Bad Neighbors: Don't Bring Too Many Books When You Move In

[pierrotlunaire0]

Years and years ago, I went to a furniture store to buy a bookcase, but they had none.  The sales rep however was determined to make a sale.  She steered me to an entertainment center that had space to hold a large screen TV, and that was it.

"I have a lot of books I need storage for."

Oh, that was easy, she assured me.  All I had to do was pile them in the TV spot, right on top of each other.  I could probably jam about 30 paperbacks in there!

"What if I want to read a book on the bottom of the pile?"

This obviously threw her for a loop, and she asked me a question that has haunted me to this day: "You read your books?"

No, lady, I eat them!  Great source of fiber.  (Well, I didn't say the last, but I wanted to).

[bookworm317]

I'm kinda lacking in the boob department--can I still join the Books, Brains, & Boobs Club? 'Cuz I have a LOT of books! So many, in fact, that some of them are currently living on the floor. And on top of the dresser.


So, can I join?

[blue2000]

Stuff a few pocket anthologies in there. Instant cleavage, and very handy for reading emergencies!

[hermanne]

My books are currently packed away in our storage unit while our house is on the market.
 
(We have a bid! and counter-bids going back and forth... )

[Corbin]

I have spent so much of my life being seen as odd for how much I read, and then I find all the other readers...on ehell! Seriously, this place seems to be disproportionatly readers, nerds, Renn Faire folk, etc. It's like someone took all my favorite things and crammed them into a polite website!!

And geeks. Don't forget the geeks! 

I knew there was a reason I liked this site. 

I would never forget the geeks. They are fun, interesting, and really darn handy to have around! 

[Sophia]

...
This obviously threw her for a loop, and she asked me a question that has haunted me to this day: "You read your books?"...

Yeah, and if you were to buy books for display purposes used paperbacks is what you would pick.  

Years ago there was a used bookstore near my house.  It was like the best bookstore ever.  I used to "rent" books a lot.  I'd buy them for half retail from a used bookstore, and then sell them back for half of what I paid.  I almost never reread books and only keep the few thousand books I can't part with.  This bookstore was 95+ percent books I wouldn't part with.  Great selection.  I eventually figured out it was someones private library being liquidated.  They had some of the leather Easton Press books.  I negotiated a discount on them by pointing out I actually wanted to read the books.  

[Yarnspinner]

...
This obviously threw her for a loop, and she asked me a question that has haunted me to this day: "You read your books?"...

Yeah, and if you were to buy books for display purposes used paperbacks is what you would pick. 

Years ago there was a used bookstore near my house.  It was like the best bookstore ever.  I used to "rent" books a lot.  I'd buy them for half retail from a used bookstore, and then sell them back for half of what I paid.  I almost never reread books and only keep the few thousand books I can't part with.  This bookstore was 95+ percent books I wouldn't part with.  Great selection.  I eventually figured out it was someones private library being liquidated.  They had some of the leather Easton Press books.  I negotiated a discount on them by pointing out I actually wanted to read the books. 

Waaaay OT:  In one of my favorite fantasy novels a character is stunned when his paramour brings him a book from a popular bookseller.  What makes it apropos is his rant following the reception of the book "...the rich buy his books for decorative purposes only!  They don't read them.  It's 'oh, you don't have Birdbrain's Philosophy on Chicken Breeding in Red?  All right, then, what DO you have in red?  Fine,  I'll take enough to fill thirty seven inches.  Now about the blue..."

That isn't the exact quote, but I can see the customer potential for a store like this....

[aventurine]

(eclecticgrrl, be prepared for someone to ask you what Baron Master Sir Bigstuff's height has to do with anything   )

Oh, I can tell you right away - his height doesn't have to do with anything!  For me, it just sort of set the visual image. 

I share your opinion that details like that help set the image; I'm also an adder of extraneous details, and I don't mean a thing by it.  I just wanted to point out that, especially here on e-hell, sometimes folks take exception to this habit of ours.  And I can see their point; obnoxious behavior is obnoxious no matter what the person looks like. 

So, in short, your detail didn't bother me personally, but I wanted to make you aware in case it came up.   

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread....

[VorFemme]

(eclecticgrrl, be prepared for someone to ask you what Baron Master Sir Bigstuff's height has to do with anything  )

Oh, I can tell you right away - his height doesn't have to do with anything!  For me, it just sort of set the visual image.

I share your opinion that details like that help set the image; I'm also an adder of extraneous details, and I don't mean a thing by it.  I just wanted to point out that, especially here on e-hell, sometimes folks take exception to this habit of ours.  And I can see their point; obnoxious behavior is obnoxious no matter what the person looks like. 

So, in short, your detail didn't bother me personally, but I wanted to make you aware in case it came up.   

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread....

True, but Sir God's Gift to the Female Bookworm might be more interesting if he were five or six inches taller, could dance, and looked more like Captain Jack Sparrow................instead of Wilbur Milqutoast who lives with his mother............  And a digit or two in front of that 35 (135, 1135) might not hurt either..........

But even Captain Jack Sparrow has been known to quote books at the females he is trying to impress - granted that he may not be trying to impress them for more than a night (and he does have his own ship - no mention of "mother").

[Suze]

(eclecticgrrl, be prepared for someone to ask you what Baron Master Sir Bigstuff's height has to do with anything  )

Oh, I can tell you right away - his height doesn't have to do with anything!  For me, it just sort of set the visual image.  Since he was still almost an inch taller than me, it's not like I can mock.

Well...  I can mock about the books, right?  The living with his mom and their 35 books?  Please tell me I can mock a little here in the safety of the BBB Club.

ok - maybe he was "playing persona" and talking about a time when 35 books were a huge deal.

on the other hand

nah

[Elfmama]

(eclecticgrrl, be prepared for someone to ask you what Baron Master Sir Bigstuff's height has to do with anything  )

Oh, I can tell you right away - his height doesn't have to do with anything!  For me, it just sort of set the visual image.  Since he was still almost an inch taller than me, it's not like I can mock.

Well...  I can mock about the books, right?  The living with his mom and their 35 books?  Please tell me I can mock a little here in the safety of the BBB Club.

ok - maybe he was "playing persona" and talking about a time when 35 books were a huge deal.

on the other hand

nah

If he was playing persona, he wouldn't have been title-stacking.  And unless Mummy was the Queen of somewhere, he wouldn't have been living with her -- she would have been living with him.  (Yes, there's a difference.)

[HonorH]

This obviously threw her for a loop, and she asked me a question that has haunted me to this day: "You read your books?"

Read, re-read, re-re-read . . . a good book is like an old friend, one you can return to time and time again.  And when a book series you love comes out with a new book, it's like a reunion with old friends.  There's supposed to be a new Discworld Watch book coming out in the next few years, and I can't wait to see what Vimes and co. are doing.  How's Young Sam growing?  Is Angua still trying hard not to be friends with Sally?  What's happening in the slacking-off department with Colon and Nobby?  Will we see Gaspode again (oh, please)?  Who's annoying Commander Vimes today?  And what's Vetinari's latest Xanatos Gambit?  I simply must know!

[Fliss]

I have one of those memories that remembers everything I've read. While it's nice party trick to be able to recite swathes of Pratchett and Feist, it's even more amusing to be able to go visit the parents, have someone ask for a reference, and be able to pull out a book I haven't read in 20 years and go straight to the page/chapter I'm after.

Of course, the partners comment is "You've read them all a thousand times! How many books does one person need?"

To which I usually reply "as many as the house can hold without violating health and safety."

[purplemuse]

I'm a bookworm who married a bookworm.  We try to keep the numbers to a manageable level... it hasn't worked very well.

Still, I've been trying to visit the library more often...

And the last time we moved was interesting-- instead of cardboard boxes, we use those huge, plastic bins.  A lot of the conversation was along the lines of:

"What's in this one?"
"Books."

repeated over and over...

[Suze]

a friend of mine has moved a personal libiary several times

hers is caculated by weight -- 4 tons of books

they have two rooms in their house set like library stacks and FULL

there is also a fold out bed in one for guests -- it is very hard to sleep with all those books screaming READ ME at you all night --- giggle