“What proportion of the books you own are unread?”
I’d say that perhaps 20-25% or so of my books are of the “reference” kind rather than the kind you read straight through from cover to cover. Besides dictionaries and grammar books etc I have quite a few on for example history, religion and mythology that I have only used to look things up in - even if also some in those genres that I have read from cover to cover as study course books.
When it comes to novels, I don’t have many of those unread. Except on my Kindle… where I’ve collected lots of free ones in the last few years.
I have been getting rid of all my old reference books, because of Google we no longer need them. And they are outdated as well. Sadly, I have lots of unread books because of blogging. BUT I do keep ALL my favorite books!
ReplyDeleteBy reference books, in this case, I was not thinking only of encyclopedias, but also books on special topics, which could (presumably) be read from cover to cover, even if I have not, and am not likely to. Like, for example: "Ancient History, from the first civilizations to the Renaissance", 900 pages, with illustrations. Or "The Literary History of Britain", 1600 pages, without illustrations. Or The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged (Jewish historian, born in 37 AD). Or the Complete Works of Shakespeare. Or the history of the town where I live, in three volumes (inherited from my parents).
Delete100 percent of my books remain unread.. that is because I only have two dictionaries, 1 thesaurus 3 Bible Reference books. that brings to mind i have 7 Bibles and a book about trees and one on dogs. i have no fiction except the 14 in my kindle. on the other hand my brother has 3 solid walls from floor to ceiling and has never read any of them.
ReplyDeleteFor a Reader (as I know you are) you have very few books, Sandra! :) I grew up in a home with lots of books, and even if nowadays I have difficulties both holding heavy ones and reading small print, and much prefer the Kindle for my actual reading, I still find it hard to part with "old friends"... ;)
DeleteI love books! I may strip everything else from my house except a bowl, a cup and knifeforkspoon, but the books are my friends!
DeleteYes Kate... I think I would find it hard to feel quite at home without at least some of my favourite books around...
DeleteLooking at the shelf next to me while I am typing this, I'd say that 20 - 25 % of the books in it are unread. There are some reference books which are of the kind not even I (who love to read non-fiction) treat as to be read from cover to cover. Also, there is a collection of "Insel" books (a series of small volumes, all of the same format but with very beautiful individually patterened covers) that I have collected but most of them not read (and probablay never will read). They are for the bibliophile who indeed does judge a book by its cover - and by the way it is bound and made, which materials were used, and so on.
ReplyDeleteOh, and of course there are still dozens of books on my kindle which I have not yet read, but will do so eventually.
DeleteI looked up some images of the Insel books, Meike, and I can understand why they're collectable :)
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