Thom’s Comments (group member since Mar 28, 2011)

Thom’s comments from the Book Buying Addicts Anonymous group.

Stone ColdDavid Baldacci

Have you started it already?

I have to cut down on my book hoarding.... SOMEDAY>

They have all applied to me at some time in my life. I must say that being labelled a nerd is somewhat derogatory and I don't think it really fits people with our unique affliction. I didn't see anything wrong with dating the owner of a book store. My choice of her unsold paperbacks (minus the front cover) for free I saw as icing on the cake. Having someone that you can discuss books with and you share the same affinity for the written word is a true blessing. Oh! I forgot to say that she was also very attractive.

EclipseRichard North Patterson

I just downloaded from Amazon. They were free!

Linda, I wasn't finished yet.... I had to take my dogs for a walk. My boys just couldn't wait. You are right, I have taken a few days off from work and plan to reorganize my whole library. With two-sided bookcases coming tomorrow, I should have room over.

I went to a book market on a sunny Sunday and discovered a gold mine.

The scarcity of English books only serves to enhance the search...a bit like fishing in a very big pond.

I was in Geelong a few years ago and bought many second hand books there at the charity shops. At 50 cents apiece, I found them more than reasonable. In fact, I bought so many books that I ended up leaving half of my clothes to make the weight limit. This splurge isn’t strange if you figure that almost all the books offered were English. Here in Holland English books are the exception rather than the rule.

That looks interesting........ I can't wait for your review.

That seems to eventually be the ultimate problem for all people of our ilk. The dilemma we all face is: with all the new and old books from all of the new and old authors; how can we continue to collect without being forced out of our houses due to lack of space?

That sounds interesting Kiera. Would you care to elaborate on Amsterdam’s effect on you? I’ve heard many people say, “I’ve been to Amsterdam” and figure that what they saw was typical of all of Holland. This simply isn’t true. As an American (and Texan to boot) I wouldn’t appreciate being compared to a New Yorker. Every American is and feels unique (and that goes double for Texans) and don’t want to be closely compared with another. This said (I feel a bit better with that off of my chest), Amsterdam is a beautiful, unique and very busy city that we are proud to call our capitol.

You’re right Kiera; the symptoms of our unique affliction are universally the same. I used to have my library organized by authors with their works in alphabetical order. A few years ago this became a question of easier said than done as I would have to rearrange a massive amount of books to accommodate each new acquisition. I found that I was spending more time organizing my library than reading. As the thought of not buying any more books never has (and probably never will) enter my mind, I took on the “gonna” attitude. That is to say that eventually I’m gonna rearrange my books but for now that bag full in the corner or that stack on the table aren’t really in the way. Eventually when I discover that they have been magically put in their places and occasionally I even find empty spaces on some shelves I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and celebrate my new-found space by going book shopping. The magic took the form of a seldom used and never opened closet in the library. My discovery of it was purely accidental and traumatically devastating. I know my attitude and actions aren’t particularly complimentary to the male psyche but it is typical of our gender.

Me again... I bought Sobotta Atlas Atlas of Anatomy. I'll worry about where to put it in a couple of weeks. To have and to hold is what counts the most.

Ok people Thom's better half here. I have read all your comment's first of all Thom really has no rhyme or reason with his collection if he was really organized in his library "NO WAY "would I move any books but unfortunately it really has been left to me to sort out where to put books he will buy bags of them and if I didn't put them somewhere they would all still be sitting in bags on the floor.

Would you believe that I close my eyes and reach out my hand? If truth be told, I am starting the switch to eBooks. Recently I bragged about my wife's ability to create new room in my library, giving me the illusion that I could continue to buy books and fill new spaces. If truth be told she had been literally filling a closet with books, which explains my frustration when looking for a certain book I knew I had and not finding it. We have come up with a plan but that unfortunately includes a drastic slowdown on traditional book buying. With 5 TB of virtual memory I should have plenty of space to continue my passion.

P.S. My wife hails from Geelong and it took my unbelievable powers of persuasion to get her to move to Europe. We enjoy the seasons either outdoors of comfortably behind glass.

It doesn't always rain in Holland (most of it falls in the UK before reaching us). Holland also isn't very cold when you compare it with many European countries to the north and east of us. I've travelled most of the world and if you are looking for cold, Lithuania, Korea and northern Japan are much colder in the winter time. The Netherlands are known for their windmills, tulips and wooden shoes not their deadly spiders, snakes and crocks (because there aren't any).