Some people do drugs, I do books. At one stage I couldn't walk into a bookstore if I had other shopping to be done, as all responsibility was abandoned in the presence of print.
I've been through detox, and I'm in remission. I even had a huge ceremonial culling a few years ago, that was good for my bookshelves and good for my soul.
My philosophy with regard to books is now "If I'm only likely to read it one more time, then I can give it away, and borrow it from a library if I feel the urge". This is harder to put into practice than one might think - it requires a depth of mental and spiritual discipline. I'm reasonably pleased with my progress, and I find it really quite pleasing now to bid a fond farewell to works of fiction especially, and send them on their way through the world to delight other readers.
The task at hand.... LibraryThing brought it all rushing back. I will be spending, I suspect, HOURS putting in my now diminished, but cherished, collection, and it's going to be LOADS of fun! I won't be too fussed about the exact version of Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow that I own..... I promise. Ummm, my cataloguing proclivity is another story....
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My philosophy is similar - get it 2nd hand in trade, and then if it's really REALLY good I'll probably go buy myself a permanent collection copy. I read trash mostly so that doesn't happen very often!
How do you give yours away? Randomly? Just to people you know? Or are you part of some sort of swap site or group?
Haha rockchick, I come from a BIG family with several like-minded siblings, so there's usually plenty of people to whom I can give books. I'm normally not very keen to sell them - to me, it seems a little against the spirit of the thing.
My last big cull, wherein I decimated my English Lit collection that I had assiduously built up over the years for the benefit of my literate but non-literary children, was largely donated to their high school library. Others, less suitable for mainstream consumption, were given to family and friends. Painful as it was, it was a cathartic and beneficial experience (in a Zen kind of way).
Unfortunately I was spoilt badly by working for over seven years in a tiny, quirky (think "Black Books"), but busy bookstore where I had free rein to purchase anything I wanted for myself at cost price (one of the few perks to the job!) It's taken quite some time to divest myself of lingering book ownership tendencies, and I don't think it will ever leave me entirely... holding one's own precious volume in one's own hands is a very splendid joy, especially when it's illustrated! :D
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