Frank had hundreds – perhaps thousands – of books by the time he died. What did you think of his habit of saving the books he’d read? Do you do likewise, and if so, how many books are in your home?
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Oh gosh could I relate to this. I have nearly 900 physical books and continue to accumulate more. I think Frank kept books that meant something to him. For me, I keep my favorite authors, books I loved, books I reread, and books I love to share.
I now read the vast majority of my books on e-readers, and I then keep them, unless the book was something I really did not like, or it just wasn’t worthy of saving for some reason. Those I delete.
I have several bookcases where I keep physical books. Many of which are nonfiction, biographs or technical books. There are also some novels, but novels I have read in headcover, I tend to give to friends or donate to the library.
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I can relate to this, but we recently downsized our home and there was no room for my husband and my books! It was hard to part with most of them. But now I’m using the library and books from friends. Several of us pass them around. And there are several “Little Library’s” in our neighborhood and those are a gret place to share books . It’s hard, but they were taking over our home. And honestly, I almost never read a book twice! Too many good books out there to spend my time on.
I am so sorry there was no room for your husband when you downsized. 
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I don’t collect physical books anymore, don’t read them twice. But I do keep all my ebooks, they don’t take up much room!
I found it interesting that Frank kept so very many books! My mother kept a library, and I used to have many shelves of books as well. But I am thinking a few hundred, certainly not thousands of books. I am trying to clear out “things” as I age, but also part of this is that I enjoy seeing the books I have read go into the hands of others. And I hope in the future, again be passed on to someone else. I feel I can probably always find a book I want either online or at the public library. So, these days, unless there is a special significance of the actual book (connected to a friend or family member), I pass my books on.
OOPS! His books and Mine!
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My family loves to read and we keep most books so we have a lot! We also had to downsize recently and it was difficult to part with so many books. (bookshelves were on the list of non-negotiables while looking for our new home 
). We donated some to the library, donated a lot to a used bookstore, shared with friends. I generally don’t reread books but I will pick them up again and look for a particular passage. My husband rereads all the time.
I used to keep all of the books I read. Now, I only keep the books that I really liked and only hardback books that I place in my bookshelves. I am a steward of a Little Free Library in a public park, so my books are placed in the library and shared with others. I rarely reread a book because I have so many waiting for me.
I often reread books that I love and just can’t part with a loved, even a well-liked, book. I have over a thousand volumes in my bookshelves and several hundred on my Kindle. My vision now requires the Kindle to get a font large enough to read comfortabl. And no, I haven’t read them all. I’ve been unsuccessful with weeding projects so far but hope to do better. My library definitely overwhelms my home.
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I’ve never been a book keeper. I seldom reread, so there’s no point in hanging on to them - and I can’t leave ‘em to my cats when I die, LOL. I love my ebooks, too, so I can hoard books as much as I want that way and my husband has no idea, haha. I’m certain I’ve got hundreds of books on my Kindle.
I have several hundred books–a bookshelf in EVERY room of my house. My current project is to re-read my books (a challenge when there are so many good new books coming out) and give away those I don’t plan to read again. So far, I’ve not cleared out a lot of shelf space!!
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I hate to say it but I almost feel like it’s an age thing to hang onto your books. I can say this only because I AM old enough to keep a good number of books. I do also read on Kindle and keep all my books on a “read” shelf there. Every so often, I do sell or give away books. I’ve recently started using the Libby library and it’s kind of nice to read and return, I must admit!
I’m not sure I agree it’s an age thing, @Liz_B. When I was younger I worked in a bookstore (Waldenbooks) and at the time I had soooo many books. And I remember moving boxes and boxes from Ohio to Portland when I left the state about 30 years ago. As I get older - I turn 65 this year - I find I’m more reluctant to hang on to things. Part of that is because I don’t have kids, and I keep thinking about what a pain it’s going to be for someone to go through all my stuff once I’m gone (or for me to go through it when I move to assisted living or wherever). Plus almost all my books are electronic these days, so it seems less important to me to have a physical copy.
But I do think that for most readers, the longer you’re around the more books you accumulate, and most people tend to hang on to their favorites. So maybe not so much an age thing as the fact that you’ve had more years to collect volumes. (Maybe that’s the same thing, haha… just ignore me.)
Yes! I think you’re onto something there. Back in the day of dinosaurs, we didn’t have an electronic option so people did accumulate books. And I’m sure a fair number of younger folks have a book collecting addiction as well! lol Thanks for the reply!
I think I must have thousands of books in my house. In the past, when I’ve moved or had a rush of spring cleaning fever (not that often) I’ve donated books. There are some books I can’t bear to part with even from my college days. I was an English major so just looking at my books reminds me of different time periods in my life and brings back many memories.
I have more books that some small libraries. It’s very rare that I part with any. In fact, if you are familiar with the Children’s book The Library, about a character named Elizabeth Brown, you pretty much know me🤣. I love my books. They truly are my friends. I have met and made so many wonderful friendships by connecting with others because of my love of books. I have books for every mood and every season of my life. I sleep best in a room filled with books and a cat ( or two) , on my pillow.
I have sooo many books. I recently had a great bookshelf unit built and I feel so good just looking at it! I think of my books as “dear friends”. I have donated many books to libraries, retirement homes and Little Neighborhood Libraries. I keep my favorites thinking I’ll reread them but I don’t. There are so many good books to read. I listen to podcasts about books and bookshop owners and want to buy the highly recommended ones. My kids are going to kill me someday when they have to clean out my books. 
I have too many books. I have cut back to keeping only books that I really love. However, I still haven’t donated all the books I’ve kept through the years. I also have many books I haven’t read yet. I need to quit accumulating until I get caught up reading!