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Should I keep my printed books?

post #1 of 24
1/1/12 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 

I have a collection of books that I am wondering If I should keep.  I have always bought hardbacks in thoughts that later I can review books that have made an impact on my life.  Good idea in theory but in practice I have rarely used them for reference and now I just use the internet.

 

Im concerned that I am just keeping them so I look like Sherlock Holmes or Robert Langdon which is probably not the case.  And even if it did is that really a reason to keep something?

 

I also have an Amazon Kindle.

 

So the question is do I keep them?

 

Keep Pros

1. Look interesting for company coming over? They are mainly business and self help books.

2. They are there for reference if needed.

3. Gives me a nostalgic feeling for the past.

4. The kid(s) can read them as they get older.

 

Get rid of pros

1. Could make $$$ by selling them and get shoes

2. House will be less cluttered or have more room

3. I wont have a book shelf of books to put crap on.

 

 

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post #2 of 24
1/1/12 at 10:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trapline View Post

I have a collection of books that I am wondering If I should keep.  I have always bought hardbacks in thoughts that later I can review books that have made an impact on my life.  Good idea in theory but in practice I have rarely used them for reference and now I just use the internet.

Im concerned that I am just keeping them so I look like Sherlock Holmes or Robert Langdon which is probably not the case.  And even if it did is that really a reason to keep something?

I also have an Amazon Kindle.

So the question is do I keep them?

Keep Pros
1. Look interesting for company coming over? They are mainly business and self help books.
2. They are there for reference if needed.
3. Gives me a nostalgic feeling for the past.
4. The kid(s) can read them as they get older.

Get rid of pros
1. Could make $$$ by selling them and get shoes
2. House will be less cluttered or have more room
3. I wont have a book shelf of books to put crap on.


I have a lot of books as well, though mine are largely fiction with some business and self help. I rarely read any of them now, though I have read all of them in the past, and some of them many times, but I keep them because I like having them around. I do read a lot of books from the library and do a lot of online reading.

My son, who's now 7 reads a lot, and I'm pretty sure a part of it is him watching me read a lot, and absorbing at some level, that reading is something I value. There are other reasons why he's an avid reader, but if it's important that your kids like reading (not necessarily your books), then I would say keep them
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post #3 of 24
1/1/12 at 10:28am
I had the same dilemma. I got rid of all the books I could get for free on my Kindle, and kept the few that I couldn't.
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post #4 of 24
1/1/12 at 10:35am
Self-help books aren't worth keeping. Business books, maybe, depending on content.

I'm keeping all my books, which span from ancient greek and roman literature to, to history, to physics, chem and biology textbooks, to technical books on networking, programming, etc. All of the above (except maybe the networking stuff which is too job-specific) have educational merit for the kid when I eventually have one.

I also have a kindle and I tend to buy a lot of new books on it, but really only stuff that's good on paperback. Anything with detailed drawings, charts, graphcs, etc, I purchase hard-cover.
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post #5 of 24
1/1/12 at 10:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trapline View Post

I have a collection of books that I am wondering If I should keep.  I have always bought hardbacks in thoughts that later I can review books that have made an impact on my life.  Good idea in theory but in practice I have rarely used them for reference and now I just use the internet.

Im concerned that I am just keeping them so I look like Sherlock Holmes or Robert Langdon which is probably not the case.  And even if it did is that really a reason to keep something?

I also have an Amazon Kindle.

So the question is do I keep them?

Keep Pros
1. Look interesting for company coming over? They are mainly business and self help books.
2. They are there for reference if needed.
3. Gives me a nostalgic feeling for the past.
4. The kid(s) can read them as they get older.

Get rid of pros
1. Could make $$$ by selling them and get shoes
2. House will be less cluttered or have more room
3. I wont have a book shelf of books to put crap on.


Hell no.

The only books I would/do keep are the ones I actually will read a second time/will want to lend and have a nice edition of.
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post #6 of 24
1/1/12 at 6:51pm

I recently received a Kindle too and considered this. The books I have aren't worth anything anyway so I'd just be donating them to charity. I think if you see yourself potentially re-reading something in the future, then keep it. I've usually done this when trying to decide whether to buy books anyway as I use the library regularly. I think this can go for other physical media too like DVDs. If I'm going to watch a film more than once or twice a year then I'll buy it, otherwise I'll stream or download it (legally of course). I still find, and this may not be true in the US, that many books I want to read aren't available in the Kindle store, so I still read print. I have doubts we'll ever reach a point where I can totally rely on getting my material solely from the internet, due to issues with rights being owned by separate companies in different countries.

 

I'm curious, where are you going to sell them? I didn't know you could get much (if any) money for most printed books unless rare or first edition.

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post #7 of 24
1/2/12 at 3:15am

If those books are helpful to get some knowledge and if those books are rarely available in shops then please don't sell them. Sometime after selling we get realize that we had to keep those books and I have been suffered from  this situation. So I would like to suggest if those books are really useful even to anyone then don't sell them.
 

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post #8 of 24
1/2/12 at 3:46am
This seems like the LP vs CD or CD/LP vs mp3 dilemma. I suspect somewhere down the line you'll regret getting rid of them. Hold.
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post #9 of 24
1/2/12 at 7:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by maplefuturist View Post

 

I'm curious, where are you going to sell them? I didn't know you could get much (if any) money for most printed books unless rare or first edition.



http://bookscouter.com/

 

Tons of places come up when i search "sell books" in Google.  I imagine there is even an iphone app to scan the ISBN in.

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post #10 of 24
1/2/12 at 1:39pm
One of the great regrets of my life is that my wife and I boxed up hundreds of my old books and donated them to a local library about 18 years ago. A few years later we started having kids, and now the kids are old enough that they would appreciate having the books around. I grew up in a home that had lots of books around, and over the years I read just about every one of them. We have quite a few books at home, but I really wish we had all those old books back. It's some consolation knowing that they went to a library, but I'd rather have them in MY library, y'know?
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post #11 of 24
1/3/12 at 2:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by VaderDave View Post

One of the great regrets of my life is that my wife and I boxed up hundreds of my old books and donated them to a local library about 18 years ago. A few years later we started having kids, and now the kids are old enough that they would appreciate having the books around. I grew up in a home that had lots of books around, and over the years I read just about every one of them. We have quite a few books at home, but I really wish we had all those old books back. It's some consolation knowing that they went to a library, but I'd rather have them in MY library, y'know?

Okay, but were they self-help and business books?
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post #12 of 24
1/3/12 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sander View Post

Okay, but were they self-help and business books?

Hahah! Nope.
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post #13 of 24
1/3/12 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trapline View Post

They are mainly business and self help books.

You are mistaken, those are not books. Sell them and buy the shoes.
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post #14 of 24
1/4/12 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by celery View Post


You are mistaken, those are not books. Sell them and buy the shoes.


Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking. No real classics just who moved my cheese and the 7 habits etc etc.

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post #15 of 24
1/5/12 at 9:42am

Since they are self help and business books I'd probably box them up and store them. I still have books that I purchased as a teen, which was almost 30 years ago, but they are either art books or classic fiction.

 

Darrel Morris

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Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Entertainment and Culture › Should I keep my printed books?