The Next Best Book Club discussion
Revive a Dead Thread
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Where are your books?
I have books spread everywhere-but this is mostly due to the fact that I'm always sending and recieving them in the mail through Bookmooch. I keep a couple in my desk at work in case I'm not in the mood for what I'm reading at home...otherwise the books in my car/other rooms in the house besides the office are mostly due to the fact that I'm unorganized. I have two fairly large bookcases that I keep shoved full to the max at all times...and a few sacks/boxes under beds and in closets. I would probably purposely leave them in certain places like you, but I usually only read one book at once.
I have audiobooks with me in the car. I have at least two physical books (paperback or hardcover) in my laptop case, which is with me almost always like my purse). I have 10-20 ebooks on my BlackBerry. Around home, like Allison, I have books everywhere because I'm constantly receiving and sending books via BookMooch. My original plan was to reduce the number of books at home with BookMooch, and that was originally the case, but over the winter I've acquired so many that I can't keep up my reading fast enough to recycle them.
And, like the book addict I am, I ordered five more new books from Amazon yesterday to confound my owned-but-unread shelf.
I need to retire so I can read full time!
I'm with you Jon-I joined BookMooch to get RID of books...and now I'm getting more than I'm giving. I also just discovered a great used bookstore (I live in Wichita, KS)...My plan didn't go well.
Currently read book, along with the books I plan to read after are kept on the nightstand, hence my GR shelf labeled "currently-on-the-nightstand". The other books are shoved neatly in a TV cabinet. However, I've acquired many free books from my co-workers and I've bought a few so the pile has been expanding and now books are being piled around the house wherever there is space.
Where DON'T I keep books would be an easier question to answer. I don't keep books in my kitchen cabinets or refrigerator - that is for my other obsession, food. I don't keep books in the trunk of my car unless they are boxed for giveaway - they rattle around too much. Other than that, everywhere else is fair game - on the nightstand for books to read while falling asleep, in my home office on shelves for pretty books I like to display, under my bed for books I love but don't have room on shelves for, in the car for books to read at red lights, in my office at school for books to read while I am supposed to be working, in the bathroom for books to read while doing *other* time-consuming activities (was that TMI?)... the list goes on and on...
My immediate TBR pile is on my nightstand, but in additon to whatever I am currently reader that goes everywhere with me, I keep one in my desk at work, in my car, my husband's car, and scattered throughout the house. I tend to keep Ellery Queen in my husband's car because the stories are short and will tide me over until I can get home.
I keep my school books in my bed room. I keep my book that I'm reading for pleasure on my person at almost all times. The rest of my books are in my dining room in two book cases, or in boxes in my parents' garage. I can't wait til I have a place of my own and don't have to rent so I can just get/build floor to ceiling bookcases.
Meghan wrote: "Where DON'T I keep books would be an easier question to answer. I don't keep books in my kitchen cabinets or refrigerator - that is for my other obsession, food. I don't keep books in the trunk of ..."Unlike Meghan, we actually do have books in our kitchen cabinets (in addition to on bookshelves in every room, in piles on the floor, on top of every horizontal surface, in cabinets in the living room). I guess this is what happens when you live in a Manhattan apartment. My wife won't take a shower without a book -- I don't know how she reads in the shower, but that's another story -- so there are often books in the bathroom too. If we had a car I'm sure there'd be books there as well. Although I don't think my wife can read and drive at the same time...
Wow. You made me realize that I never take the books that I read for pleasure out of the house anymore. This is definitely something as a switch, as I used to read even while taking walks. Never tried reading in the shower, although I do have bookshelves in a bathroom/laundry room. I tend to use most of my time in the car, between meetings, at lunch to read and think about work/school related stuff. I guess, I am just always so behind on reading for work, that it would seem incredibly decadent to sit and read a novel during lunch. Once I am home, however, it is another matter.
All of my books are in my closet except for my currently reading book which is on my bedside table when I am at home. Anytime I leave the house the book comes with my even if it just stays on the passenger seat of my car.
Jonathan, the whole "reading while showering" seems pretty impressive. I usually just consider that lost time.
my books are spread out on 4 bookshelves downstairs, one bookshelf upstairs, a shelf/bookshelf next to my bed, some are in bins, some in a small box in the office, some are on the floor next to my bed. I guess I better work on getting better organized...LOL
My books are all over the house - Bookshelves in multiple rooms. Living room, Bedroom, Office etc.
All my books are in my bedroom except for my currently read book. I always bring it to anywhere except my school... becoz my school don't give us permit to bring novel at school... How boring...
I have my school books in the kitchen on a metal shelf. I have a bookcase of American, Poetry, English, French, Russian, and Italian authors in my room. A shelf of my mass market paperbacks, non-fiction, and books that would get my kicked out of the English department in my closet. And at my parents' house, I have 2 shelves in my bedroom and 3 shelves in my "office" of children's books, old school books, and other books. I'm really not sure what I'll do when I move home for the summer.
Jessica wrote: "All my books are in my bedroom except for my currently read book. I always bring it to anywhere except my school... becoz my school don't give us permit to bring novel at school... How boring..."Gee, it would be just awful to have kids reading books at school. I'm sure glad they are cracking down on that.
Fiona wrote: "..might be trapped in the shop and will need that book!..."Know just what you mean Fiona!! :)
I have two bookshelves in the living room two deep at least overflowing with books. I have books in the office/bedroom desk shelves, books on the nightstand in my room plus another basket by my bed, I have a stash at work, audios in the car plus an extra book just in case, library books by my chair in the family room plus another small shelf in F.R., I guess my answer should have been shorter! I have books all over this house and leaking out...surrounding me!!
Some of my books are in a bookcase in my room and others are in the bookcases in the den and another small bookcase in the hall has some books in it.Some I haven't read, but I will get around to it sometime.
Anita :O)
Lori wrote: "books that would get my kicked out of the English department in my closet.And which books would those be?
We're all curious you know. lol
When I moved in with my boyfriend I was given one shelf on his bookcase (moviecase? toycase? there weren't many books before I got here) that is about three feet of space. Which I crammed full with several rows of books, so hopefully I never want to re-read. When that space was gone I spilled out onto the floor in front of the shelf. And his unused desk. And the floor/teeeeeny shelf/cluttered desk in the spare bedroom. My backseat is littered with books, my trunk also has a few books, now hidden beneath a spare tire that was never properly put away. My front seat is reserved for whatever I'm currently reading.
I joined paperbackswap to get rid of books, and I've done really good. Sadly (spacewise), every book I give is one more that will come in. I've considered putting books up for sale on amazon and the like, but there aren't that many that I really want to get rid of and would just result in some extra book money.
BriansGirl, Mainly non-snobby literary stuff...Let's see...Bridges of Madison County is on that shelf...so are the His Dark Materials books. I can't remember what else is on there. Honest. I'll publish the list when I get back to my house.
Lori wrote: "BriansGirl, Mainly non-snobby literary stuff...Let's see...Bridges of Madison County is on that shelf...so are the His Dark Materials books. I can't remember what else is on there. Honest. I'll..."I recently found Bridges of Madison County at the thrift shop for 60 cents and picked it up. Havn't read it yet and I've not seen the movie either. (Although I do remember hearing that Clint Eastwood starred in it). On a side note, I have been to Madison County, Iowa. Only remember seeing one covered bridge at the time though. lol
BriansGirl, I started to watch the movie once because it got sent to us by Blockbuster, but it was scratched and kept skipping, so I had to give up. Meryl Streep is in it too.
I've seen the book on two lists here on goodreads: best books of all time list and worst books of all time (or something similar to those titles). Made me wonder if it's really any good or not since it made both lists.
I have three bookcases in my room, all packed to the gills. I have stacks of books on top of the one of them that is low enough for me to stack books on it (if you get my meaning) - my current Mt. TBR. I have stacks of books on the floor. There are bookshelves in every room in this house except the bathrooms. There's a box of books to go to Literacy in the car trunk. I live in a sea of books!
Books in my living room, books in my bedroom, books in the kitchen, books in my car, books in my bathroom. They're everywhere! Thank God my husband really loves me - he puts up with this quirk even though I know he'd prefer I keep them all in one place.Oh, and how could I forget? My Kindle is in my purse.
Bedroom shelves, nightstands, cedar chest.Living room tables.
Bathroom basket.
Kitchen table and chairs.
Lunchbag.
Automobile.
Basement.
Sunroom shelves and boxes.
I think I've covered every nook and cranny - and then some! ;o)
Catherine wrote: "Jonathan, the whole "reading while showering" seems pretty impressive. I usually just consider that lost time."My wife says her biggest fear is being trapped somewhere without a book. I guess she worries that she'll get locked in the shower?
I read in the bathtub.I draw the line at the shower - I use a hand-held shower head. Reading gets a little too messy. Besides, taking a shower uses up a lot of my stamina in the first place.
Susanna wrote: "I read in the bathtub."I too have read in the bathtub. I keep a towel right beside me to dry my fingers before turning the page.
Robin wrote: "Susanna wrote: "I read in the bathtub."I too have read in the bathtub. I keep a towel right beside me to dry my fingers before turning the page.
"
When I had a bathtub ... all I have is a shower now, and I wouldn't recommend reading in it either, but I did love soaking and reading in the tub ... memories ;o)
I love reading in the bathtub...its the one place that no one bothers me (not that my family bothers me exactly...). But you guys know what I mean, best place I can really concentrate.
Oh Allison I know exactly what you mean. The bathtub is one of my favorite places to read. I like it for the exact reason you said kids know not to bother me when I am in there...lol
I am upset by the bathtub at my rental house. The hot water heater runs out of hot water before it's full and the plug doesn't work very well, so the water escapes really quickly. Plus it feels kind of gross.
My grouse as to where do I keep my books?Everywhere - so much so that I have noooo idea where some are, although I'm pretty good at cataloguing them into the computer. (So basically, I KNOW I bought that title but.... can't find it)
This thread asks where are my books? The answer seems to be - not where they're supposed to be! Hahahaha
I also am at a loss as to where to keep my books. I have 3 full bookshelves at my parents, 2 full ones in the house I'm currently living and a nice big stack on the mantle of the disused fireplace. I may have a problem.
Kataklicik, you may be right, books are never where they are supposed to be.
I want to have a room that's just lined with shelves and has a table and comfy chairs in the middle.
Brenda wrote: "In another topic someone noted they kept books in various places. I have one in my car (just in case of a traffic jam), one at my desk, one in the bedroom, and one somewhere else in the house. ..."
I basically take the book I am reading with me wherever I go. I purchased a big enough bag that I can just take it with me. The rest of my books that I have purchased and not read yet are on a bookshelf in my husband's office. I just go in there and pull another one off the shelf.
I am such a book addict.
Lori wrote: "The hot water heater runs out of hot water before it's full and the plug doesn't work very well..."I had a house like that...my hubby is such a sweet guy he would take big pots of water and boil them on the stove to get it to the "depth" I like. Talk about pampered ;-)
We had a beach house when we lived in NC and it had HUGE hot water heaters (because most of the time it was rented to people who paid a lot for the house and they would not settle for less - We had huge whirlpool baths and multiple shower and NEVER ran out of hot water - Oh how I loved that place.
The majority of my books are in boxes from when I moved house 2.5 years ago. There are probably close to a couple of thousand books. Then the rest are on bookshelves. Every now and again I get it together to donate the paperbacks to a charity so I usually have room on the shelves for more books. When I was growing up, my father used to have a shower every day except Sunday, then he would have a bath. He used to read dirty books in the bath and then they would be put in the airing cupboard to dry for the week. Over time, there got to be quite a store of them behind the boiler. I read them all!
All of mine are on a bookshelf in my room. Or they are in the bag I am currently carrying.
My books are, for the most part, in my bedroom. I tend to carry my currently reading book pretty much everywhere with me--I need to have handbags that can hold books! In my room, I have books on three bookshelves. I also have two white crates on top of each other (shelf-like thing) closer to my bed where my collections of poetry live. I've also got 2 books stored in the top drawer of my nightstand right now, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure why they are there. However, my family oftentimes goes into my room when they need something to read--my brother tried to still a really nice hardback, non highlighted and scribbled on copy of The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot which I bought :(However, I am in England right now and all of this arrangement is at home. I have loads of books for class in here, including a few that I didn't get to reading because I was swamped with essays. But I miss my other books.
All of the books I'm not currently reading get stowed away onto the bookshelf in my room - which is way too small and is starting to gather piles on top of it :) Once I finally get around to it, however, I'm going to clean off the "shelf" that's kind of just an extension of the wall (I don't really know how to explain it to people who haven't seen one, it's like a bend right in the middle of a wall that forms a shelf) and use that as one long bookshelf. Books that I'm currently reading have a semi-permanent home on my nightstand, but get carried around most of the day to school, and around the house to where ever I feel like reading (which is usually on the couch in front of the fire in the wintertime. I'm so pampered :)).
Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with their bookshelves? I love them for what they do, but I sometimes get frustrated because there isn't room for another shelf in my room, and all of mine will be full soon!
I like them all to be perfectly arranged, none on top, only straight up and down, but as I get more and more, they just can't seem to look that way!!!! I do hate THAT.
Liz, I agree. It's more of a love relationship with my shelves and a hate relationship for the tininess of my room. But yeah. I really want to declutter my room and my life, but I don't really know what to get rid of...definitely not my books...
I learned this past week that if your area is experiencing winds strong enough to shake the house, there is a distinct chance that they will knock over the 5' stacks of books you keep on your front table because there is no more room on any of the 15 other bookshelves you own. Quite a mess, but I've got all my reading picked out for this week!
Where do you have books?