Comments on: How Many Books Do You Own?

By: Barry in CO

Barry in CO — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:28:13 +0000

I suppose I own 100 or so books. References, a very old copy of Grapes Of Wrath, some Hemingway, Bronte, Frost, Poe, Yeats, Plath, Tennyson, the Bible… A few years ago I decided I had goofed off too much in school and hadn’t read enough of the classics, so I got started. Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, A Farewell To Arms, A Tale Of Two Cities, etc. It’s been great fun.

By: Robin Barber

Robin Barber — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:13:51 +0000

I consider myself a book worm. I remember my first book fair in the 1st grade (1969). I bought all 10 books that were offered to us and read every last one. I just love to read. As I read this, I sat here and counted 100 books on 3 shelves in my bedroom. I have 2 more shelves to go on that same bookshelf. I know I must have over a 1,000 books in this house and that would include my nightstands, my tables, my living room, my children’s rooms, and some boxes here and there. Yeah, I’m a book worm and proud of it!

By: Bob W

Bob W — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:46:54 +0000

I grew up in outback Alaska, no TV, one radio station. So I read, about 2 books a week. My wife is also a reader, so every year or so we load up a couple of thousand books and take them to a library. We probably keep a core of about 800. Sci-Fi (me) to old English (We both love Dorothy Taylor) and i just sent my grandkids the full set of Oz books.

By: KS

KS — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:01:00 +0000

I would estimate that I own approximately 200 books now; I’m trying to keep my library small by only hanging on to reference books; books that aren’t available at the public library, such as some books by Christian authors; and autographed books (I have books signed by Paula Deen, Mark Steyn, Hugh Hewitt, and others). Recently I have read and liked Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, and Green Shadows, White Whale by Ray Bradbury. I own The Renegade Writer too, LaShawn, but I can’t seem to start writing! Thanks for your blog. : )

By: Dub Dublin

Dub Dublin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:50:45 +0000

Thousands. I really don’t know, but I do know that my wife and I want our next house to have a *real* library: That’s our idea of a “media room” – hold the TV screen. (If I never own an HDTV, I won’t miss it, except for Rangers baseball.) I’ve added built-in bookcases to hold nearly a thousand books over and above the four huge bookcases in the den/study – and then there are the bookcases in the kids’ rooms, and then the boxes in the garage that we still don’t have shelf space for. I’m planning on building-in another ~60-75 linear feet of shelf space in place of an under-used upstairs closet next weekend…

Family favorites (after the Bible, of course): Tough call, but off the top of my head: ColdNoses, Warm Hearts (great dog stories), Longitude, Churchill’s WW2 Series and History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Buckley’s sailing books, The Scottish Chiefs (excellent!), Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Mover of Men and Mountains (worth getting!), Agatha Christie, Forester’s Hornblower series, Narnia series, Wind in the Willows, The Good Master, Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, The Book of Virtues – I better stop now…

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:56:22 +0000

Not counting Bibles or the 150 or so cookbooks, we probably have somewhere between 500 and 1000 books. They are upstairs, downstairs, and in my lady’s chamber, so it’s hard to say. I’m always culling some and adding more. I have the complete Shakespeare and the complete Mark Twain (which seems to be misplaced at the moment), a two-volume “best-of” Kipling, a large collection of mystery, science fiction and fantasy novels(Tolkien and Lewis most prominent), humor, non-fiction on just about every subject imaginable, a few (very few) ordinary novels, a two-volume set of the annotated Sherlock Holmes that I inherited from my father (note to all those concerned: never read the annotated ANYTHING).
My father also had a complete set of Dickens, but they were tragically flood-damaged and couldn’t be salvaged.
Have you noticed that Dickens was a genius at first lines? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” “The kettle began it.” “Marley was dead, to begin with.”
Doug–I’m a big fan of Rex Stout, Thurber and Zelazny also. I also like Ruth Stout’s gardening books (Rex Stout’s sister), not only for their gardening advice, but because they are so well-written.
The Humor of Christ by Elton Trueblood is a book that has given me new insight into the Bible.
I also have many books on music, and a not-as-large-as-I’d-like-it-to-be collection of old children’s books. I don’t mean silly stuff from 1980, I mean really old books. My oldest book is a music book called A Child’s Garden of Song (yes, I know), published in 1895, but unfortunately missing a page.
I read a novel a few years ago that I believe was called A Night of Watching. It dealt with Kristallnacht (sp?) and the Danish refusal to accommodate the Nazis in their slaughter of Jews. Powerful reading.

By: Jay Flemma

Jay Flemma — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:11:57 +0000

Mamapajama, I saw the movie and thought it was good. It was nice to see Bernard Gui get what was coming to him after the way he shreded justice in the book. Yes the sets were great, but nothing compares to the sparkling prose in the book. The brilliant characters make us see bits of ourselves in each one. I guess I identify most with Ubertino…and a bit with Adso.

My fave scene – when the Bishop of Kaffa is trying to take that guy’s beard and put it in a certain place and everyone’s screaming and Adso turns to William and says “are there no better arguments to prove or refute the poverty of Christ?”

By: mamapajamas

mamapajamas — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:26:34 +0000

Jay, years back, HBO made a film version of [i]Name of the Rose[/i] that was absolutely spectacular, with Sean Connery as Brother William of Baskerville and Christian Slater as his novice.

All sets were REAL Medieval-era monastaries, the research for the era (1327 AD) correct. For once, HBO didn’t fall down on the job.

I absolutely loved the film AND the book.

By: batyah

batyah — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:53:57 +0000

Whoah! That is fascinating. But dangit, it’s hard to give up old theories.

By: La Shawn

La Shawn — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:03:16 +0000

He is most definitely dead, and JKR said so herself at Radio City Music Hall earlier this year (or late last year). Here’s my theory about what happened with Big D in Book 6:

http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/10/26/harrypotter/

By: batyah

batyah — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:01:41 +0000

So LaShawn and other Harry Potter fans, this may be a little off topic, but, do you really think that Professor Dumbledore is actually dead? Because I don’t think he is. I don’t think that he would have misjudged Snape so badly, and I think there is something funny going on with the way he “died.” Also, at the funeral, Fawkes’s mournful sound is suddenly cut short. Why?

You heard it hear first.

By: ich dien

ich dien — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:18:25 +0000

Dear LaShawn: Iâ€™ve enjoyed your postings over the years but this last one asking about books and libraries, suggests that you might be related to one of my favorite characters in a story by one of my favorite authors. I read and re-read to my kids and grand kids as they grew, Kiplingâ€™s fascinating account of The Elephantâ€™s Child. Did you read it? Elephants in the â€˜oldâ€™ days didnâ€™t have trunks but one child was filled with â€˜satiable curiosity. He asked questions everywhere he went, until finally he ended up down by the great grey green greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees where he found a creature in the water and asked â€œWhat to Crocodiles have for lunch?â€
â€œLean down my child and I will tell you.â€ And the child leaned down and the croc bit his nose and they had a tug of war which left the child with a long, long nose which, as answers to many questions, turned out to be very, very useful.
As to my library. It consists of 108 feet of shelving, floor to ceiling. And many smaller sets of shelves at desk tops and bedside elsewhere. It was estimated, some ten years ago, that there were 10,000 volumes. Biographies range from Adams to Young. Novels range from those by Aaron to Wycliff and include those of Tarkington, LeCarre, C. S. Forester, Ludlum, There is every volume by and about C. S. Lewis. Every volume, some autographed by Rev. Margaret Barker. Every volume, some autographed, by Eric Hopper. Many volumes by George MacDonald. All of Kenneth Roberts (a tenth cousin) some autographed. Copies of the works of Shakespeare (whose 443 birthday is today); Byron, Keats, Kipling, Milton, some in fancy bindings and some â€œpocketâ€ book editions from the early 19th century. There are volumes of Jewish, Gnostic, Christian (pre Nicene and post) scriptures and the Koran and many of its commontaries. . Commentaries begin with Eusebiusâ€™ Ancient Ecclesiastical Histories (published in 1633) and apparently in its original binding. There are two sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica, starting with the 11th edition and ending at the 1958 edition, plus some American Encyclopedia, the name of which escapes me. There is a copy of Samuel Johnsonâ€™s Dictionary and many of those while followed, including English-Arabic, Eng-German, English-Russian, English-French, etc. etc.
Just trying to answer your question makes me want to take an armful of them to bed.

By: Jay Flemma

Jay Flemma — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:26:36 +0000

La Shawn:

The number is in the thousands and they take up at least five or six full bookcases.

Some of my fave reads:

The Name of the Rose (by Umberto Eco) a learned person who loves Christianity will totally eat this one up!

Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare

The Sirens of Titan by Vonnegut

The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien) Its not just for nimrod Dungeons and dragons freaks…

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. (I have all of Twains works…every novel and SS)

Same for Dickens…fave is Tale of Two Cities

The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter Thompson

All six Harry Potters

Green Hills of Africa (Hemingway…I find I like his non-fiction more…)

By: Stacey Peterson

Stacey Peterson — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:14:36 +0000

A literary masterpiece on the Holocaust is “If Not Now, When?” by Primo Levi. It’s one of my favorite books by a brilliant author!

By: March Hare

March Hare — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:01:51 +0000

The number of books I own is a ~very~ sore subject around here, as Hubs is not a reader and I read just about ~everything~. There are books in every room in the house and stored in attic and garage, as well as piled in my bedroom and living room.

The kids split along gender lines, with the girls reading more and more widely than the boys. DS#1 recently discovered that he does enjoy reading, providing the subject matter is non-fiction. They have their own collections of books as well.

I have a difficult time giving away books, although if I “lend” them out, I don’t mind if they don’t come back. So I “lend” lots of books to my family members, most of whom are also addicted to reading, and they slowly wend their way around back to me. Sometimes. If they’re supposed to.