Hi, my name is Joan and I think I have found a club I can...

[Read-n-Rider]

Hi, my name is Joan and I think I have found a club I can relate to. I have always been an avid reader and book buyer and when I finally realized that I own more books than I can reasonably expect to be able to read in my lifetime, I decided that I must be a book collector as well. That said, I must admit to being more of a gourmand than a gourmet collector, if you will. I don't really care if a book is a first edition or a tenth edition, hardback or paperback, as long as it is on a subject that interests me or is written by one of my favorite authors. I do love to find hardback copies in great condition at less than the price of a new paperback!

I have recently discovered the rare and out-of-print department of B&N and have purchased early titles of some contemporary authors there. I have also become quite enamored of Ebay as a source of all kinds of books and I love to go to library book sales. There is just something about owning a book, having it on a shelf (or even packed away in a box when the shelves are full!) and knowing that you can access it at will that is very satisfying; I guess that is why I don't use the library more.

I do look forward to learning more about the "fine points" of collecting and to hearing from other book lovers. Thanks for starting this group!

[Read-n-Rider]

Oh, boy, my first post and already I have goofed! I meant this to appear in the "Introductions" thread, not in its very own subject slot! Is there any way you can fix this for me, Daniel? Help! (And thanks!)

[calybrid]

Hey!! I thought I was odd, having so many books!! My husband is annoyed, though. I have piles of books around the house, as well as boxes and boxes in my dad's basement (we have no storage at our apartment). Anyway, it's good to know there are others!!! Take care... Kat

[jay_newreader]

Hi Joan:

I just joined this book club and was excited to see your post. I recently graduated and have a lot of free time to read now. So I started by buying a number of books from B&N not sure when I will finish reading them. I completely understanding the thought of owning books even though you don't know when you may read them

I am currently reading 'A House for Mr. Biswas'. Are you reading any book currently?

Jay

[Read-n-Rider]

Hi, Kat---and Jay!














Hi, Kat--and Jay! I've been waiting for Daniel or someone to move this thread over to "Introductions," where it should have been in the first place. I'm beginning to think that's not going to happen, and now I feel like I have 2 new friends, and I don't really care! I know what you mean about the husband thing, Kat, mine isn't really thrilled about my having books all over the place, either. Oh, well, I bet they both know there are a lot worse things we could be "into," right? Do you have favorite authors you collect, a favorite subject?

Jay--did you just graduate from high school or college? Happy summer reading, anyway! I confess I am not familiar with the book you mentioned; who is the author? Right now I am reading The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory. It is the first book by her that I have had and I am loving it! I like historical novels (which this is), but also mysteries (some favorite authors are Robert B. Parker, Stephen White, Steve Martini and Lisa Scottoline), memoirs, such as Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt and, most recently, Jon Katz's books about his life with his animals, especially his border collies.

Thanks so much to both of you for replying to my "mistake" posting; it made me feel less technology-challenged! I'm going to try to put both of you on my "Friends" list.

Joan

[jay_newreader]

Hi Joan and Kat:

I recently finished my Phd and am starting to teach next month. So I Have time until then. This book I am reading is by V. S. Naipaul. Pretty interesting book. I got a list of the 100 best books of all times so I am trying to pick books from there. I just read anything I find interesting not any particular topic. I will check out the book you have mentioned too!

Jay

[flyjo9]

Happy to see your post. Just about everything you've said, applies to me. I have a passion to own books, although I never considered myself a collector. I can't resist a book that appeals. It is painful for me to give a book up. I really need to have more shelves built as I have stacks and some in boxes. I don't like storing them in boxes, though.
I also buy from B& N Rare and Used books and some other used booksellers, where often the books are new.
Books were revered in my childhood home and I'm grateful for that. I often wonder what it's like to live without being surrounded by books. Another Joan

[Read-n-Rider]

Hi, "Another" Joan--I'm so happy to hear from you! We do indeed sound like soulmates, or bookmates, or whatever. I have just started a new project--converting a section of my attic into a library! It's the only thing I can think of to do so that I can have a place for all of my books together; currently they are on shelves throughout the house, with the (large) residue packed in boxes and/or otherwise stored in the attic. The area that I want for a library is over our garage and fortunately there is a door leading to it from an upstairs bedroom. I will have to do something to the walls--and maybe the ceiling, which is actually the roof--to close them in and I want to have a wall or at least a partition (maybe just tall bookcases) at the far end to separate it from the rest of the attic. And then, of course, there's the floor........I'd better stop this before I discourage myself! Hopefully, my husband will help; he's much better at this kind of thing than I am. He's a reader, too, but not to the extent that I am and he does sometimes get a bit annoyed at my having piles of books all over the place.

Thanks so much for writing; I'm going to put you on my Friends list!

Joan

[Read-n-Rider]

Hope you got my message congratulating you on your PhD, Jay. I just added "Flyjo Joan" to my Friends list and checked to see if you'd been signed in lately. I could hardly believe it--you and she signed in at exactly the same time, 3:49 A.M. today! Such a coincidence, I just had to post about it!

How are you coming with your reading? I bet that list of the 100 best-ever books could be the basis of a collection in itself. I'm on my second novel by Philippa Gregory now--I have a fascination for Tudor England and she really makes history come alive.

[cmprofessor]

Hi everyone:

This sounds like a fun group. Guess I'm similar to you in that I've got quite a few books and wonder where I'm going to put the ones I keep collecting? I try to make it a family thing when I can: my daughter set up a spreadsheet so I can keep track of what I have and my wife patiently puts up with me arriving home with a new book or two fairly frequently...

Mike

[Read-n-Rider]

Yes, Mike, I think you fit right in here. I have a computer list of my books, too, but I made a little mistake--it's a Word document instead of a spreadsheet. I'd like to switch to a spreadsheet, but my list (which is only a partial one) is now 22 pages long and I'm afraid it's going to take a long time to convert it. I guess the only thing to do is start--and then keep going........!

Joan

[cmprofessor]

Joan:

Thanks for your note. Re: my collecting, I'm reminded of the title of one of Basbanes'books: Patience and Fortitude. My family has patience with me and I have the fortitude to keep collecting!

I especially like British authored mysteries. I see you mentioned liking England. Do you have any favorite British authors?

Mike

[Read-n-Rider]

Hi, Mike--

Yes, I do have some favorite British authors, more historical fiction-related than mystery, though. As I mentioned earlier, I have recently "discovered" Philippa Gregory, and another favorite is the late Eleanor Hibbert, who wrote under the pseudonyms Philippa Carr, Victoria Holt and Jean Plaidy. She wrote over 180 books altogether and I have nearly all of them now. I have found many online which are out of print; Abebooks has been a helpful site for me, too. Belonging to this club has made me more conscious of what edition a book is, and I get a little thrill whenever I open one and see that it is a "first."

Joan

[cmprofessor]

Hi Joan:

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm not familiar with the author names you listed but appreciate your taking time to tell me about them. I'm always looking for new things to read!

For learning about "firsts", I found the book, Book Finds, by Ian C. Ellis a great help. I also subscribed to a magazine called "Firsts" (Tucson, Arizona) but found it less helpful than another magazine, Fine Books and Collections (www.finebooksmagazine.com). Just one person's opinion...

Hope I'm being helpful,
Mike

[Read-n-Rider]

Thanks, Mike, that is helpful. I think I'll have to look into (no pun intended!) Book Finds; that was mentioned as a good source in another thread awhile back. I am not what I would consider a serious collector, but I find that, when I really like an author, I do like to get all of his/her books.

Joan

[cmprofessor]

Hi Joan: glad to read I was helpful. I, too, tend to collect whatever I can find of a favored author. Someday, I hope to attend a book fair and actually meet some of the authors I've been reading. Should be fun!

Mike

[bookworm331]

Hi everyone, I think I will like talking to everyone and learning all I can about books. I have loved books since I was a little girl going to the library with my Dad. Well now my Dad is 82 and we still go to every library booksale that we can find. As my Dad is getting older this is a special way that we can be together. We can share our love of reading and I can keep an eye on his health. One thing I am very proud of is that I have instilled the love of reading in both my daughters. If that is the only thing I have done in my life, I am happy. My husband also thinks I have more books than I need, but he is not a reader so he just does not understand. Today I went to a library booksale and tomorrow I will be going with my Dad to another one. What can I say, I love books! Look forward to all the interesting talk about books.
Jayne

[Read-n-Rider]

Hi, Jayne--Welcome to our little group! Hope you enjoyed the book sale today; find anything interesting, or maybe I should say, that you decided you couldn't live without? I went to a thrift shop awhile ago and, as usual, was delighted to find that they had a few boxes of paperbacks. I was even more delighted when I learned the price--$.10 each and they were having a 1/2 price sale. I came home with 34 books; my husband just rolled his eyes!

I know what you mean about passing your love of reading on to your children. I have 3 grown sons and they all love books. It is gratifying to see that my grandchildren are now following along in the same path. My 5-year-old granddaughter said to me just yesterday: "Reading is fun!"

Hi again to you, too, Mike. You may be interested to know that, on your recommendation, I have purchased Book Finds. Haven't gotten very far into it, but have already learned some interesting things. This group may make a bona fide collector of me yet!

Joan

[cmprofessor]

Hi Joan:

Thanks for your note. Glad to know I was helpful re: Book Finds. Enjoy!

And, hello to Jayne. Welcome to the group!

Mike

[booker41s]

Hello everyone: This looks like fun. I'm sure we all have way too many books. (I know that's impossible.) I was off work for three years and lived two blocks from a B&N, and five minutes from the beach, and I spent more time at B&N than the beach. Consequently, I spent WAY too much money there. My library is now huge, mostly stored in a storage unit. It's mostly books I haven't read yet, or "keepers" - books in a few genres that I will always have: American Revolutionary War/Colonial Period, Golf, Law, Baseball/Sports. People say your car says a lot about your personality, I think your library (and your outlook about having a library) says more. My list of books is only partial, and I've started to buy books a second time because I forget what I have in storage. Joan, I think you said your list is in Word. If you format a spreadsheet in Excel to match the Word table (if it's in a table), you can probably copy and paste. If it's not in a table, maybe you can convert it to a table then copy it to Excel. Just a thought. Thanks for getting this started...