Book collecting

[Arashi222]

I collect books too. I collect books by my favorite authors and they are all in pristine condition. I don't bend the backs I don't bend the pages I don't even let people borrow my books unless they know that my policy is if it comes back to me and I find anything wrong with it. I demand that they buy me a new book. I even group my books by favorites and by genre. Like all of my Stephen King books are on one bookcase. My Manga is organized by my favorites. i have so Many that I have filled a bookcase in my basement as well.

My current book obsessions are:
The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare (they are making a movie out of this)
Infernal Devices Series also By Cassandra Clare

All right now anyone else have the same problem or set of rules for reading books??
For example: I can't stand books that have bent covers, or spines I won't buy them
All books in my collection must look as if they have never been read even if they have been read many many times.

 

[Csutelan]

I have been collecting rare books for 24 years. My initial interests were in Stephen King first and limited editions though I haven since branched off from those into much holder books. My interests morph every few months but I always learn as much as I can about the author or subject that is currently interesting me. I have purchased numerous bibliographies and books about books. When I acquire a new (old) book, I study the binding, typography and paper. I love to smell and hold old books;it somehow takes the sting out of living in this age and makes me feel a part of history. I really can't imagine living without my books.

 

[Arashi222]

I have been collecting rare books for 24 years. My initial interests were in Stephen King first and limited editions though I haven since branched off from those into much holder books. My interests morph every few months but I always learn as much as I can about the author or subject that is currently interesting me. I have purchased numerous bibliographies and books about books. When I acquire a new (old) book, I study the binding, typography and paper. I love to smell and hold old books;it somehow takes the sting out of living in this age and makes me feel a part of history. I really can't imagine living without my books.

Books are a wonderful thing. I am glad that I am not the only one that collects books. You should check out the social group on here that I'm in. Its Called Armchairs by the fire. Its all about books and collecting books and different authors and things. Gomendosi runs the group. Its a great place on here too. I love books I tend to breath books they come to life they have always been my friends when no one else was...But that is probably why I also like to write and have my world with my dolls and characters. I am glad someone else likes Stephen King though I do like him much.

 

[Gomendosi]

Stephen King is a master of the craft and make no mistake.
Feel free to join the group, I have been a bit busy moving lately so I will have to get more involved with the group again (been a bit neglectful), but also I get to sort out my lovely books and re-categorize and shelve them all over again
There are quite a few bibliophiles among our ranks

 

[Csutelan]

I have found that with my book collecting my interest periodically shifts between authors, genres, periods, etc.. When I settle on one, I learn everything I can about the author, period, publisher(s), bindings, states (in the case of engravings), editions, etc. This has resulted in my building a decent reference library in addition to first or early editions. I can sit and comb for hours over the publishing history of various books or various ?points? that define an early state of a particular book.
Over the years, my interests have ranged from Stephen King and other contemporary horror authors (Ann Rice, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Lovecraft, etc.) to more literary authors like Joyce, Faulkner, Kafka, Beckett and Camus. I have also delved into older authors like Melville, Hawthorne, Poe, Longfellow, Hardy, Gissing, Dostoevsky and Shakespeare. The last couple of years I have spent collecting books by, about and illustrated by William Blake. I have a special affinity for Blake and his work as he was someone who was profoundly misunderstood and unappreciated in his own lifetime and yet somehow managed to find a special kind of happiness in his work and himself.
Even though my tastes and periods have shifted over the years, there is a consistent theme throughout my two decades of collecting. Whether the genre is horror, science fiction of purely literary, I only like to read books which address, in a serious manner, the human condition (why we are here? what is all means? is there life after death? how to live the right kind of life?, etc.) I find so little meaning in the faceless, nameless, consumerism that defines modern life that I have to look for meaning in my books. I romanticize the idea that books are immortal and speak to us from beyond the grave. I like the idea of making a connection or "finding a friend" in a four hundred year old sonnet or play; it somehow makes me feel less alone.

 

[Divrom]

I read a lot of books, so I guess I collect them.

I frequently buy books from Amazon that I never get round to reading.

However, I'm no longer *as* bothered about my books being in pristine condition, because I now enjoy buying secondhand books.

Unlike some of you, I can't read fiction. I don't know why. I just don't get it.

 

[76054Pluto]

I love collecting mainly factual books on railways, history (mainly British and European), astronomy, nature, geography and maps. I can be a bit fussy about keeping them in good condition, having completely separate shelves to keep second hand books apart from brand new books. One thing I can't stand is lending my new books to people and them coming back with finger prints or any bent covers, so I'm always reluctant to lend them out even though my friends are usually careful. When I have the time I love to sit into the early hours of the morning by my log fire and read with regular cups of tea.

 

[Biblio-Love]

Love everything about books! I especially love limited edition handmade letterpress chapbooks and broadsides. There is something so beautiful about a handmade object in a mechanized world. I've taken courses on bookbinding, letterpress, graphic design, and typography. I also love books about history. Ok - question - how do you organize your book shelves? By author or topic?

 

[Csutelan]

Love everything about books! I especially love limited edition handmade letterpress chapbooks and broadsides. There is something so beautiful about a handmade object in a mechanized world. I've taken courses on bookbinding, letterpress, graphic design, and typography. I also love books about history. Ok - question - how do you organize your book shelves? By author or topic?

I organize my books alphabetically by author and within author by date of publication. I also separate my 20th century books from those printed prior to 1900.

 

[Biblio-Love]

I use to order my books alphabetically by last name, separated only by genre (fiction, non-fiction, poetry). But in the last 10 years or so, I found that too rigid. So I now arrange them thematically. I know there is some cross-over, like do I put a biography on Mary Shelley in books on Romanticism or in Gothicism. But I get such enjoyment by carefully selecting their arrangement. And everyone once in awhile I'll make an idiosyncratric choice like putting Blake's poetry in with the books on religious history. I know, right? But I get a chuckle and snort from my unorthodox tomfoolery.

 

[Thea]

I organise my books alphabetically by author surname, then by first name, then by series order and if there are individual titles not in a series I alphabetise them by title (the title of the series is determines the placement of the series). If there is a prequel to a series I will arrange it at the beginning of the series. I mostly read fiction. My particular interests are science fiction and fantasy.

 

[CassieR]

I've been starting to collect comic books, more of the My Little Pony. I thought it was an influence of my dad. He always likes to collect some until I started to get a real strange need to collect them…

 

[giraffesec]

I have been collecting Graphic Novels for years it started with The Watchmen and I now have a bookcase full of graphic novels mainly Batman lego mini figures and collectables. My rules are clean hands and respect the books.
I also have a library of books on Wicca and Quantum mechanics these books I'm happy for anyone to read (if they can understand them lol) with no rules what so ever.

 

[tazzlez60]

I love books, I love the look, the feel and the smell of them. Unfortunately I don't read nearly as much as I used to, but I still buy books all the time with the hope that I'll eventually get to it.
I have the same issue with bent spines. My mum is a major culprit. I'll finish a book, lend it to her, and it will be bent. It drives me bonkers!!!! If it's me borrowing her books, I don't complain about it, sometimes I mention it out of spite but I never make a big deal about it because it's her own belongings. But if they're mine, you can bet you're in for a hell of a freak out....

My favourite genre is historical fiction, one of my favourite authors is Phillippa Gregory (especially for the cousins war series). I haven't read much of historical fiction, but from what I've read I really really like it. I love historical fiction in TV shows and movies so it would be only natural that it would transfer to literature.

I also read a lot of non fiction, I spend a lot of time in the uni library ogling the rows and rows and rooowwwwwsss of books (seriously I get lost in there, it's like heaven to me) I'm studying archaeology so I mostly stick around the history/archaeology section up near the very back of the library (it's really quiet there too which is great) I only wish they had nice comfy couches in there rather than rows and rows of desks and tables and chairs, it's way too stark and utilitarian for me I can't stand the work areas. I usually just hide I'm the rows of books on the floor surrounded by piles of books xD I think the librarians hate me heehee.

I also have a rather large late return debt. I tend to borrow more that I can manage to read in the short amount of time.. Oops it's :3