Hi everyone. My dad is driving me bat->-bleeped-<- crazy with books. He is a huge reader, which is fine. I like to read too, but unlike me my dad won't use an e-reader. He wants actual books. The den has bookshelves full of books. His home office, full of books. His bedroom, more books. And he keeps bringing more into the house! He gets them from the flea market and used bookstores.  It might not be so bad if he threw the books away after he read them but he doesn't. All those books everywhere totally ruin the decor of the house and the den and his office look like a used bookstore.

He's totally being stubborn about the e-reader. I told him any book ever written could be downloaded on a e-reader and I showed him the kindle oasis which looks really sharp. I also told him used books were nasty and that people had touched them,breathed on them and even coughed all over them and god knows what kind of germs they could have had. He said he would risk it and that he had already told me he didn't want to read his books on a e-reader and that he was pretty sure he hadn't studdered when he said it. Then he said if we had this discussion again he would put shelves all over my room and store books in there too. Then he opened one of his books, shook it over my head and told me to go wash the book Ebola out of my hair before I dropped dead. How rude! I was only trying to help him! God, try to drag some people into the 21st century!  I hope he gets a papercut from one of those stupid books!

Sorry for ranting. Sometimes my dad makes me want to tear my hair out.

 LOL your Dad sounds like me. I preferred real books too. Then I got audiobooks for my Mom when she came to live with us (she was legally blind with macular degeneratiom) and I started listening to them on long drives for work. Now I don't read them.
  Hey does your Dad like sci fi and fantasy? I could drop off a hundred or two next time I go through.

Hugs,
   Laurie

Quote from: Laurie on September 23, 2017, 01:56:19 PM
LOL your Dad sounds like me. I preferred real books too. Then I got audiobooks for my Mom when she came to live with us (she was legally blind with macular degeneratiom) and I started listening to them on long drives for work. Now I don't read them.
  Hey does your Dad like sci fi and fantasy? I could drop off a hundred or two next time I go through.

Hugs,
   Laurie

Do it and I sign you up for the cheesecake of the month club for the next 20 years. Lol

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 23, 2017, 02:02:46 PM
Do it and I sign you up for the cheesecake of the month club for the next 20 years. Lol

Now that would be cruel and unusual punishment, mean and rotten too. I'll find another home for them.

laurie

You are right about how books can take over a home, but I sympathise with your Dad.  I can barely move without tripping over books but I find it hard to choose which ones I can bear to part with.  Many of my books are second-hand too, and the thought of germs does cross my mind.  If only I could part with most of them, I would be free to move or travel!  I feel like a prisoner of my own library.

There are many good old books that aren't available online, and some large format books aren't suited to Kindle.  E-readers are the way to go, though.  I have 2 Kindles but whenever I pick them up, I find that I haven't charged them.  I am still something of a cavegirl.  We now live in a world where books, music and photos don't need to take up space or weight.  You are right not to want to be burdened with "stuff". 

I can't even be slick and get rid of some of them either. My dad is one of those freaky people who can always tell if his stuff has been moved or any of it's missing. Sigh...

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 23, 2017, 02:14:25 PM
I can't even be slick and get rid of some of them either. My dad is one of those freaky people who can always tell if his stuff has been moved or any of it's missing. Sigh...

Well yeeeaah. How do you thing we find things in all the mess? We know what is where. You mess us all up when you rearrange our filing system.


Laurie

Sorry but I'm your dad's side here  . There's nothing in the world like the smell of an old book or the feel of the pages; sensing all the history that book has had; all the different types of people who have read its pages. There's a sense of connection there. That other people have enjoyed and liked the same book you have. You can't get that from an E book. It's no were near the same experience. And I think we stare at computer screens way too much. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from it.

Quote from: Laurie on September 23, 2017, 02:55:26 PM
Well yeeeaah. How do you thing we find things in all the mess? We know what is where. You mess us all up when you rearrange our filing system.


Laurie

I know. I cleaned his home office once and he had a total fit. For 3 days I had to hear about how he couldn't find anything. Slobs can be so OCD about their messes!

Well, there's one thing said about books by the illustrious John Waters: "If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f*** 'em!"

And while I do like my e-reader, the heft of a DTF (dead-tree-format) story is worth the effort.

I suppose that some books, especially in uniform volumes, will always have some decor value.  In my early teens, I remember pulling a book out of a shelf at some exhibition, and being surprised to find that the contents were blank!  My mother told me that it was once a common phenomenon, as they were cheaper than the real thing.  I remember a scene in the book The Great Gatsby, where someone examines the books in Gatsby's library and is amazed to find that they AREN'T blank. 

Having well worn classics on bookshelves can also give the impression of being an intellectual.  They are the perfect accessory for the Rip Kirby type, along with a pipe and glasses.

Unfortunately my dad's books are mostly paperback. So no decor value other than catching dust. I don't know who Rip Kirby is but my dad isn't a pipe and glasses type. He's a gymrat who had LASIK type.lol

I prefer the sensation of real books as well. I have hundreds of books myself.

Books have been a huge part of my life—I used to sometimes read more than one a day. My family had a collection large enough to start a little library when we had to move and give them away.

I do find e-books convenient but they make my eyes tired, so to me real books feel more relaxing. I know real books are bulky, but I think it's sad that some day they may disappear. I hope they won't.

Anyway, your father sounds so funny... Book ebola.....!

Well, Julia, I guess you might consider yourself in a strange situation. Stay with your dad and brother, and all their quirks, or tolerate your mother. I'm guessing the former is preferable.
I just can't wait to see what you post when Tristan and yourself get your own place. 

Paper is such a beautiful material, it has texture and softness that is hard to describe, and the lower grades used in pulp fiction add imperfections to the page that makes each one unique.

Don't worry about the germs, paper is too dry for them to survive, although they can in the wrong climate grow a nasty group of fungi... and seem to breed dust...

On a more serious note, a collection of books, or a small library is one thing, filling all the rooms with books is a quite another...

Rowan

I sympathize with your dad. If I had the room, I'd go back to only reading physical books too. It's just not the same on a Kindle. The realities of moving around a few times made me give what I had to Good Will and I hated it, but then I am a collector(not a packrat!) by nature. Well, except my Dune hardcovers. Those stay with me.

Quote from: Lady Sarah on September 24, 2017, 10:30:03 PM
Well, Julia, I guess you might consider yourself in a strange situation. Stay with your dad and brother, and all their quirks, or tolerate your mother. I'm guessing the former is preferable.
I just can't wait to see what you post when Tristan and yourself get your own place. 

Live with my mother!    I would rather live in a refrigerator box under a bridge than live with my mother. I would rather deal with books than a bitch.

Quote from: Sno on September 24, 2017, 11:28:39 PM
Paper is such a beautiful material, it has texture and softness that is hard to describe, and the lower grades used in pulp fiction add imperfections to the page that makes each one unique.

Don't worry about the germs, paper is too dry for them to survive, although they can in the wrong climate grow a nasty group of fungi... and seem to breed dust...

On a more serious note, a collection of books, or a small library is one thing, filling all the rooms with books is a quite another...

Rowan

He doesn't have them in every room thank god but he does have them in the den which is public family space. Books can grow fungus?? Wow, that's just great. Well on the bright side I guess I could grow my own mushrooms.

Why are your stories always so hilarious? [emoji1] I feel like I would love to meet your dad and brother.


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