What Do You Do With Books After You've Read Them

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Merlot, probably with us it is kinda the opposite. I've either been a brat, in the service, or a military wife, and then we did three years "camping" to figure out where we wanted to live. My husband's main complaint is that I get in the passenger side of the car and --- I'm gone. Either in a book or asleep. My sibs spouses complain about the same thing. Our parents raised us to shut up and do anything because we were constantly in the car from coast to coast between assignments. For me it was reading, and when my sibs were actually awake, breaking up their fights. Believe me, reading was more fun!!!
 
HAHA! I'm a "brat" too! Back in the early 80's, my parents decided to throw me & my brother into the back of a truck, &, drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, through CA, all the way down to GA. I learned early on not to complain. Just give me my books, & let me please visit another world for a little bit :)
 
I share with my dad and sisters. Any that they don't want either get donated or exchanged at the used book store. I do keep some. I have a large selection of books that were my mother's. I probably will never read them but I can't get rid of them since they remind me of her. I still have all my nursing books (30 years old now) and my ASL text books. Paid too much money to get rid of and the nursing books are too far out of date to help anyone. My son got a Kindle for Christmas and I'm considering investing in one too. It sure would be nice to get rid of the "to-be-read" and "finished" boxes of books beside the bed!
 
jabbur said:
I share with my dad and sisters. Any that they don't want either get donated or exchanged at the used book store. I do keep some. I have a large selection of books that were my mother's. I probably will never read them but I can't get rid of them since they remind me of her. I still have all my nursing books (30 years old now) and my ASL text books. Paid too much money to get rid of and the nursing books are too far out of date to help anyone. My son got a Kindle for Christmas and I'm considering investing in one too. It sure would be nice to get rid of the "to-be-read" and "finished" boxes of books beside the bed!
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I was able to sell-back some of my nursing books for a decent price when I graduated. I sold back the ones I wouldn't be using, like Maternity & Labor and Delivery. I was already set on the type of nursing I wanted to do and knew I wouldn't use them. But, I'm such a book collector, I've since gotten many more nursing books in my field...it eclipses what I had as a student.:ROFLMAO:
 
PrincessFiona60 said:
I was able to sell-back some of my nursing books for a decent price when I graduated. I sold back the ones I wouldn't be using, like Maternity & Labor and Delivery. I was already set on the type of nursing I wanted to do and knew I wouldn't use them. But, I'm such a book collector, I've since gotten many more nursing books in my field...it eclipses what I had as a student.:ROFLMAO:
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But what if one of your patients gets pregnant??? :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
 
I donate my books to the local thrift store. All the proceeds from it go to the Senior Center. I also buy some books there at 25 cents per paperback. How can you beat that price. Some books I keep to reread or for my personal library.
 
There are far too many books at my house. But, but, I can't part with most of them. Heck, I'm working my way through DH's SF collection right now.

There is another option for what to do with books that need a new home: BookCrossing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. People simply leave books in public places or in "Official BookCrossing Zones" (OBCZs)". You put a label in the book. If you are lucky, the person who picks it up enters the book's number at BookCrossing.com and you can follow the travels of your book.
 
I used to be a book hoarder, but after I spent a year working in a library, I learned how to 'weed'--that is, sort thru the books and discard the ones that were no longer in active use. In a library (home or public) there is a limited amount of shelf space, and when one book comes in, one goes out.

I have 3 bookcases in my 'library' and when I start to notice that books are piling up on the floor or table, I weed.

The discards go to our humane society thrift shop, which is where a lot of them came from! I also buy books from the library book sale, and from AbeBooks Official Site - New & Used Books, New & Used Textbooks, Rare & Out of Print Books

If I hear of a book that I would like to read, I check abebooks first--I don't think I have ever failed to find a book, and used paperbacks are about $3.50, with postage included.

I rarely buy new books, and if I do, I buy the e-book. Or an Audible book.

I know people find it painful and almost sacrilegious to get rid of books, but I figure if I ever want to read that particular book again, I can find it online, at the thrift store or library, or from abebooks.

I guess I am really storing 'my' library out in the world. Lots less dusting that way.:LOL:
 
Thank you very much SparrowGrass for the great link. I found one of my favorites on the first try. It was only $2.72 + free shipping. I saved the link to my Favorites.
 
sparrowgrass, I love the line, "storing my library out in the world". That has got to be the best way to look at it yet.

I love that I get to see teens reading all the books I've donated to work. I'm such a passionate reader that I like to see others enjoying books too. I have one daughter who is an avid reader and often comes with me to the library. The other takes a month to get through one book. But then, she IS 14 and completely distracted by the world in general.

Just a quick note for those who mark their books and like to run into them later. My Mom and Dad had a "press" made with their first initials and their last name (Kolodrubsky). They would press the first page of every book they bought and then would hope to find it later in the world after they'd passed it along. My brother was shopping in a Nanaimo used bookstore and when he opened the cover and saw that press he nearly fell over. Mom and Dad live in Alberta, and this book had made its way all the way across the next province and onto the island! My brother told the owner and got the book for free!
 
It depends upon how much I loved the book. If I was enthralled, I'll likely add it to my library. Or I might pass it along to a friend of family member I know who will be really interested.

Alternatively, if I'm not thrilled with a book, or just "so-so," I'll put it in my pile to sell at one of my "flea markets" in the good weather. If I get impatient, I might just put it on the table in the laundry room for a neighbor to pick up. Nothing lasts long on that table.

Im trying to learn NOT to keep every book. I don't have room in my apt. :ermm:
 
taxlady said:
There are far too many books at my house. But, but, I can't part with most of them. Heck, I'm working my way through DH's SF collection right now.

There is another option for what to do with books that need a new home: BookCrossing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. People simply leave books in public places or in "Official BookCrossing Zones" (OBCZs)". You put a label in the book. If you are lucky, the person who picks it up enters the book's number at BookCrossing.com and you can follow the travels of your book.
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TL, I was going to mention Book Crossing, and glad you did! I just love flinging my book out to the world......kinda like a message in a bottle. We made great custom labels on the site too. We only joined it a few months ago so we are in hopes of tracking our books soon. Tiz a wonderful thing.
 
There are three titles, that anytime I find them in used bookstores, I buy them. Why? Because I love giving them to people I've talked into reading them. Also, I would rather lend my toothbrush than lend a book I love. The books always come back in wretched condition.

When I sell books at the used bookstore, the cashier always asks if we actually read them, they are in such good condition.
 
When I purchase a book, which I do often from Amazon.ca, I research it like crazy first as I do not want to pay shipping to return a book. As I am so picky, there are literally about 4 culinary books out of 450 that I do not refer to over and over and over again.

In addition to my culinary books (many are reference books that are lovely and fat and weighty) I have lots of ancient history books, which too, are lovely and fat and weighty. So, my bookshelves are buckling.

I also take advantage of our library where I sign out about 300 books per year in addition to the ones I keep accumulating!

Sooooo, up to this point I have not had the heart to get rid of any of my books. As I purchase almost no fiction books I am too selfish to part with my massive reference library. However, my husband and I will somehow have to part with some when we move to Europe down the road. They literally won't fit into our house there! My books are like friends to me...
 
fricassee said:
My books are like friends to me...
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Most definitely! I feel the same way. When we moved to Missoula, all my books had to move into storage, we were in a studio apartment in Student Housing. I was just sick not having my books where I could see, touch and read. While my Kindle is fantastic...I still want my books around me.
 
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