What’s the largest your personal library has ever been? What’s the greatest number of books you’ve ever owned at one time? (Estimates are fine.)
Is your collection NOW the biggest it’s ever been? Or have you down-sized?
What’s the fewest number of books you’ve ever owned (not counting your pre-reading years)?
I’d say my personal library is the largest it’s ever been now, as I’ve continued adding to it through the years, without any significant downsizing. A large chunk of it is comics-related: graphic novels, collected editions, etc. I couldn’t begin to properly estimate at present–especially as I have several bins of books tucked away in a shed at my parents’ house.
I’ve meant for ages to downsize a bit–but never quite get around to it. I also haven’t quite determined if I’d be merely downsizing what I have in this apartment, on my shelves…or downsize the collection itself permanently.
That’s the trouble, I’ve found, with being a comics & books person: by the very nature of the thing, it’s materialistic. The things take up space.
About ten years ago, I visited a friend’s place, and she showed me her dad’s library. A beautiful room with more books than I could count, organized neatly…and I was simply in awe.
At the time, my personal library could probably fit on 3-4 shelves, and included college textbooks whose “buyback” prices were insulting (Take a $35 book kept in good condition through the semester and offer me $1.25–less than the price of a single-issue comic–I’ll keep the book.)
But I’d received the bite, and found myself stuck with a vision that I hold to this day of someday being able to have my OWN library. A library, study, den, man-cave…whatever the word would be. A space for my book and comics collection.
Though in today’s economy and my own work situation at present…I begin to see definite folly in that vision.
And perhaps morbidly, after watching various CSI and L&O shows…I sometimes think about what my collection says about me. The books I have, the comics I’ve amassed. Quantity and quality of books, where I’ve chosen to shelve them, etc. What someone would deduce about me and my life simply from seeing this bedroom.
Plenty of other stuff to be touched on, such as the collector mentality (I don’t collect for value, but for completism, for one thing); but it branches into other topics. Perhaps to be touched on by future (or already touched on in past) Booking Through Thursday prompts.
’nuff said.
Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: booking through thursday, books, collecting, comics, personal library | 12 Comments »
Death of Spider-Man: Part 5 of 5
The villain apparently rose…many have fallen, and it’s down to the titular hero to save those around him from said villain.
Comic Reviews by Walt 