Books...yes YOU LOVER OF BOOKS...how arrange them?

[InsideJob]

I don't buy/use leather, so I can't participate. That's okay, I still have thousands of books and always find more to buy. My most recent was this really cool book of photos taken on Hollywood Blvd in 1969-1972. Reminds me of my youth.

I was living on Frankiln, a block up from Hollywood Blvd., when the LA riots broke out following the Rodney King trial. Then moved to NYC before the first attempt to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993. Ah, memories of my youth... sigh.

Anywho, I can't believe how much paperbacks cost these days. I'm working my way through H.P. Lovecraft right now. SciFi writers have been ripping this guy off for decades.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I was living on Frankiln, a block up from Hollywood Blvd.,

Franklin and ?. Just wondering, because when my husband and I were first living together it was in an apartment on Gordon, 1-1/2 blocks south of Sunset, and just 4 blocks south of Franklin.

when the LA riots broke out following the Rodney King trial. Then moved to NYC before the first attempt to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993. Ah, memories of my youth... sigh.

That's quite a track record!

Anywho, I can't believe how much paperbacks cost these days. I'm working my way through H.P. Lovecraft right now. SciFi writers have been ripping this guy off for decades.

I know what you mean about prices. But I still prefer REAL books over their "e" editions any day.

[jlittle]

... But I still prefer REAL books over their "e" editions any day.

Have you tried a proper paper-white e-reader, like the original Kindle? As easy on my eyes as a book.

Regards, John Little

[GreyGeek]

I gave up reading on my Kindle. To much of a pain to navigate. I've gone back to books, batteries not necessary. I only buy technical books and scifi paperbacks.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Have you tried a proper paper-white e-reader, like the original Kindle? As easy on my eyes as a book.

I have a rooted Kindle Fire HD 8.9"--and that's what I've tried reading on. That plus a couple of smartphones along the way.

I gave up reading on my Kindle. To much of a pain to navigate. I've gone back to books, batteries not necessary.

Ditto. Besides, there's no comparison when it comes to thumbing through REAL pages, and being able to flip through from front to back or, my preferred method, back to front, and hop around from one place to another--after thumbing through to find what you're looking for.

[Qqmike]

We all have our "rituals" involved or associated with reading a real, hard-copy book; and those are part of the "reading experience." Those rituals are chosen individually to be relaxing, even fun. And this counts. In my opinion.

[Snowhog]

There is a tactile experience when one reads a real book that you just don't get with an e-reader. The sensory experience one has reading a brand new book they just bought for the first time, or an old favorite you've owned for years and have read many times, are very differrent. Again, I don't believe/feel you can get that from an e-reader.

[GreyGeek]

Oh, I see.

BTW, I left home at 16, too--my choice. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So many with similar stories! I was kicked out of the nest during my senior year. (My attitude, my fault)

My son inherited my love of scifi and all of my collection. His library is somewhere around 2 to 3 thousand books, I'd guesstimate. He could (can?) tell the publisher by the smell of the book. His greatest pet peeve is a crease in the backbone caused by excessive folding of the binding.

[DoYouKubuntu]

So many with similar stories! I was kicked out of the nest during my senior year. (My attitude, my fault)

I hear you.

His greatest pet peeve is a crease in the backbone caused by excessive folding of the binding.

Ugh! I cannot stand ANY damage to my books...at all. No dog-eared pages, no creases in their backbones, no coffee spills...nothing. And when I lend someone a book, I make sure they understand the rules.

[SteveRiley]

BTW, I left home at 16, too--my choice. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So many with similar stories! I was kicked out of the nest during my senior year. (My attitude, my fault)

Wow. I totally don't understand how parents could expel their children.

His greatest pet peeve is a crease in the backbone caused by excessive folding of the binding.

Ugh! I cannot stand ANY damage to my books...at all. No dog-eared pages, no creases in their backbones, no coffee spills...nothing.

Such damage doesn't happen with e-books, you know

[SteveRiley]

Have you tried a proper paper-white e-reader, like the original Kindle? As easy on my eyes as a book.

I find white text on a black background even easier. It works especially well at night, with the brightness on my Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (using the Nook app) reduced to 1%.

There is a tactile experience when one reads a real book that you just don't get with an e-reader. The sensory experience one has reading a brand new book they just bought for the first time, or an old favorite you've owned for years and have read many times, are very differrent. Again, I don't believe/feel you can get that from an e-reader.

Interesting. The only thing I'm after from a book is knowledge. I don't think I've ever paid attention to the physicality of books. Well, maybe the really heavy ones, and "paid attention to" should be read as "griped incessantly about," haha.

[Qqmike]

Maybe a generational thing? From circa 1949, grew up at a time when books were scarce, unless you went to the city or school library. There was something magical about them--because of the promise for knowledge they held. And actually owning them? Not in my middle-class neighborhood in small-town IL in the 1950's. Well, maybe a few cheap paperbacks now and then. Maybe that's a parental factor. Maybe if your parents were college professors, it might have been different. Whatever. The net effect, even to this day, is that not only do books offer a thrill of adventure and discovery, and the pride of ownership, but holding and reading one, in the comfort of home, in a favorite spot or sitting up in bed, triggers something akin to the relaxation response (Herbert Benson, et. al.). Or, something like that. Whatever it is, it is "real" in the mind.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Wow. I totally don't understand how parents could expel their children.

It was my decision to leave. There's a long, melodramatic story behind it, which I'll do everyone the favor of skipping!, but the bottom line was that I made my decision in a logical, rational manner, and have never looked back. Never regretted it for one moment--even though I kissed my family's money goodbye by doing so; no family-provided college education, no family-provided house or cars, no family-provided millions of dollars, etc. And I wouldn't change a thing.

Such damage doesn't happen with e-books, you know

So I've heard!

[Qqmike]

BTW, I left home at 16, too--my choice. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ditto that story here, at age 18. No money of my own, got my first car and apartment, on my own, started (& finished) college (and grad schools), on loans, scholarships, stipends (teach for tuition), worked several s***a** P-T jobs, made it without ever being late on a bill, not even one day or one cent late, to this day 48 years later. I'll bet there's a lot of Baby Boomers with similar stories; I know many of my friends can tell the same stories.

[GreyGeek]

Wow. I totally don't understand how parents could expel their children.



Such damage doesn't happen with e-books, you know

Just don't drop them, you'll lose your entire library! 8)