no such thing as too many.

the number of guitars you own, plus one.

I figure we had at least 3000 books, and that's a low estimate. After weeding through the ones that were just in really bad shape (too moldy or brittle to really keep), it turned into kind of a game - donate, pack in storage, or take with us. We learned a lot of stuff about ourselves.

1) I had four copies of Camille, but had never read one of them. I kept the best one and read it (it's really good!)

2) We had enough books by or about Frank O'Hara that we now have a small Frank O'Hara section.

3) We buy a lot of duplicates.

4) The ones we were least likely to keep were ones other people had given us, or really topical political books. So now we don't buy as many of those.

5) We both wanted to get rid of some of the other person's books, but didn't (so he still has a section on bridge (cards) and I still have a section on the Salem Witch trials).

And, now we've been in our new place for five years and they are piling up again.

huge amounts of books to someone planning to open a used bookstore. The first got 31 boxes of books, the second only about 16. I've given up trying to sell them at Half Price Books because I get so little for them. My solution to the overwhelming number of books is to stop buying, unless I think it's a book I cannot get from the library or I will actually want to reread.

Even with that, I've twice done a serious cull in my current place, which I've been in almost ten years. The fact that it's small, about 900 square feet, keeps me almost under control. But now I've got a lot of signed books that I want to hang on to, and I'm going to need to box them up and store them in the garage.

I almost never buy duplicates. Of course, the fact that I'm not buying very many these days helps solve that problem.

That's where most of the dupes came from. Having four copies of one book was a surprise, though. I figured if I'd made four attempts at reading it, I should probably close the deal.

With Half Price books, I know they don't give great prices, but they also have good inventory and sell for good prices, so it's kind of a wash. I put a lot in my friend's Free Little Library, too.

Am now going to read Camille.

Tell me how you like it!

of money and space so I think they deserve them!

Books are great for free insulation. My gift this year for Christmas was a nicer home office and I now have book shelves lining every wall. It’s funny because I had just enough space for all my books but then bought more the other day for classes starting Monday and I’m right back to having to stack some on my desk. Ha

Although I rarely buy books, I get them from my library. Cannot afford to buy too many.

I will buy a book, however, that I enjoy a lot or want to read again. The last one I bought was "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, about FDR and Eleanor. That one is fascinating and I've read it twice. Would highly recommend.

In my immediate circle, I know no one who has as many books as I, and, since moving, I have given away to the library or took to Half Price, boxes and boxes and boxes of books. All my designated shelves for books are full, plus stacked on a desk, plus, antique books I may sell online are under my bed. Since joining Audible, I have bought only a handful of printed books! I read mainly fiction these days from I-Books and the Kindle App. Audible is great, because I listen while doing other things not requiring concentration. And since I cannot stand to watch TV with it's wall to wall coverage of all things Dotard, it remains off most of the time.

I also love the book recommendations on here!