones in the kitchen, food history and recipes.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> You might be right, Pickman's. I reckon about a fifth to a quarter are natural history/horticultural. I forgot about the ones in the kitchen, food history and recipes.


*reminds self: get elizabeth david book*


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I don't believe you. Wot about the book wot you wrote? Or was that a lie too?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



i was only joking.
i have only a half-written abortion of a book that will never be finished cos my writing mojo has vanished forever and i don't want it to come back, truth told.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

pickman's model said:


> i wouldn't believe everything he says - he told me he was in a churchill ad



i did not!


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i was only joking.
> i have only a half-written abortion of a book that will never be finished cos my writing mojo has vanished forever and i don't want it to come back, truth told.


I'm hugely gullible, me.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

the mills and boon thing was a misunderstanding that i allowed to become a big joke - it greatly amused me that people took it seriously


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> *reminds self: get elizabeth david book*


*bought*


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

I wouldn't be surprised if I went home and found something like this at Mrs M's


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Good to know I wasn't alone OU, it makes me feel less of a plank.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i did not!


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if I went home and found something like this at Mrs M's


that's clever


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Only a hundred or so these days. I have a lovely relative who offered to look after my books for me when I left the country and promptly sold half of them. I don't even acknowledge his presence any more, naturally.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> Only a hundred or so these days. I have a lovely relative who offered to look after my books for me when I left the country and promptly sold half of them. I don't even acknowledge his presence any more, naturally.


What? This is the only crime for which I'd back capital punishment.


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## Belushi (Aug 8, 2009)

About 30-40. Used to own a lot more but gave them all to a charity shop a few years ago.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

I'd like one of these...


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## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> Only a hundred or so these days. I have a lovely relative who offered to look after my books for me when I left the country and promptly sold half of them. I don't even acknowledge his presence any more, naturally.



I'm not a violent man, but that's worth a chinning.


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

Just go the whole hog and pile up books for use as chairs, coffee tables etc.

Oh wait


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if I went home and found something like this at Mrs M's



I've seen that before. On a telly programme maybe? I think it's inspired. I'd so do that if I had a stairwell wide enough and lots of dosh.

Of course, I still want a dedicated study/library with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves. Natch.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> What? This is the only crime for which I'd back capital punishment.



He's got mental problems, in his defence. It's still pretty unforgivable though. A signed Irvine Welsh novel was one that disappeared at his hands, the git.


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## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've seen that before. On a telly programme maybe? I think it's inspired. I'd so do that if I had a stairwell wide enough and lots of dosh.
> 
> Of course, I still want a dedicated study/library with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves. Natch.



It's good isn't it? Except I go all stupid and malcoordinated when I'm confronted with those halfy halfy stairs


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## Belushi (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i have only a half-written abortion of a book that will never be finished cos my writing mojo has vanished forever and i don't want it to come back, truth told.



I think you should write that memoir we were discussing last night.

I'll write me own at the same time 'Please Daddy! Not the Neckshot!


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

You could make them full stairs, I doubt it would hinder the effect.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Belushi said:


> I think you should right that memoir we were discussing last night.
> 
> I'll right me own at the same time 'Please Daddy! Not the Neckshot!



any suggestions for a title for mine?


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

How to fool Mrs M


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

I win.


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

There's a narrow corridor that runs behind my kitchen to my bedroom, and a friend's brother built bookshelves along one wall. The actual shelves are 11' long, 8' high and 1' deep so deep enough for a lot of double stacking. Overrun now so piles of books on the floor in there too. Side of my bed, another 26. 15 in the living room. 4 in the bathroom. Then where I work it's chocka with work related books - 2 crammed bookcases and piles everywhere.

I've started to try and keep track by cataloguing using Endnotes, but that's a long ongoing project. But when I was doing it I came across a paperback book called "The Collapsing Universe" by Isaac Asimov. Inside was a bookplate showing that it had been awarded to a friend when at school as a history prize. We only see him once a year and I've had the book by the side of my pooter for months ready to return to him - which I did last night. "I wondered where that had gone! This was the book that inspired me to do what I do now, thanks so much". Just shows what effect education and schools can have ... this Croydon comp had made an effort with giving book prizes to kids, and as a result this particular kid ended up working for NASA finding the signatures of black holes. 

Always return books you have borrowed! You may never know how much they mean to someone.


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've seen that before. On a telly programme maybe? I think it's inspired. I'd so do that if I had a stairwell wide enough and lots of dosh.
> 
> Of course, I still want a dedicated study/library with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves. Natch.



Wouldn't want a fire in that place.


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I'd like one of these...



That looks mighty uncomfortable.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

I don't get how you walk upstairs with the left hand one...it looks like you have to tread on books


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> How to fool Mrs M



heh, this is supposed to be a memoir of growing up with right-on parents - attending woodcraft folk, not being allowed to watch itv etc etc


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I don't get how you walk upstairs with the left hand one...it looks like you have to tread on books



that confused me til i saw the door at the bottom - it's looking downstairs and the right hand photo is looking upstairs


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> I've started to try and keep track by cataloguing using Endnotes, but that's a long ongoing project. But when I was doing it I came across a paperback book called "The Collapsing Universe" by Isaac Asimov. Inside was a bookplate showing that it had been awarded to a friend when at school as a history prize. We only see him once a year and I've had the book by the side of my pooter for months ready to return to him - which I did last night. "I wondered where that had gone! This was the book that inspired me to do what I do now, thanks so much". Just shows what effect education and schools can have ... this Croydon comp had made an effort with giving book prizes to kids, and as a result this particular kid ended up working for NASA finding the signatures of black holes.
> 
> Always return books you have borrowed! You may never know how much they mean to someone.



Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I don't get how you walk upstairs with the left hand one...it looks like you have to tread on books



Bless you


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.



But does it arrange them in alphabetical order?


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## weepiper (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if I went home and found something like this at Mrs M's



when I win the lottery I shall buy that for my mum.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.



Oh jesus. Now I have a 'rest of the summer' project. Thanks  and thanks


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.


what's it do for books without isbns?


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> heh, this is supposed to be a memoir of growing up with right-on parents - attending woodcraft folk, not being allowed to watch itv etc etc



That sounds quite promising tbh. I could sympathise.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Diamond said:


> But does it arrange them in alphabetical order?


title or author?


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## Belushi (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> heh, this is supposed to be a memoir of growing up with right-on parents - attending woodcraft folk, not being allowed to watch itv etc etc



'Pleas Daddy, I want to watch Tiswas'


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## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.



is it free and can I run it on my 10.4.11 machine? (PowerMac6,4)


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.



That's clever! I quite like Endnotes but it takes a while because you have to type in the ISBN then Endnotes references it against various libraries on-line so you can choose which edition it is etc.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Incidentally, for bibliophiles with Macs, there is a dedicated book-cataloguing program called Delicious Library (for reasons best known to itself) which scans the barcode on each book with your webcam. It also has functions for checking books in and out when you lend them to people, and will set a reminder for when to go round their house with a pair of pliers.



This says a lot about people that use Macs, imo.

<whistles nonchalantly>


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## Belushi (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> That sounds quite promising tbh. I could sympathise.



He was only allowed tp play with those educational wooden toys


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> title or author?



Author, por supuesto.


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## JimW (Aug 8, 2009)

Guessing less than 2,000 tho a fair few are in boxes back at folks in UK, so maybe more.


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

You must have a lot of storage space Diamond.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Belushi said:


> 'Pleas Daddy, I want to watch Tiswas'



That happened to me.  My mate's parents wouldn't let us watch it so we had to run round me Dad's. He was already watching it himself. I think he liked Sally James a bit too much truth be told. My Mum had just kicked him out.


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> You must have a lot of storage space Diamond.



I was taking the piss.

In reality, can't be more than 150-200.

I just though there was an element of liberal willy-waving to the thread.


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## Belushi (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> That happened to me.  My mate's parents wouldn't let us watch it so we had to run round me Dad's. He was already watching it himself. I think he liked Sally James a bit too much truth be told. My Mum had just kicked him out.



We werent allowed to watch it because my Mum thought Spit the Dog would encourage us to spit


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Diamond said:


> I was taking the piss.
> 
> In reality, can't be more than 150-200.
> 
> I just though there was an element of liberal willy-waving to the thread.



What's liberal and willy-waving about books?


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Belushi said:


> We werent allowed to watch it because my Mum thought Spit the Dog would encourage us to spit



A mate of mine wasn't allowed to watch Grange Hill because they said 'flippin eck' on it.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> What's liberal and willy-waving about books?



Literacy is hideously bourgeois.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

Of all the lulz in the world ... grabbed a stack of books close to hand to test out the barcode scanning on this delicious library thing and the first one I grab doesn't have a barcode lol.


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> What's liberal and willy-waving about books?



Counting how many you have?

There's something a bit High Fidelity about it.


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> Literacy is hideously bourgeois.



Or, 'know your place'.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

Diamond said:


> Counting how many you have?
> 
> There's something a bit High Fidelity about it.



I don't think anyones actually gone and counted. I did a rough estimate.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

Diamond said:


> Counting how many you have?
> 
> There's something a bit High Fidelity about it.



I think you're reading a bit too much into it.


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> 8 shelves = approx 240 > 300



Cheers, not a bad guess then! I've voted in the 201 - 500 category, but it's closer to the low end, I'd say. One of the shelves is stacked jammed with them, though.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

God, I did a little squeal when I scanned the first one. This was made for me and mr paw. I just texted him and told him he's going to do a sex wee when he comes home and sees the software I've just downloaded.

It even tells you books that are similar. Way to find good books!

Thank you FM. You may have just made my life that little bit more complete.

(I don't care if anyone thinks I'm sad/pathetic/have too much time on my hands. This is just the sort of back-slapping geekery I love.)


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Diamond said:


> Counting how many you have?
> 
> There's something a bit High Fidelity about it.


see the op where i say the options allow for approximation. i didn't expect anyone to go to their shelves and count.


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## Diamond (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> I think you're reading a bit too much into it.



I just felt inferior because I didn't have enough books...


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## Stigmata (Aug 8, 2009)

In my little 8-week flat here in Fulham I have 13, a mixture of SF, medieval fiction/history, and books on museology. At home, at my parents' home, I have five times that.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> God, I did a little squeal when I scanned the first one. This was made for me and mr paw. I just texted him and told him he's going to do a sex wee when he comes home and sees the software I've just downloaded.
> 
> It even tells you books that are similar. Way to find good books!
> 
> ...


if you want to go to the next level, you'll want to look at library of congress subject headings for your books - many books will have them on the copyright information page.


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

I am actually going to count each one now, though.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> God, I did a little squeal when I scanned the first one. This was made for me and mr paw. I just texted him and told him he's going to do a sex wee when he comes home and sees the software I've just downloaded.
> 
> It even tells you books that are similar. Way to find good books!
> 
> ...



how do you scan the barcode without a gun?


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> how do you scan the barcode without a gun?



I think Fridgie mentioned using a webcam didn't he?


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## tufty79 (Aug 8, 2009)

300-ish


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## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

139. Pretty pathetic, really.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> see the op where i say the options allow for approximation. i didn't expect anyone to go to their shelves and count.


I counted the ones in this room but when I got to 391 I felt a bit spoddy and stopped


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> I think Fridgie mentioned using a webcam didn't he?


i wonder how it's done without a laser


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## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I counted the ones in this room but when I got to 391 I felt a bit spoddy and stopped


count two shelves, divide for average, multiply by number of similar shelves.


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i wonder how it's done without a laser



I s'pose it's just a bit like image capture such as scanning then converting to text (numerals).


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

I don't know how it does it, but it just does. You click the little camera icon, it fires up your isight webcam, you see yourself looking dishevelled (I haven't showered yet today) as per normal when you open photobooth, but there are weird lines over the top, and a kind of rectangle. You pick up your book and show the barcode to the camera, and when the barcode is in the rectangle it does a little bleep and tells you what your book is, downloads all the info to your list, and the whole thing takes about 5 seconds.


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i wonder how it's done without a laser



You wave the barcode in front of the webcam, and it reads it. (Mostly.) If it can't read it or it doesn't have one, you can enter the ISBN by hand, or the title and author, and it looks it up from that. Most books are in the database somewhere.

If it's not there at all, which I've not found yet, you can enter the complete details yourself.

(When I mentioned it I remembered that I had a whole load of books to scan and I've been doing that since my last post....)


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## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

blimey!
does it beep? i like the idea of it but i think i do enough scanning and beeping at work


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

It does indeed beep when it gets a number.

It just scanned my beard and is attempting to look it up.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> It does indeed beep when it gets a number.
> 
> It just scanned my beard and is attempting to look it up.





FM, I can't immediately see one, but is there a way to mark things as read? It'd be really cool if both me and mr paw could have a separate list of which ones we've read.


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

It couldn't find my beard 

I'll have to enter it by hand now.


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> FM, I can't immediately see one, but is there a way to mark things as read? It'd be really cool if both me and mr paw could have a separate list of which ones we've read.



Yeah, I just found that actually - you have to edit the details (highlight the book then Apple + Enter) and there's a tickbox marked "played/read". You can then use that to set up a smart shelf. (You can highlight multiple books and do this, too.)


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## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Looks like I lost my Endnotes project (and app) the last time this PC got sick


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Yeah, I just found that actually - you have to edit the details (highlight the book then Apple + Enter) and there's a tickbox marked "played/read". You can then use that to set up a smart shelf. (You can highlight multiple books and do this, too.)



Ah, that's probably a quicker way than the one I just settled on. I made 2 new shelves, one for the both of us, and just started dragging and dropping from the main library the ones we'd read. Your way sounds better in one respect because you can do stuff with that info, but in another respect that doesn't discriminate between what I've read and what mr paw's read.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

Fair point. You could add something to the "notes" field saying "Read by Mr Paw", then have a smart shelf that searched for "Read by Mr Paw" in the notes field, I suppose, but that might be a bit too much faff.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Fair point. You could add something to the "notes" field saying "Read by Mr Paw", then have a smart shelf that searched for "Read by Mr Paw" in the notes field, I suppose, but that might be a bit too much faff.



Yeah, I just thought of that. Mr Paw wants to be able to sort out fiction from non-fiction, so I said we could add it to the notes and create a smart shelf, then thought doh! can do that for read too.

There are so many possibilities!!

I'm feeling stupidly glee right now 

Catalogued 68 books so far.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

"Fiction" is usually in the genres part of the details already.

I just found that people are selling one book I've got for 85 quid! It's not even old.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

I'm considering a webcam and borrowing Pip's Mac now.....


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

I've just found something about a Windows/PC equivalent for Delicious Library

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/07/18/windows-alternative-to-delicious-library/


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

This is the most fun I've had for a while.

/nolife


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

http://www.imediaman.com/products/mediaman.html

The mediaman library is about £70 but there's a 45 day free trial period.


----------



## ericjarvis (Aug 8, 2009)

Nowhere near enough. I haven't even got copies of all the books I already know I definitely just HAVE to read as soon as possible, let alone all the books people have recommended, the books I haven't read by authors I know are excellent, and the books that have really fascinating titles. And the bastards keep publishing new ones. I can't even vaguely keep up.

On the other hand, having moved to a flat over double the size of my old one, it could be as much as 6 or 7 years before I have to move again to make more book space.


----------



## Roadkill (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> I've just found something about a Windows/PC equivalent for Delicious Library
> 
> http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/07/18/windows-alternative-to-delicious-library/



Ooh, I'll have to look into that.

I did think of practising my databasing skills by putting together a database of my books, but I quickly dsicovered that I really am rubbish at Access and couldn't get it to work, and anyway, I'm too lazy. 

I really should put together some sort of list, though, if only to show to my insurance company if my house burns down...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 8, 2009)

It's a shame I've got stuff to do this afternoon, and that I'm going out tonight, because now I've started scanning I can't stop!

230 down, and all I've done so far is the most recent piled up books by the telly, and 1 and 1/2 shelves from the small bookcase in the living room (shelves are doubled up with one row in front of another, and have books piled on top of each row as well). 2 and a half double shelves to do from that one, then I think I'll leave the built-in bookcase and under the bed for another day. And my photography books. And my kids books in boxes.

  

This is so appealing to mine and mr paw's egos.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> There's a narrow corridor that runs behind my kitchen to my bedroom, and a friend's brother built bookshelves along one wall. The actual shelves are 11' long, 8' high and 1' deep so deep enough for a lot of double stacking. Overrun now so piles of books on the floor in there too. Side of my bed, another 26. 15 in the living room. 4 in the bathroom. Then where I work it's chocka with work related books - 2 crammed bookcases and piles everywhere.


Sounds like mine and Greebo's place. 


> I've started to try and keep track by cataloguing using Endnotes, but that's a long ongoing project. But when I was doing it I came across a paperback book called "The Collapsing Universe" by Isaac Asimov. Inside was a bookplate showing that it had been awarded to a friend when at school as a history prize. We only see him once a year and I've had the book by the side of my pooter for months ready to return to him - which I did last night. "I wondered where that had gone! This was the book that inspired me to do what I do now, thanks so much". Just shows what effect education and schools can have ... this Croydon comp had made an effort with giving book prizes to kids, and as a result this particular kid ended up working for NASA finding the signatures of black holes.


I've got all our books (and DVDs and CDs, cassettes and vinyl) catalogued on a Cardfile programme.


> Always return books you have borrowed! You may never know how much they mean to someone.


That's something I always try to do, but people I lend books to often seem to not bother to return the compliment.


----------



## Roadkill (Aug 8, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> That's something I always try to do, but people I lend books to often seem to not bother to return the compliment.



I'm not normally an ungenerous person, but I _really_ hate lending books to people.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> what's it do for books without isbns?


Has a conniption fit.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Roady, I divide the world into two groups of people. Those I would consider* lending books to, and those that I wouldn't under any circumstances.

*and even then I might not.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

i lend books to people all the time. i don't really mind if i don't get them back


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Roadkill said:


> Ooh, I'll have to look into that.
> 
> I did think of practising my databasing skills by putting together a database of my books, but I quickly dsicovered that I really am rubbish at Access and couldn't get it to work, and anyway, I'm too lazy.
> 
> I really should put together some sort of list, though, if only to show to my insurance company if my house burns down...



Endnotes costs twice as much (if you can't obtain a torrented version ahem) and doesn't have the webcam scanning functionality. But it's principally a bibliography programme so the cataloguing aspect is a useful intersecting by-product depending on the content of the book collection. Of course, if you're an academe and a book lover, Endnotes would seem to be the ideal combination of the two.

Mediaman references Amazon rather than e.g. the British Library (amongst others, lots of others) so it's limited in that respect even though it costs less. 

Because I'm not academic and don't publish anything, on the face of it Mediaman looks more suited for me. But I dunno, if you're going to build a database of a large book collection, why not have the additional functionality of bibliography there for if and when. 

By the time I've stopped arguing with myself about this, I could have probably scanned a couple of 100 books


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> Sounds like mine and Greebo's place.
> 
> I've got all our books (and DVDs and CDs, cassettes and vinyl) catalogued on a Cardfile programme.
> 
> That's something I always try to do, but people I lend books to often seem to not bother to return the compliment.



You sound a lot more organised than me. It sounds similar in terms of what it looks like, but I'm really bad at keeping track of it. Thank goodness for iTunes, that was a major project but at least the music is now kind of catalogued.

I need an iTunes equiv for books.


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 8, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Roady, I divide the world into two groups of people. Those I would consider* lending books to, and those that I wouldn't under any circumstances.
> 
> *and even then I might not.



i don't lend books anymore, although i might buy the book for them for birthday or christmas.


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i lend books to people all the time. i don't really mind if i don't get them back



Don't lend them then - give them away, so the recipient isn't bothered about returning em.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> You sound a lot more organised than me. It sounds similar in terms of what it looks like, but I'm really bad at keeping track of it. Thank goodness for iTunes, that was a major project but at least the music is now kind of catalogued.
> 
> I need an iTunes equiv for books.



I originally (from the early '80s onward) had everything on file cards, so it wasn't much of a faff transferring everything onto a program once we got our first PC in '97-98, and since then it's just a case of keeping up with it (which can be daunting if I've just conducted a raid on the local charity shops! ).


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 8, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> i don't lend books anymore, although i might buy the book for them for birthday or christmas.



I'm perfectly happy to give people books that I don't expect to re-read, but I'm loath to lend out books, due to bad experiences where people have either kept the book, lent it to someone else (as if this absolves them of depriving me of it) or return it in a state of mashed-upness.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

cesare said:


> Don't lend them then - give them away, so the recipient isn't bothered about returning em.


it's nice getting them back though. i just don't lose any sleep about getting them back.
i lent soj a book and she sent it back to me. it waited at the sorting office for 3 weeks cos i couldn't collect it, so it got sent back to her. she sent it again and i still haven't been able to collect it. if it gets sent back again, she can keep it


----------



## discokermit (Aug 8, 2009)

i own fourteen books.

all by sven hassel.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

discokermit said:


> i own fourteen books.
> 
> all by sven hassel.



and i've still got the one you lent me


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> it's nice getting them back though. i just don't lose any sleep about getting them back.
> i lent soj a book and she sent it back to me. it waited at the sorting office for 3 weeks cos i couldn't collect it, so it got sent back to her. she sent it again and *i still haven't been able to collect it.* if it gets sent back again, she can keep it





I'll have spent enough on postage to buy the fucker anyway now!

I can't believe you didn't pick it fucking up again!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

the sorting office is only open when i'm at work!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

i'll send you something else to make up for the postage. do you want the other chabon i've got?


----------



## discokermit (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> and i've still got the one you lent me


you read it yet?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> the sorting office is only open when i'm at work!



well you should have given me your bloody works address then, you IDIOT


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i'll send you something else to make up for the postage. do you want the other chabon i've got?



You don't have to do that 

which one is it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

discokermit said:


> you read it yet?


no


----------



## cesare (Aug 8, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> I originally (from the early '80s onward) had everything on file cards, so it wasn't much of a faff transferring everything onto a program once we got our first PC in '97-98, and since then it's just a case of keeping up with it (which can be daunting if I've just conducted a raid on the local charity shops! ).



Far far more organised than me! Nothing at all until 1995 when I got my first PC and just half arsed attempts on spreadsheets and the like since then - until the doomed Endnotes project


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> well you should have given me your bloody works address then, you IDIOT



i don't trust my work to get something to a member of staff. it would be way too complicated for them to do that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> You don't have to do that
> 
> which one is it?



yiddish policemen's union


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> yiddish policemen's union



Hmm. I've not read that, so go on then, yeh


----------



## discokermit (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> no


is it "assignment gestapo"?


----------



## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

I've lent her a book by post too.

You'd think she'd return the favour, wouldn't you?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> I've lent her a book by post too.
> 
> You'd think she'd return the favour, wouldn't you?



Oi!  You haven't expressed an interest in owt I've posted about, so 

I have some seriously hardcore lesbian short story collections that you might be interested in though


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

discokermit said:


> is it "assignment gestapo"?



i will have to check when i get home


----------



## Voley (Aug 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Oi!  You haven't expressed an interest in owt I've posted about, so


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Oi!  You haven't expressed an interest in owt I've posted about, so



i wonder why


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i wonder why



wtf is that supposed to mean?!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

just teasing you - you have excellent taste


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

can i borrow your tea btw?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> just teasing you - you have excellent taste



hmmm

yeh, I know


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> can i borrow your tea btw?



what? the paella?

no you fucking can't.  it'd be cold anyway by the time it got to you, and I haven't even started cooking it yet


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

damn


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

what if i send a courier?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

There's only enough for one

Sorry

*shrugs*


----------



## Geri (Aug 8, 2009)

95 approx.


----------



## RubyBlue (Aug 8, 2009)

used to have a couple hundred at least - gave 90% to charity - kept the ones that are really special and some text books - needed the space and I rarely read a book more than once now.


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 8, 2009)

Over a thousand but much less than two thousand.   Thirteen hundred at a best guess.

I'm on the road to recovery - have given almost as many to charity shops this year as I have bought!    

And with sufficient therapy I may even part with a shelf or two of the politics/sociology Pelicans that I bought as a student when a second hand bookshop closed down but haven't actually read in the subsequent twenty years.


----------



## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

lang rabbie said:


> Pelicans that I bought as a student when a second hand bookshop closed down but haven't actually read in the subsequent twenty years.



If you do, I can take them off your hands! I've got a huge, huge thing for Pelicans.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> I've got a huge, huge thing for Pelicans.



why?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

they're awfully pretty
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joekral/sets/72157594264351021/


----------



## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> they're awfully pretty
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/joekral/sets/72157594264351021/



Well primarily that, and you can learn things from them


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Aug 8, 2009)

I found two Pelicans while I was scanning my books - Animals Without Backbones, volumes 1 and 2. I remember buying them because they had such a brilliant title. They really _are_ about animals without backbones, of course.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 8, 2009)

Getting on for 2000 i reckon.........


it's an on going thing really !


----------



## Pip (Aug 8, 2009)

At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> they're awfully pretty
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/joekral/sets/72157594264351021/



For the true completist...

Things magazine Pelican project - the 1960s


Pelican project - the 1970s

Unfortunately I don't have most of the pretty ones (apart from the architecture titles - and I'm still collecting those!)


----------



## sojourner (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.



I don't do that

I don't have many clothes, they're all contained on two rails and a few drawers

I'd rather be drowned in books than give them away


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2009)

Never lend out that which you ent prepared to lose.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.



Why would i do that ???

the very idea.............


my collection stretches back over 35 years and i wouldn't part with them for anything.....


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.



when people start calling me mr trebus. perhaps.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

lang rabbie said:


> For the true completist...
> 
> Things magazine Pelican project - the 1960s
> 
> ...



fantastic! great find rabbie!


----------



## gentlegreen (Aug 8, 2009)

Hardly any - certainly haven't read one for a good 10 years.


----------



## ericjarvis (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.



Does not compute. That would involve getting rid of books? How could anyone do that? The number of books in the house increases. That is a basic law of nature.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Aug 8, 2009)

Around 50, maybe less. I'm shit at hoarding books, I generally just read them once and give them away.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 8, 2009)

Pip said:


> At what point do people start operating a one in, one out policy? I already do it with clothes, and until I build more shelves (not going to happen any time soon) I think I'd better start with my books too.


 I think there must have been a mix-up on the maternity ward, you are clearly no child of mine 









...but wait! If you do that you can give me any books that go out and I'll clasp you back to my bibliophile bosom


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 9, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> they're awfully pretty
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/joekral/sets/72157594264351021/



My friend has a thing for them too. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7901273@N04/sets/72157615957994629/


----------



## toblerone3 (Aug 9, 2009)

I have between 40 and 50 books in my library. I have a one out one in policy. Its a bit like an overcrowded nightclub. I like to give books away.


----------



## rikwakefield (Aug 9, 2009)

I give all my books away when I've read them. Currently have about 15 ready to read.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 9, 2009)

Just had a very pleasant lunch with Pickman's who has advised me on organising my books. Dewey would expose embarrassing gaps so I'm going for broad categories. All the art books are going upstairs (only adjustable shelves are up there and they tend to be big books). I think all the fiction (not much of that compared to reference and non-fiction) may go upstairs as I'm more likely to read that in bed. Anyway, I'm ready to do it! It's long overdue. He reckons there are over 1,500 in the sitting room alone.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 9, 2009)

Jeez, 1,500 is impressive Mrs Mags! 

We've just finished scanning the books on the shelves in the living room and have got 775. There are still the photography/art books on the coffee table and the few boxes of my old kids books that are piled up in front of one of the bookcases to do. It'll have to wait for another day. Then there are the books under the bed, which will probably come to around 200-250. So all told we're nearing 1,000! I'm quite shocked.

My mum's got a couple of shelves of my books at her house too.


----------



## Pip (Aug 9, 2009)

Poor old isitme and Corax are bustin their balls trying to be controversial in some other thread, if only they knew all they had to do was bring up the possibility of giving a couple of books away.

Do you people have no regard for _minimalism_?!


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 9, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> Jeez, 1,500 is impressive Mrs Mags!


That's just in the sitting room. There are more in the kitchen (about 40) 8 bookshelves upstairs and boxes in the loft too.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 9, 2009)

Pip said:


> Poor old isitme and Corax are bustin their balls trying to be controversial in some other thread, if only they knew all they had to do was bring up the possibility of giving a couple of books away.
> 
> Do you people have no regard for _minimalism_?!



Nope. Minimalism can suck my cock. 



Mrs Magpie said:


> That's just in the sitting room. There are more in the kitchen (about 40) 8 bookshelves upstairs and boxes in the loft too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 9, 2009)

I have 
the secret diary of adrian mole
The Da Vinci Code
Harry Potter
Jeremy Clarksons autobiography 
Shappire by Katie Price


----------



## Wilf (Aug 9, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> the mills and boon thing was a misunderstanding that i allowed to become a big joke - it greatly amused me that people took it seriously



*Mills and Boon for the 21st Century:*

_Mr Darcy, the Two Girls and the Cup Dilemma_


----------



## Fictionist (Aug 9, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> The best compliment I have ever been paid was from Pickman's about my books.



Oh dear.


----------



## Sadken (Aug 9, 2009)

He definitely said "books"?


----------



## Fictionist (Aug 9, 2009)

Sadken said:


> He definitely said "books"?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 9, 2009)

Pip said:


> Poor old isitme and Corax are bustin their balls trying to be controversial in some other thread, if only they knew all they had to do was bring up the possibility of giving a couple of books away.
> 
> Do you people have no regard for _minimalism_?!



Minimalism is an affectation of the _bourgeoisie_.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 9, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> Nope. Minimalism can suck my cock.



Wouldn't it, technically, be sucking Mr. Paw's cock?


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 9, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> Wouldn't it, technically, be sucking Mr. Paw's cock?


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 9, 2009)

Fictionist said:


> Oh dear.


----------



## Kameron (Aug 9, 2009)

I first guessed by counting some of the fiction and multiplying by the shelving units and got an answer of just over 1100 however in retrospect I realise that the technical manuals and hard backs that take up perhaps a 3rd of the shelves are about 4 or 5 times thicker and are not stacked two deep on the shelf so may be the answer is probably nearer to 800.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Aug 9, 2009)

You know what though - I look at the big pile of books next to me that I scanned and haven't put back on the shelves, and my immediate thought is "those haven't been backed up, I could lose them any time".


----------



## LindaR (Aug 9, 2009)

No idea. Between what's in the bookcases, what's in the wardrobe and what's in the attic, I cannot even begin to guess.
Not enough, though. It's impossible to have enough books.


----------



## toblerone3 (Aug 9, 2009)

LindaR said:


> No idea. Between what's in the bookcases, what's in the wardrobe and what's in the attic, I cannot even begin to guess.
> Not enough, though. It's impossible to have enough books.



Too many books clutters the mind.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 9, 2009)

yeh, burn your fucking books!!!


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 9, 2009)

toblerone3 said:


> Too many books clutters the mind.




I put it too you that you are in fact, a wrong un !


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2009)

mentalchik said:


> I put it too you that you are in fact, a wrong un !



certainly unable to construct a proper sentence. The books clutter, not clutters


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 9, 2009)

nobs


----------



## toblerone3 (Aug 9, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> certainly unable to construct a proper sentence. The books clutter, not clutters



Pedant!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2009)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> nobs



you love them and suck them off nightly


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 9, 2009)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> yeh, burn your fucking books!!!



*makes note*


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 9, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> you love them and suck them off nightly


no, that's _hobs_ my love


----------



## Belushi (Aug 10, 2009)

discokermit said:


> i own fourteen books.
> 
> all by sven hassel.



My Uncle Tyrone used to give me Sven Hassell books as a kid, they were the only thing he read and he thought I was his brightest nephew


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

Belushi said:


> My Uncle Tyrone used to give me Sven Hassell books as a kid, they were the only thing he read and he thought I was his brightest nephew



was he then wrong?


----------



## marty21 (Aug 10, 2009)

NVP said:


> Only a hundred or so these days. I have a lovely relative who offered to look after my books for me when I left the country and promptly sold half of them. I don't even acknowledge his presence any more, naturally.



burn him 



discokermit said:


> i own fourteen books.
> 
> all by sven hassel.



I have all of Sven's novels 


just counted all the book shelves 

9 Book cases, about 50 shelves, plus a load in bags in the attic that haven't been put out on shelves, maybe 2000 I reckon, give quite a few away as well, to a mate who fund raises for a charity and sells them

2 of us buying, maybe 4 or 5 a month each


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

50 shelves is about 1,500 books.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 10, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> 50 shelves is about 1,500 books.



there's quite a few not on the shelves, or double-shelved


----------



## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Its in the tens of thousands.


----------



## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Belushi said:


> My Uncle Tyrone



Are you black?


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 10, 2009)

Tyrone Power, innit, didn't you know?


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 10, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Tyrone Power, innit, didn't you know?



Don't be so fucking stupid. (i love you phil, notice me)


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> Its in the tens of thousands.


did you buy them by the yard?


----------



## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Tyrone Power, innit, didn't you know?



Before my time.  In today's USA only black people are called "Tyrone."


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 10, 2009)

Bloody hell, you know every US white male by name?


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> did you buy them by the yard?



I don't buy them at all.  The buggers send them to me unsolicited, and usually unwanted too.


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## Belushi (Aug 10, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Tyrone Power, innit, didn't you know?



And my old man is named Alan after Alan Ladd


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## DotCommunist (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> I don't buy them at all.  The buggers send them to me unsolicited, and usually unwanted too.



then give some away, the charity shops are a voracious maw of book-need.


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> then give some away, the charity shops are a voracious maw of book-need.



I like having them though, once I have them.


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## butchersapron (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> I like having them though, once I have them.



Vile fetish


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

I write in them, like in a diary.  Make laundry lists and that.


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## butchersapron (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm 100% sure that you do.


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> I'm 100% sure that you do.



Actually I don't.  I don't even know what a laundry list is.


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## cesare (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> Actually I don't.  I don't even know what a laundry list is.



Youi'll know what laundry lists are imminently lol


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

cesare said:


> Youi'll know what laundry lists are imminently lol



Nah, disposables innit.


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## Endeavour (Aug 10, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> then give some away, the charity shops are a voracious maw of book-need.


I was turned away from 3 charity shops when I was offering about 200 books, mostly film related, from 50's, 60's & 70's in fairly good nick.

I left them on the wall outside and they soon went.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 10, 2009)

Poor semi naked dwyer baby wearing nothing but a nappy. It'll get sunburn in summer and frostbite in winter.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 10, 2009)

If I was going to make a laundry list, I wouldn't use a book. It's overkill. It's extra weight to pick up and fiddle with, when just one sheet of paper will do.

It's like something out of the movie Rain Man.


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Poor semi naked dwyer baby wearing nothing but a nappy. It'll get sunburn in summer and frostbite in winter.



Seriously though, why spend good money on baby clothes? He'll only grow out of them in about two days.


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## Relahni (Aug 10, 2009)

loads


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## foo (Aug 10, 2009)

what Relahni said. 

do people actually count their books?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

foo said:


> what Relahni said.
> 
> do people actually count their books?


yes. if you've got loads then you'll want to know what you have & so you might make a list - a catalogue if you will - as a by-product of which the total number of books becomes apparent. alternatively you can estimate at a rate of 30 books / standard shelf.


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## Rollem (Aug 10, 2009)

not as many as i used to. had to move in a week whilst me and madge and relahni were all sick with tummy bugs and the books took the brunt of it and were left to be cleared by the council - i left my copy of wuthering heights behind  but still loads


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> yes. if you've got loads then you'll want to know what you have & so you might make a list - a catalogue if you will - as a by-product of which the total number of books becomes apparent. alternatively you can estimate at a rate of 30 books / standard shelf.



Can anyone guess what Pickman's does for a living?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

piano player in a brothel


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## foo (Aug 10, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> yes. if you've got loads then you'll want to know what you have & so you might make a list - a catalogue if you will - as a by-product of which the total number of books becomes apparent. alternatively you can estimate at a rate of 30 books / standard shelf.



no. i do have loads, but i also have a life.


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## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

foo said:


> no. i do have loads, but i also have a life.


it also depends on the reasons you have the books.


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## foo (Aug 10, 2009)

i have books in order to read them.

what other reasons would i have them for?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 10, 2009)

foo said:


> i have books in order to read them.
> 
> what other reasons would i have them for?


yes. but what is the reason you read them? what leads you to get the books you do? do you intend to do anything with the information you gain or are you simply going to forget it?


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## tarannau (Aug 10, 2009)

To show off like.

I need a book cull really. After the last place, with our leaky conservatory/lean to library, we haven't the space really. We've a spare room stacked up with bookcases and boxes of books - it was meant to be cleared down about 6 months back, but the sprawl keeps growing.


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## foo (Aug 10, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> yes. but what is the reason you read them? what leads you to get the books you do? do you intend to do anything with the information you gain or are you simply going to forget it?



um.....cos i like reading books.  

it's Monday morning, i've had a heavy weekend, and i honestly don't know how to answer those questions at the moment.


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## maomao (Aug 10, 2009)

Pickman's model said:


> piano player in a brothel


I _so_ want to believe that.


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## ericjarvis (Aug 10, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> then give some away, the charity shops are a voracious maw of book-need.



So am I.


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## ericjarvis (Aug 10, 2009)

toblerone3 said:


> Too many books clutters the mind.



Too much information clutters the mind.

On the whole, though, it's kind of handy to have the clutter what with the alternative being ignorance.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 10, 2009)

If I want to know something I usually have a book that will give me the answer. My books have generally been bought on Reithian principles. They inform, educate and entertain.


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## toblerone3 (Aug 10, 2009)

ericjarvis said:


> Too much information clutters the mind.
> 
> On the whole, though, it's kind of handy to have the clutter what with the alternative being ignorance.



But I've probably read more than 5,000 books. I only possess 40-50.


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

toblerone3 said:


> But I've probably read more than 5,000 books.



You reckon?  That's two books a week for fifty years.


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## ericjarvis (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> You reckon?  That's two books a week for fifty years.



I'll have read many more than that then.


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## Lea (Aug 10, 2009)

About 500. I gave away a load recently.


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## Hellsbells (Aug 10, 2009)

Far fewer than i'd like, certainly less than 50. I keep having to give them away to charity shops. It's a very traumatic process having to decide which to keep and which to give away  I'm so looking forward to being able to settle down in one place and having an entire room with ceiling to floor bookshelves. My own personal mini library


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## phildwyer (Aug 10, 2009)

ericjarvis said:


> I'll have read many more than that then.



Impossible.  How?


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## toblerone3 (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> You reckon?  That's two books a week for fifty years.



OK then well maybe 3,000. But I remember doing a count a few years ago and I had read more than 1,000 on China alone.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 10, 2009)

foo said:


> what Relahni said.
> 
> do people actually count their books?



The obsessive ones like Rain Man do.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 10, 2009)

ericjarvis said:


> I'll have read many more than that then.



One can expand one's reading time tremendously, if one reads while taking a dump.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 10, 2009)

toblerone3 said:


> I had read more than 1,000 on China alone.



I'd reckon that that would make you quite an expert on the topic.


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 10, 2009)

phildwyer said:


> You reckon?  That's two books a week for fifty years.



I used to read four or five books a week when I was younger. Unfortunately I then went to university and started to associate reading books with not having fun.


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## FridgeMagnet (Aug 10, 2009)

foo said:


> what Relahni said.
> 
> do people actually count their books?



They do if they have a computer program that they can scan them with, which goes "beep"!


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## Epico (Aug 10, 2009)

About ten.
My favourite is the one where Spot loses his ball.
It was good.


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## Ich bin ein Mod (Aug 10, 2009)

More than a thousand, but how much more I have no idea. The number was bolstered somewhat last year though, as someone I know was selling off hundreds of old Penguins and Pelicans.
I will get round to cataloguing them one day ...


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## Ceej (Aug 10, 2009)

I have a couple of thou -  good thing I go to the library so often. Double-stacked bookcases with books wedged on top, piled up to the ceiling, three floor-to-ceiling piles, six boxes under the bed and a couple of tea-chests full in other people's lofts.
I fear for my floorboards.

And I only keep the ones I love. I read two or three books a week -  biography, history, crime fiction and fact, philosophy....most things except chick lit, really. One cookbook.

I have an e-Reader too......


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## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 10, 2009)

didn't this get done recently?


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## ViolentPanda (Aug 11, 2009)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> didn't this get done recently?



Like DotCom's mum.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 11, 2009)

heh!


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## krtek a houby (Aug 11, 2009)

Woke up Sunday am, unable to sleep. Cleaned my razor, still felt the need to do something constructive, so re-arranged my bookshelves.

Felt much better & woke Mrs Babylondon to show off my handiwork. 

Her enthusiasm was minimal, to say the least


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## blossie33 (Aug 11, 2009)

Not exactly sure how many I have but over 200 I think.

I gave five large bag fulls to a Charity shop when I moved two years ago but I still have loads, mostly still in bags as I have no bookshelves at the moment.
I don't often buy a new book unless it's a bargain or something I really, really want. I mostly buy in Charity shops.

I've always loved books - you can never have too many!


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## Orang Utan (Aug 11, 2009)

this thread has made me think of umberto eco's anti-library and the importance of being surrounded by just as many un-read books as read books:
http://ruchir75.blogspot.com/2008/01/umberto-ecos-anti-library.html


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## Roadkill (Aug 11, 2009)

My insurance company has just phoned up about my contents insurance renewal.  I've been thinking for a while I ought to investigate getting my collection properly insured since some of them are valuable and the replacement value of the whole lot would be pretty large.  So, perhaps foolishly, I've mentioned it to them and they want a 'ballpark figure' for their total value.  If anything's going to make me get off my arse and start cataloguing them, this is probably it...


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## el-ahrairah (Aug 11, 2009)

I'm guessing 501-1000.  Might be a bit less as I clear out regularly.  Hard to tell once you get beyond the point where you're just just piling them up everywhere and getting rid of them in order to make space for new ones and all that malarky.


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## Red Horse (Aug 11, 2009)

throw them away and stop showing off Mr "oh look at me, i read books"


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