More than one copy of a book?

[T.K.]

Howdy all,

I went to the ancestral home, Phoenix, for a traditional brown Christmas and found myself with a dearth of reading material. On the plane, I had just reread *Mirror Dance," by Lois M Bujold, which is wonderful space opera SF if anyone is interested, but had no more bookage with me.

I hied to a bookstore. Among the several books that I picked up, I bought Memory, the next book in the Miles series, also by Lois M Bujold. Of course, I had a perfectly good copy sitting in a box in NY, but I wanted to reread the book right then.

Are there any books that you own multiple copies of, and why?

TK Kenyon
Author of RABID: A Novel "A genre-bending story, part thriller, part literary slapdown."

And CALLOUS: A Novel, coming in May, 2008

www.tkkenyon.com

[Steven]

This one is easy for me to answer as I have a few copies of the books I have wrote. When they were published I got 20 free copies from the publisher. I gave the majority to family and friends and kept back two copies of each book for my children to read when they grow up.

Best Regards

Steven Preece
Author of
Amongst The Marines
and Always A Marine

[Deborah]

I own three copies of Terry Pratchett's Mort, three of The Colour of Magic, two Wryd Sisters, two of The Fifth Elephant, three of The Night Watch, and two of Jingo.

How did I end up with all these? I put bids on three different eBay auctions, and won ended up winning all three. I won about 40 books all up, and there were a few duplicates once they all arrived.

If anyone living in England wants a copy of any of them, let me know and I'll post one to you.

[Matthew]

I currently only have one copy of it, but at one point in my life i had three copies of Ed Abbey's "Desert Solitare" the book that changed my life. I have given away the other two copies, one to my mom to replace her copy that i stole way back in High School, and the third i gave a way to a girl who's heart a broke...not much payment but im not much of a man sometimes.

[Caroline]

I have two copies of Brian Jacques' Mossflower, which was my favorite for many years. It recently came out in a collector's edition with some new illustrations, but it didn't include the chapter illustrations from the original edition. So, I have my old hammered paperback copy with the original illustrations, and the neat collector's edition with the new illustrations.

I've picked up duplicates (generally by accident when I go into a used bookstore and can't remember if I have something and grab it anyway), but I've always just given them away.

[Alexandra]

I have several of my favorites in both hardback and paperback. A few I have a couple copies of in paperback. Of those it's usually because my original copy in paperback was from childhood and I've picked up a newer copy because I either wanted a copy in good shape or I liked the newer cover. In a couple cases it's because I later bought the books in a paperback set.

[Mo]

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison in both paperback and hardback because it is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. The Holy Bible New King James Version.

[Matt]

I found it funny that upon returning to my parents' house in Phoenix for Thanksgiving and discovering in old old boxed in the garage a large number of books that I had forgotten that I owned and have since bought. I guess my book tastes haven't chaned much since I lived with them in HS. It made for a profitable trip to the used book store, though.

As for intentional doubles, I always grab a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo a) to compare translations and b) to have tons of copies on hand to force upon friends.

--Matt

[Amy]

I've found a number of duplicates in my collection. It happens because I buy I book I want to read, it gets in line behind the approximately 25 books I own that I haven't read yet. Time passes, my book pile grows so tall I can't remember that I bought that book. I want a treat for myself and head off to the bookstore... see a book and say: I always wanted to read that!

[Jen]

When I taught I had multiple copies of The Great Gatsby, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Huck Finn, Death of a Salesman, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I usually kept a softcover of each to make notes in that I would teach from. But since I stopped teaching and I have so many books, I decided to get rid of the duplicates to make room on the bookshelves.

[CmPete]

I own THREE complete sets of the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. (plus 3/4 of another set) This is a series of 13 books tracing a group of friends from their 5th birthday into adulthood. (Similar to the Little house series)
I bought the second set to preserve my precious set of original hardbacks. I bought the third set when they were re-released in 2000 to support the publisher. If they bring them out again, Ill buy them again.

These books are timeless stories that should be required reading for girls of all ages. (Including my 76 year old mother!!) They were childhood favorites that I shamelessly promote to any girl of my aquaintance.

And I own three copies of Gone with the Wind. A tattered paperback,and the 40'th and 50'th anniversary editions. I read my mother's circa 1965 edition to peices in my teens.

[Kate]

This is going to sound wacky, but I read/heard a while back Farrah Fawcett say that one of her hobbies is collecting copies of "Lady Chatterly's Lover." She said that when she travels, she tries to find different copies of it for her collection. (For some reason, it didn't occur to me until now that she might have also been looking for copies in other languages).

So I thought, if Farrah Fawcett can do that, so can I! Or rather, so will I... mostly because with books like "Pride and Prejudice" (someone mentioned it above, too) I'll see a cool copy of it (old, soft, worn, pleasantly fragrant) and think, "too bad I already have a copy"! I realized that that shouldn't stop me - I'm a book COLLECTOR, after all, right? So I'm not so much trying to get as many copies of Pride and Prejudice as possible just to have a lot of copies of it, but to have different cool-looking editions which I have given myself permission to get even though I already have a copy.

There are also books, like "Lonesome Dove" and "Ellen Foster," that are favorites of mine and when I see them used and the price is right I'll buy them so I can give them to people.

And, since the Bible (also mentioned above) has so many translations and not any single one is perfect, I have several copies of that, too. I also have a "travel" copy that's paperback and which I just stuff in my suitcase because I don't mind it getting beat up...

[Jennifer Lynn]

I "own" three copies of the book "Johnny Got his Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. I first read this book in high school. It was actually the english assignment of a friend (now my husband) who I shared a locker with, but I absconded with the book one day and read it. I really enjoyed its dark mood. Years later I discovered a copy at my cousins house while I was helping him move. He had "borrowed" it from our high school. I in turn "borrowed" it from him. Last year my son had to read this book for his junior English class (same high school/same teacher - let's hear it for originality) They finally decided that this book had paid it's dues and they are no longer going to teach it so my son was able to keep his copy. This Christmas, not realizing that we already had two copies of this book floating around the house, my husband found one for me at a used book store. Ironically, it has a stamp in it indicating that it was originally owned by our high school.

[Monica]

I have two copies of "Wild at Heart". I bought it for my husband to read (since I was reading "Captivating) I was going to give it to him as a gift. A couple of weeks later we were at the book store and he picked it up. I didn't notice. But when I saw him reading it I figured out that he picked up his own.
I also have three copies of "Purpose Driven life", one bought myself, the other was given to us as a gift, and I own it on CD.
I also have 2 copies of Gone with the Wind. Hardcover and paper back. Both gifts.
I have two copies of "What every mom needs", but different editions. So the second I recevied as a gift is a little different then my first one.
And if you count my 8 bibles through out the house.

[Sean]

I have two copies of Tristan Egolf's "Lord of the Barnyard" (a talent that left this world far too early...). I also have two copies of "Jingo" by Terry Prachett, one paperback which I read, and one first ed. hardcover that was signed. I have multiple copies of several Shakespeare plays, as well. Bought because of the apocryphal information in the back, really. I also have two versions of Dante's "Infero."--one regular text, one illustrated.

[Angie]

I have several copies of the Lord of the Rings. That is only because of the different editions. There are so many beautiful editions, so I also need some paperbacks that I can read over and over and not worry about ruining.

[Shasta]

I have 3 copies of: Moby Dick, 2 each of: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Wuthering Heights, and 1 paperback copy and 1 hardback copy of ALL the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich, as well as ALL of the Harrry Potter novels. I am sure I have multiples of others (by accident) that I am not aware of...YET!!!LOL!!!

[Chloe]

I own three copies of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game- a hardcover, a quality paperback and a mass market paperback for lending. I have two copies of Stranger in a Strange Land. I also have two copies each of Catcher in the Rye and Nine Stories. I'm not sure how, but I ended up with double copies of a lot of John Steinbeck as well. Which is weird, because I think I've only ever read Of Mice and Men.

[Jo]

I recently read that and absolutely loved it.