Hostile poster again. Forgot to mention that my child has a great big set himself which I am now starting to divide with his little baby sister. Maybe 200-300. Most of those are temporary, i think.

I also read a lot. I read 1-3 books a week depending. I usually read actual books but sometimes read e-books. Don't get me wrong; I like books, reading, and want to instill that in my children but I thhink my DH is a book hoarder. I think he has a problem. My basement is filled with a set of 1997 modern literary criticisms...you know how big that is? !@#$%^& Big.

I've switched to a Kindle because I'm not really a rereader and I'm not patient to wait for the popular books at the library. I like being able to read on my phone with my Kindle app when I am standing in line or waiting for an appointment. On the other hand, kids need books. They reread or memorize them. They have their favorites and can go to the library for more. My husband loves books too. I'm sorry yours doesn't.

Excellent !@#$%^& question.

I love books and so does my husband . I cherish books I have read or used and have about 200 in my collection. My husband wants every book ever written by any author of note as long as it's a beautiful copy.

We must have 1K-2K books in our 2000 sq ft arl home. It pisses me off! I'll now go read all the replies before venting more.

One more vent: He tells me to get rid of extra pillows, blankets, kid toys to make ROOM FOR MORE BOOKS! and all the books he owns are free at the library and in free form on Guttenberg!

gads

I love books, a trait inherited from my father who has an extensive, eclectic collection. My grandparents and uncle had wonderful libraries in their homes, and one of my greatest pleasures was exploring new books.
We live in a small house, but have about 6 bookcases crammed full. I do have some books on Kindle to read during my commute, but my DH and I both prefer print books.
We go over the collection each year, and cull anything that no longer holds our interest. We have become much more selective about what we buy, and follow the book in-book out rule so we wont be adding more shelf space until we have kids!

Anonymous wrote:I got rid of most of my books. But not all--we have one tall bookcase in guest room that has many of my favorites. Kids each have a bookcase in their room that gets purged pretty regularly. We all have Kindles now, so not really buying books anymore.

We also have one giant bookshelf in the guest room and one medium bookshelf in the living room, plus a shelf of board books and a shelf of regular books for our daughter. We don't have space for all the books I would like to have, and I do read a lot on the Kindle (which allows me to have more books in less space, and is also excellent for travel) but I would never consider not having books in my house. It's not home without books!

I have a ton of books in my home + feel that you can never have enough.

I also am a true bookworm at heart so I may be a bit prejudice here....Lol.

Anyway, I have never nor will I ever go digital. I like reading the way I have been for the past 40+ yrs. Suits me just fine. Same for magazines too. I can see switching to reading a newspaper online because I always did hate that damn newsprint getting my fingers all black......

What I really love about my books is the fact that I can collect them and that each book has a special memory/meaning to me.

And that hopefully my book collection can be passed down & enjoyed by others later on.

I read about three books a week. I am at the library one or two times a week. Know how many books I own? Fewer than 20.

My dd has a bookcase. Two of the six shelves have books and magazines. You don't have to own books to read a lot.

I also grew up in a house that had a dedicated library. My brother and I spent many hours there, especially on rainy days when we couldn't go out and play. When my parents passed away, we donated most of the books to our local library. They were so grateful they even had a little ceremony for us. We did keep the rare and vintage books.

DH and I are now building our own house and I insisted that the new house have a library. It's just fun to be able to peruse and re-read beloved books.

I have a lot of books and a small house. Luckily DH is supportive and has his own decent sized book collection (although mine is twice the size of his). I am always looking for creative ways to store books. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas! Here are a few I use: I do not have a nightstand, instead I have a chair next to my bed on which is piled my 10 current reads. I do not have space in my BR for a bookshelf, so instead we installed straight, plain shelving about a foot or two below ceiling height around the perimeter of the room - I stand on a chair when I want to pull a book down (and I get to look at the spines while I lie in bed!). My kids each have a nighttable that is a drawer on top, with space for books underneath. (Kids need books!) Each also has a netted pouch that hangs off the side of their bed in which they keep the books they are reading that night. I have several container dtore bookshelves on the main level of my house, too.

I think you could get a few really tall bookshelves--they hold a lot of books and don't take up much space. Maybe tell DH you want to convert one room into an office/library, and if he won't go for that, the least he can do is say yes to a few bookshelves.

I have nearly 2,000 books in the house, and still go to the library weekly. I read 2-3 books a week. (commuting, before bedtime, etc.) I miss having a wall of built-ins like my previous house had, but our current house (a cape) has a wide upstairs hallway that's not good for much except storing books, so I bought bookcases for every available space and that works.

I could not live with someone who didn't support me having books. But I think a good compromise could be that you get a certain contained area - perhaps one wall of bookshelves in one room? You can fill it up, but then any more than that, you have to cull or store in boxes.

Anonymous wrote:We have a ton. There is no limit. I want more.

+1

You know, I am so grateful that growing up my parents had an extensive library. When you're a kid, and you have those moments of boredom, to be able to wander into your library (yes, my family had an entire room full of books) and pick out a book you are interested in, and crawl up in a wing chair and get into it, was what developed my love of literature more than anything else. I can't imagine a kindle, with the necessity of logging into wifi and purchasing or downloading a book, to have the same organic, spontaneous, timeless feeling. Also... what about times when the power goes out? Or the battery dies and you misplaced the charger? Thats when you will be glad that you have books on hand.

We have a ton. There is no limit. I want more.

There is no limit to the amount of books in the house. I have a ton. It's my new year's resolution to cull them down and get rid of some paperbacks, but those will be replaced with others I'm sure. I know the Kindle is a good idea, but I will never give up paper.

BTW, people without books in their house kind of scare me. I'm a teacher and a voracious reader. Kindles do not replace paper books for children, IMO.