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Do you keep your books?


Michelle

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William Shakespeare once wrote, "neither a lender nor a borrower be", and by and large I try to abide by that rule.

 

Only select family members and friends get to borrow my books: I will lend to my mum when either of us is visiting (because she's the fastest reader in the world and will not turn the light off before she's finished, so I always get my book back by the morning) but not to my dad 'cos he forgets to read them and/or mislays them; as for friends there are only two or three I would trust ever receiving a book back from.

 

I'm loath to borrow books from other as well, as I'm rubbish about returning them myself :) I do warn potential lenders that there is a risk factor involved in loaning me books and leave the ball in their court; at least they've been informed!

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I just reorganised my bookshelves and found 17 books which I'm gonna get rid off. :D At first it seemed that there's nothing I can part with but when I let my bookloving and bookobsessing guard down and got sensible I started finding these books that I don't enjoy having around. I've either read them or bought in order to read but never feel like starting to read them. I'm even giving out Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, so it's kinda drastic. I feel like I can't do it because it's part of my Austen collection, but I really hate that book and it makes me irritated everytime I see it on my shelf. :/ (and I know I'm never going to read it again)

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I lend books with the attitude that I might never see them again. So, most people I know would be quite welcome to an old paperback, but not my hardbacks, let alone my Folio editions.

 

As far as borrowing books are concerned, well. At the moment I'm clearing out our home office, and let's just say that I found some library books. They were, um, "a bit" overdue. Yes, let's just leave it at "a bit". :D

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Oooh are you going to put them on here :D? Or are they going straight to the olde charity shoppe?

 

Only 4 of the books are in English and I don't know if I have the money this month to send them anywhere... :lol: Plus I don't really think they'd be something people on here would be interested, there's

- Robert Jordan's first book in The Wheel of Time -series that's quite thick and not in best condition

- Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice

- Toni Morrison's Tar Baby

- Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (which I think has gotten pretty bad reviews on here...)

 

The rest I'm offering to a friend (he's started reading books in his 'old' age, and a bit of that enthusiasm is my fault :) I've already given about 10-15 books to him to read) and what he doesn't want I'm either taking to a charityshop or the library's "take 'em and give some" free shelf :D

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You're very strong Frankie! I got together a couple of boxes of books to give away but left them sitting around too long and I eventually unpacked one box and they're back on my shelves again! I just couldn't help it.

 

However, now that there's a big book fair coming up next month and I'm already short on space, I'm going to be very stern with myself and do some cleaning out before I go - that way I can take the unwanted books with me and donate them to the fair when I get there!

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You're very strong Frankie! I got together a couple of boxes of books to give away but left them sitting around too long and I eventually unpacked one box and they're back on my shelves again! I just couldn't help it.

 

I hear ya sister, if you leave them hanging around long enough they'll find their way back to the shelves :D That's why we need to get rid off them asap when we've made up our minds about what books to part with. It's hard though! :lol:

 

However, now that there's a big book fair coming up next month and I'm already short on space, I'm going to be very stern with myself and do some cleaning out before I go - that way I can take the unwanted books with me and donate them to the fair when I get there!

 

Sounds like a cunning plan! Just be strong, sister! :D (I'm dead jealous about your big book fair!!)

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I'm so looking forward to the fair. Last time I went I had no idea what to expect, so wasn't expecting much, but now that I know what it's like...:D I'll try to take photos if I remember.

 

The weeks seem to be dragging by so slowly (5 weeks to go!) and I've actually dreamt about the fair several times, which is unusual for me. :D

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I think the excitement is even 'worse' for you now that you've been there once already and now what it's all about. And that great haul you had last year!! :D Hmm, you really must get rid of a lot of books if you get as many books this year :D

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I think the excitement is even 'worse' for you now that you've been there once already and now what it's all about. And that great haul you had last year!! :D Hmm, you really must get rid of a lot of books if you get as many books this year :D

 

I know :) I'm reading as fast as I can to make room :lol: And the fair is on twice a year which means twice the excitement, but also twice the books!

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I'm so looking forward to the fair. Last time I went I had no idea what to expect, so wasn't expecting much, but now that I know what it's like...:D I'll try to take photos if I remember.

 

The weeks seem to be dragging by so slowly (5 weeks to go!) and I've actually dreamt about the fair several times, which is unusual for me. :D

 

I was just about to ask you where it was, as I want nothing more than to go to one myself, but then I noticed you're in Australia....

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I'm suddenly really glad I keep all my books - I'm at my parents house at the moment and I just discovered I have about 12 Buffy and Angel novels and the Watcher's Guides!! I totally forgot I even owned those! I'm bringing them back to Cork with me today :D

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Reading about Kylie's book fair last night, I remembered about the book festival that's held in Lincoln every year, so I went to look for information about it and accidently stumbled across a site and on it I found that there's a book swap meet held at the end of every month in town, so I'm definitely going to be going to that at the end of the month and taking the books I don't want anymore to trade for something I do want :D

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Awesome find Roxie! You must have been very pleased. I have so many unread books I sometimes find myself 'discovering' books on my shelves that I hadn't realised I owned. :D It's a wonderful feeling.

 

I hope you enjoy the meet, Lexie. And I hope the rest of you can find a book fair or something similar in your own areas. There's nothing more fun than spending the day browsing cheap, secondhand books with hundreds of other people who have the same passion. :D

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As per the situation i behaves. Some important books which i like to read again i keep it with me otherwise i try to sell it online or retailers who can buy it. There are few books i never want to sell like harry potter books, amar chitra katha books & twilight books. Some of other books which i like to read again are The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, How to Paint a Dead Man, Catcher in the Rye & Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. Its a great reading experience for me.

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Much to hubby's dismay, I insist on keeping every book I read... however it means that my friends always know where to come when they need a good book or two for their holiday! I also re-read a large proportion of the books if I enjoyed them first time round, especially when I'm "between" new books like right now!

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I keep most of mine. Periodically, I will (attempt to) have a clear-out and put a pile of books to one side for getting rid of. I will then sort through this pile again to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't be, change my mind about the majority of the books destined for disposal and put them all back on the shelves again. :lol:

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