How many books do you have to your name?

Cat Melodeon

Well over 3000, although it's a combined collection (me & hubby). We both love to read, love scouring markets and second hand shops for interesting buys. We've about 50 rare books or first editions, they are precious. The rest are a mix of hardbacks and paperbacks and I can't get rid of anything I buy when travelling as it always brings back a memory of where and when I read it. I love art/photography hardbacks and anything by Taschen - they'd be less about the read than the art of the book itself - and we both have heaps of books relating to our work, as well as the standard fiction & biographies. We go through them every year and evict the trashier stuff. Even our little boy (2) has a shelf with over 60 books on it (most 2nd-hand), hopefully he'll get the reading bug too! We've moved house twice with that lot, really looking forward to the day when we have a permanent home and they can all move from stacks and boxes onto lovely shelves!

x_Ellie_x

Right now, I have exactly 201 books in my home, 39 of which I haven't read yet. They are mostly all fiction. I had well over 800 at one point but a year ago I donated most of them to the local secondary school and threw away the ones that I'd re-read so many times that they were falling apart.

Toby Take a Bow

200? 300? Around 30 of them I haven't read yet. I stopped myself buying ANY books when I was made redundant earlier in the year (and have largely stuck to that) and I'm actually enjoying going through my to-read pile. I'll only give away a book if I'm fairly sure I'll never read it again or if I wasn't particularly mad about it. Have a few interesting first editions/proofs/signed books that I treasure.

Emiko

About 5.

I always give them to charity stores when I'm done.

I move around the world a bit, and couldn't be bothered horsing them around.

LenaClaire

I had over 1200 but then I moved internationally and sold probably 900 of them. I think I have a couple hundred now here and maybe 100 in my dad's basement and have recently bought a kindle and already have about 200 on that.

Kiva.D

My bookshelves overflow - 500 books would be a rough estimate.
Probably only read half, if that...

smilerxxx

I'm going on the 200 mark and getting very upset my shelves are being used as the local library. No return but no fines ARrghh. My father had a beautiful book case built for me which i will treasure for life. It's filled with fiction non-fiction crime and fantasy. Also my academic subject. Collection of 15 and only finished first year. .Mature student :-)

Denerick

I think its around 750. I inherited my grandfathers collection of books after his passing. There are some gems among them but they are quite eclectic, some really strange 19th century travel books, some old penny dreadfuls, and then in the middle of them all you'll find a collection of Kipling's verse or one of Macauly's great histories.

I'd say that around 550 are his and the rest are mine, acquired over the last 5 or 6 years.

Morlar

I'd say at this point less than 4 hundred physical books and another 150 or so .pdf research titles.

I had a major cull about 2 or 3 years ago and cut the numbers in half. Of this 90% went to charity shops and 10% were sold. Mostly these were old fiction titles.

I find it's easy to lose heaps of books moving house/country down through the years.

Currently I have about 10 titles I need to either finish or start and another 7 ordered from niche military publishers and booksellers in the states.

I have a list that I will buy whenever they are available at a good price as a lot of WW2 specialist research titles are obscure and almost instantly out of print due to the small print run. Other than that no plans to buy more for the moment.

the west wing

Well I just started using librarything.com, which is an online catalogue that anyone can use to keep track of books they own. I've just finished cataloguing the books that are in my bedroom and that comes to 195 books. I've more in other parts of the house that I'll catalogue soon. If anyone is interested here is the list: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/thewestwing

flyaway.

According to my Goodreads, I own 276 books but I know there are probably 50 or so that I haven't cataloged yet. My girlfriend has 1379.

Travel is good

the west wing wrote: »

Well I just started using librarything.com, which is an online catalogue that anyone can use to keep track of books they own. I've just finished cataloguing the books that are in my bedroom and that comes to 195 books. I've more in other parts of the house that I'll catalogue soon. If anyone is interested here is the list: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/thewestwing

Wow, what a collection! Well done! I really can't imagine what subject you are interested in...LOL.

I just recently joined Good Reads. I had a look at Library Thing & might join up. Some of the people there have the same eclectic range of books as me, so sounds good.

I thought I had about 400 books or so, but I've given a lot away through Book Crossing www.bookcrossing.com

Though I have purchased a lot of books over the last two months or so from The Book Depository. I keep telling myself I'm saving money because of all the wonderful discount codes!

I think I have a book buying addiction......

the west wing

What I found great about Librarything was that I was given a present of a bar code scanner, so I could scan in all my books without having to type them in individually. If you do decide to set up an account on Librarything, I can give you a lend of my scanner and that would make it easier for you!

Travel is good

Thanks, you are on the ball!

Don't worry too much about the scanner, I imagine it will take me ages to register the books. It took me a long time to register them on Book Crossing too, and I don't have them all done.

What a nice present for someone to give you, the scanner sounds useful.

the west wing

Travel is good wrote: »

Thanks, you are on the ball!

Don't worry too much about the scanner, I imagine it will take me ages to register the books. It took me a long time to register them on Book Crossing too, and I don't have them all done.

What a nice present for someone to give you, the scanner sounds useful.

That's why the scanner is so useful. Once you scan the barcode it automatically uploads the book into your library and you can move on and scan the next one. I managed to scan all my books in one night!

Travel is good

I might purchase one of those magical machines so...

You know how long it takes me to adapt to technology!

Have a happy summer's reading!

Censorsh!t

I think I have 200+, and growing like mad. I have to tear myself away from bookstores when in town. I'm still young so expect this number to get a lit bigger. I'm fierce sentimental about books and can't stand if someone doesn't return one or loses one.

Travel is good

Censorsh!t wrote: »

I'm fierce sentimental about books and can't stand if someone doesn't return one or loses one.

Do you feel you have to keep your books? I'm starting to come to the realisation that I may never get a chance to read all of the books I own. So I'm giving most of them away. I take a note of the ones I haven't read, and I can follow them up later, maybe by sourcing them in the library.

I still have a sizeable collection though.

gutenberg

Far far far too many... and yet not enough

I have one 6-shelf bookcase packed to bursting, and an old chest that is also full of them. I love history books, and as they can be expensive I'm loathe to part with them- plus I always manage to convince myself that it'll be useful for some future course/research...

I also have to hold onto novels I loved, which is a problem as I have so many favourites... I'm a hugely sentimental book hoarder

Censorsh!t

Travel is good wrote: »

Do you feel you have to keep your books? I'm starting to come to the realisation that I may never get a chance to read all of the books I own. So I'm giving most of them away. I take a note of the ones I haven't read, and I can follow them up later, maybe by sourcing them in the library.

I still have a sizeable collection though.

I keep those that I haven't read and those that I have read but may want to read again.
I love a room full of books, my room would be very empty without... I'd have a lot more space though!

Coriolanus

This is how many I would like.

Nagikami

Nevore wrote: »

This is how many I would like.

I think I just saw a little piece of heaven

scriba

About 1000 I think, not including my girlfriend's books. Space is becoming a bit of an issue, although I couldn't see myself parting with any of them. A lot of them are related to my studies, so I couldn't see myself parting with them. As for the others, I've become pretty good at culling other things though, so maybe. I've started to give the odd fiction book away if I've read it, and am fairly sure that I won't read it again. It's a start

Bannasidhe

When I get to 3000+ OH makes me take some to the charity shop. About due again

emeraldstar

Seriously? Tell him to feck off. I'd be pissed off if someone tried to make me get rid of some of my books!

Autosport

Nagikami wrote: »

I think I just saw a little piece of heaven

+1 That looks like somewhere i could get lost in

Nagikami

Bannasidhe wrote: »

When I get to 3000+ OH makes me take some to the charity shop. About due again

You should take him to the charity shop

Autosport wrote: »

+1 That looks like somewhere i could get lost in

And spend days eating books because you've run out of food?

Buddah

I have no money. It goes on my kids and on books. I will lend or give away anything I have, including kids, but not my books. I don't know why. I can't. I love my books, all countless thousands of them.

Nagikami

Buddah wrote: »

I have no money. It goes on my kids and on books. I will lend or give away anything I have, including kids, but not my books. I don't know why. I can't. I love my books, all countless thousands of them.

...more than your kids, all countless thousands of them?

Buddah

Nagikami wrote: »

...more than your kids, all countless thousands of them?

Titter! I do have a 14 year old who is nothing more than a bag of hormones and a mobile phone, comes in to eat, grunts, and disappears to his room to his beloved XBox. Prepare for News Headlines: "14 year old on killing spree because X Box removed to make way for School Books".

i got him interested in Cornelia Funke a few years back, but then "Halo" arose and all was lost, again.