When I had to move almost everything out of my condo for a remodel I donated 6 huge boxes of books, many of them academic text from all the degrees that I wasn't using anymore. LOL So I'm a recent convert to Kindle reading, usually on my phone or iPod app for it.
Did you bury those schoolbooks underneath some general reading stuff? I've had a hard time getting rid of mine. They really have no value.
No, @John Brunner, I had a junk removal company take the boxes. Their practice is to recycle everything they can -- useable furniture goes to Habitat for Humanity, books go to Half Price Books. I was told they wouldn't even unbox the books, just drop off at their partner places.
Aaahhh yes, books. I estimate that wife and I have a four figured amount after giving away a few hundreds a year ago. Books are obsolete. It doesn't make sense that as I write this I feel comforted that we have wall sized shelves in three rooms. I'm currently reading (re-reading) a book written in the 18th century and published in the late 19th on Kindle. I have it in my collection! It's just easier to read on the laptop. If I need a book not available online, I borrow from the excellent country library, downloadable if possible. I don't remember when I last BOUGHT a book. I still like to browse in bookstores, esp. used books. If I see something I like, I note it and find it online or in the library. *-But the overloaded bookshelves in our home give off something that comforts me. Make sense?
I still buy four or five printed books a month, usually used, but sometimes new. Although I read more books on Kindle, I prefer reading books in print, and when I need a book to research something for my job, it's easier to have the printed book next to my computer than to jump from one tab to another on the computer, although I have found that my Kindle Fire 10 has a screen large enough to be useful for that purpose, so I do that as well. If the cost of the printed book isn't a whole lot more than it costs on Kindle, I'll buy the printed book. The ones that I use for research, I often resell after I have gotten what I needed out of them, however, and often for more than I had paid for them.
We have had several outages; power and internet. I am always grateful in the knowlege that I have books to fall back on. I never liked fiction books. I do without technology as much as possible.
I too, gave books to the library and to the Friends of the Library, something over five hundred books, when we moved to Oklahoma. Since that time I have bought and read mostly kindle books. I still have a few books but not many. I have a Merriam-Webster dictionary and a copy of Strunk and White, a newer edition that the first 'little book' and a small shelf of books, maybe a dozen, across from my bed. My wife no longer reads so she does not aquire any books. I like the kindle books which I read on a small first edition of the mini-book. It is light weight and easier for me to hold and I like it for reading. What I don't like about the kindle books is I can't give them to anyone after I have read them. They lie there on my mini-pad taking up space. They will never be thought of as a library but substitutes which after I have read them, have no purpose.
I still have my small Strunk & White. Goodness knows how old that thing is. I also have a Practical Guide to the English Language, or something like that of the same era. I think our language requires a larger owner's manual. You'll appreciate this story, Bill. I used to "babysit" for some of my neighbors when I lived up north. There were two brothers who were home-schooled. Man, were they smart kids. They had one of those old, huge dictionaries on a pedestal in the game room. We would play Boggle, with a substitute rule: you did not get penalized for a wrong word, but you had to find your words in the dictionary when challenged. We had more giggles and more fun and more learning leafing through that dictionary in search of our non-existent words than we had playing the actual game.
The main upside to electronic books is their "searchability." I don't like pleasure reading on a screen, but I download all my owners manuals in pdf so I can not only find what I'm looking for quickly, I can find other information related to that topic.
At different times, I met 3 individuals who thought reading was foolish; two also claimed keeping books in a location where guests can see them was negative. I never heard of either of these attitudes before, and wonder what you guys think.
One of best non fiction book I read was Washington. Story of Georgia Washington and America, if you like history it is a great book, all 950 pages of it! I couldn't put it down. It was the thickest book I ever read. I also like true story's and humor https://www.bing.com/shop?q=george+...&originIGUID=922D872FCBA34562A71BF7543E493451