Comments on: Books As Sacred Objects http://billwardwriter.com/books-as-sacred-objects/ Bill Ward's blog of all things genre Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:16:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bill Ward http://billwardwriter.com/books-as-sacred-objects/comment-page-1/#comment-831 Bill Ward Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:41:05 +0000 http://billwardwriter.com/?p=716#comment-831 I can sympathize! Though my collection is not as large as yours, I've been learning to treat it fairly ruthlessly as time goes by. If I hadn't started selling and giving away books five or so years ago, I'd easily have twice as many now (and nowhere to put them). I think a scaled-down library of one's favorite and most indispensable books in conjunction with an e-reader for popular novels and the like would be a great balance. I see that really has where the ereader thing is going -- it won't replace books, but will fill its own niche for readers who don't necessarily need to own certain kinds of books or magazines. This won't happen until ereader's and ebooks are actually cheaper than real books though! I can sympathize! Though my collection is not as large as yours, I’ve been learning to treat it fairly ruthlessly as time goes by. If I hadn’t started selling and giving away books five or so years ago, I’d easily have twice as many now (and nowhere to put them).

I think a scaled-down library of one’s favorite and most indispensable books in conjunction with an e-reader for popular novels and the like would be a great balance. I see that really has where the ereader thing is going — it won’t replace books, but will fill its own niche for readers who don’t necessarily need to own certain kinds of books or magazines. This won’t happen until ereader’s and ebooks are actually cheaper than real books though!

]]> By: K.C. http://billwardwriter.com/books-as-sacred-objects/comment-page-1/#comment-830 K.C. Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:45:18 +0000 http://billwardwriter.com/?p=716#comment-830 I must admit, Bill, that I am coming around to Orwell's opinion. After years of dragging a pretty extensive collection, five or six thousand books, along behind me as I moved about the country, I have seriously considered selling off all but my very favorites and buying a Kindle. Aside from my growing aversion to the sheer physicality of all that paper, I also find, at my age, that what I have been drawn to, all these years, are the words not the pages. Even so, I haven't buckled under yet; the one advantage that a book store has, whether it is a Barnes & Noble or the Village Book Store in Columbus, Ohio, a block-long labyrinth filled with used books, is browsing. It is damned near impossible to go to Amazon, looking for a particular book, and stumble over four more you want. They are trying, with electronic recommendations, but it just isn't the same, so until the figure it out, I guess I will continue to haunt the stacks -- and fret over how much more weight I am adding to my Marleyesque paper chain. I must admit, Bill, that I am coming around to Orwell’s opinion. After years of dragging a pretty extensive collection, five or six thousand books, along behind me as I moved about the country, I have seriously considered selling off all but my very favorites and buying a Kindle.

Aside from my growing aversion to the sheer physicality of all that paper, I also find, at my age, that what I have been drawn to, all these years, are the words not the pages.

Even so, I haven’t buckled under yet; the one advantage that a book store has, whether it is a Barnes & Noble or the Village Book Store in Columbus, Ohio, a block-long labyrinth filled with used books, is browsing. It is damned near impossible to go to Amazon, looking for a particular book, and stumble over four more you want.

They are trying, with electronic recommendations, but it just isn’t the same, so until the figure it out, I guess I will continue to haunt the stacks — and fret over how much more weight I am adding to my Marleyesque paper chain.

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