People get pretty creative with where they leave their books, too; almost cloak-and-dagger. Behind statues in parks, under benches at the bus stop, even a few hidden under shelves at the library. Interactive fun for bibliophiles.
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I donāt read it as a justification to get rid of books youāve already read, but as a reason to not worry about the books you havenāt read.
For context, if Iām remembering the story correctly, there was a character with a bunch of books, and this was his response when people would ask him if heād actually read all of those books.
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I leave them on the shelves at my local BAM! and B&N.
āThis book is not the property of [This bookstore]. Please feel free to take it and enjoy itā¦ā
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Iām surprised to see my most important āreason to keepā omitted:
- People keep wanting to borrow it.
(Indeed, thatās my most common āreason to get a second copyā.)
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I canāt even get rid of books I have multiple copies of. The only way I remove books from my library is when I lend them out and do not get them back, or I lose them. I do not mind not getting a book back, since I always assume whoever I lent it to has grown attached to it, plus itās a good reason to buy it again. I used to have a local book store that sold used books, and I loved these best. I always pictured someone passing, and the family disposing of their books, and I always took great joy in bringing some home.
As a point to the people who keep their shelves well stocked for vanity sake I am quite the opposite, between the Camus and Kafka books you will find old MAD magazine paperbacks.
As to getting attached to books, my most precious book is a 35 year old paperback copy of Candide. It is special because I was 18 and I decided to read this due to a brothers recommendation. I picked it up at a local bookstore, but before I made it home I got arrested for drinking under age in a local bar. I was thrown into a holding cell with about 15 other people, when I realized, Hey! I have a book. I read half this book in a drunk tank at 3 AM.
When i was 17 I worked in fast food place that shared a dumpster area with a bookstore. As the paperback books were damaged, or finally given up on they would rip off the front covers, so they couldnāt be resold, and then just left them out by the dumpster. I found a copy of Richard Bachās Illusions. I wish I still had that actual book. Of course I have two or three other copies.
So to say i love my books is an understatement.I have asked my family to place a book in my coffin before they bury/cremate me. Every few years I update them on which book I want. Right now it would be The Brothers Karamazov.
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Monster.
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You go, Thomas Aquinas!
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I always say if itās not worth re-reading it probably wasnāt worth reading in the first place.
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Iām not usually a big one for re-reading books, not when there are other books still unread. My general ākeepā criterion is: Would I lend this book to a friend? If so, it stays.
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I agree with this for everything except books. My garage is mostly empty, my library is books stacked on books.
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Iāve only edited the book collection once, in order to reduce the amount of stuff we shipped when we migrated down under. I gave away about 100 books and chucked a similar number of textbooks that were old and out of date and it was so sad that itās not going to happen again.
That reminds me, we need another couple of bookcases. There are stacks of books on the floor again. 
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I do the same thing, only itās my science fiction in front of philosophy, religious, and art books.
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Meant to reply to a different postā¦
I have a section on terrorism. It has titles like āOn Suicide Bombing,ā and āUnderstanding Terror Networks.ā It also has a copy of āThe Turner Diaries.ā I managed to find a copy that wouldnāt involve giving money to racists (although I understand its easy to find an online version). I was at a public libraryās book sale, and there, inexplicably was a copy. It had clearly been donated and never hit the shelves. I thought ātriple win.ā I help the library, get a copy without funding domestic terrorism or ending up on a watchlist, and I keep it out of the hands of persons who want to read it to prop up their violent racist fantasies, or even just a random teenager. That shelf usually gets some strange looks at dinner parties.
Edited to add a āshelfie.ā
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I really should get rid of most of my books. The Pratchett, Vonnegut, Le Guin, Lethem, and PKD can stay. I spent too much effort collecting them and I love them all dearly. My mythology studies books (including one very out of print (likely forever) Elder Edda) can stay. The rest, I should probably get rid of. Including all but one of my copies of Ulysses. It took a long time to find a translation of that I could deal with. 
I think my criteria is a lot simpler than the above. If I could convert my physical books to ebooks, thereās probably less than ten Iād even bother keeping in physical form.
Wasnāt quite what I thought it would be. 
Seems to be more like a Whereās George for books. Iād be very interested in an online book swap of some sort.
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You do mean āborrow and never returnā, correct? A bookseller in my area could clean up on stocking the following:
HST - Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, The Official Preppy Handbook, The Book Of The SubGenius, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Hayek - The Road To Serfdom, PJ OāRourke - Modern Manners (the meaner, illustrated 1st edition), not to mention the Mr Boston Official Bartenderās Guide, which might as well be stealing a family bible.
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Throw a copy of āThe Anarchists Cookbookā in there FTW.
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Unfortunately my miscreant brother sold my copy while I was away as an undergradā¦
I actually own a sadly small amount of books. Iād love to have a huge collection and maybe once when I have money (middle-class, Finnish socialist money that is quite enough for me - I donāt care about being ārichā) Iāll get that small personal library of mine.
We just have such amazing libraries in Finland that if I feel like reading a certain book, Iād just much rather rent it than buy it for 20+ euros. If thereās a book I want to read, itāll be there, and the process is so easy and the library itself is an amazing place where you can hang out, use computers freely, play games and so on. They even occasionally have concerts and other events.
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