To keep or not to keep that is the question

Some books I know right away are for passing on.  They're good but not something I'm going to re-read every year or so.  A very few I know right away are keepers (Evelyn Vaughn's A.K.A. Goddess pops to mind).  Others are keepers just b/c they're part of a series that I'm keeping and still others are keepers b/c they're by a favorite author.  It's the others . . . every year or so when my shelves get full, I go through and review what I have.  If a book still brings back strong memories of it, back on the shelf it goes.  If it's lost its appeal over time then off it goes. 

Penn 

   My answer is very similar to Penn's:  I'm a keeper and a re-reader.  To date my keepers number in the uh... 1700 range (last year at the beginning of the challenge I counted and they were about 1500... and I know that of the 476+ books that I read last year that at least 200 of those made it to my many shelves.
  Books, for me are keepers...

1. when I know that I'm going to re-read
2. usually by a favourite or auto-buy author (Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, Anne Stuart, Tony Hillerman, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly to name a very few....)
3. very often if they're part of a series ~ although that's not a hard-and-fast rule
4. if a book has touched me very strongly ~ I may not re-read it for awhile because of the strong emotional component, but I will keep it just because....
5. Um... I'm a collector and sometimes have a hard time making a give-away decision ~ but again, like Penn, I cull my keepers once or twice a year.  Sometimes distance and time make the choice for me.

  So, probably more than you wanted to know... or were expecting.  I think I remember this post from last year ~ but I'm not 100% sure... not even 75% ...

I'll occasionally give away a book I should have kept, so I don't cull that well

As for books that I won't get to in my lifetime, please stop trying
to depress me - I'm depressed enough at the moment and if I cry on my
keyboard, it might short out the computer, which wouldn't undepress me

At
the moment my "old" keepers (from my pre-eharl days) are buried too
deep in the attic for me to get to them, so they're in no danger of
being thrown out, but they weren't in much danger anyway

If
anyone wants the list of my keepers (because they don't remember it
from last year) shout out, it's all last years plus the Brothers plus a
few more

Hugs

Sadhbh 

I keep far fewer books than I read, no matter how slow that might be. In order for me to keep a book, I have to:

1. Really enjoy the story, characters, writing style, everything, If I laugh or cry while reading it, it's got a good chance of staying.

2. If it's autographed, I'll keep it, unless I really didn't like the book. This means I do have some keepers that are not favorites, but what can you do?

3. If it's part of a series, I'll likely keep the book at least until I've read them all, just in case.

 I'm sure I have other criteria, but those are the three most important ones.

retirement homes and the like?

If I only reread a book twenty times, it doesn't qualify as a keeper.

Some
books in my keeper pile have been read over a thousand times (but then
I've gone through years when I couldn't get any new books and I spent
two months in Denmark once and only had three books with me)

The BDB will be heading into three figures soon (which is understandable given that I only read them in 2007)

Hugs

Sadhbh 

I used to be 100% keep all books.  Then a flood wiped out half my personal library.  Shoveling out books full of mold and mud took a lot out of that previous books are almost sacred feeling I had til then.  Now I am mixed in keep versus non-keep. 

It is hard to reread with my massive TBR but I do. I re-read mostly if there is really special about the way an author writes.  Right now I am reading Lori Devoti's Guardian's Keep and no pun intended...I know already it is a keeper and a reread kind of book. It's just the way she writes in addition to the story itself...it's a pure delight to read just to hear how she words things.  Does that make sense?  I could read it over and over and still get pleasure because of the way it is constructed.

I choose keepers based on the same reread criteria and more personal reasons.  I also just like keeping books because in a personal sense they are like a photo album or scrapbook.  I can look at my library and see periods of my life...what kinds of things I was thinking, different phases (sometimes a decade long!) where certain things mattered.  Looking at my library is like looking at photographs of friends and a book itself evoke a whole world, bith inside and outside of itself...who my friends were then, what kinds of questions I was asking or things I was discovering.  My books are almst like an intellectual and emotional journal but not so personal.  I used to write journals but hated to reread those!

I keep them all at this point.  I have started cataloging them with the help of several of you.  I have found something like 16 duplicates and will be donating them somewhere.  I will be getting rid of books at some point but not yet.  I need them better organized first.

I do reread books especially Judith McNaught's books and several others.  I like to leave time inbetween reads so I remember the book but sometimes find new things I missed the last time.  I will keep favorite authors and series.

Jeannie

Yes, the big city thing makes a lot of sense...the larger libraries get way too many donated books to handle. (Good on you also for asking first--some people just drop boxes of books outside the library and it is a huge pain!)

Keep calling around, I'm sure you'll find someplace that would love to have your donated books. Retirement centres and hospitals are a great idea.

You might also try women's shelters and homeless shelters, prisons (particularly for self-help books), or nonprofit organizations such as Librarians Without Borders that send books to third world countries.

thanks to an Aunt, I inherited a nearly complete Temptation and Intrigue line .... the ones missing I was able to find at USB or eBay ..... so those lines are complete .... I've subscribed to Blaze from day one, esp. as Temptation was discontinued and many of my fav. authors went to that line   ..... 

as far as keeper shelf, there lives the books that are phenomenal .... the ones I will happily re-read as the characters have become dear friends ..... the collector in me, had me seeking the backlists of authors that I really love .... so now I have collections by favourite author   ...... I also will keep books that are part of a series, and will determine if I want to keep the series once I've read the last book ....... some series books are hard to find, and I may keep them as part of my collection just for that fact

so, while some people may collect Royal Daltons or Hummels .... or rare coins ..... I'm a series romance collector  (thanks to my Aunt who also loved to collect)   ..... now because books take up alot of space, I have set rules to control the collection!  .... and if the book is not by a favourite author, part of an ongoing series I haven't finished yet, or a phenomenal read, I will be culling it from the keeper shelf  once it's been read

.... if you have a great deal of books to move, and the library isn't your solution ... try nursing homes, and senior citizen clubs ... you can also put a notice on the bulletin board at your local grocery store or laundromate that you have books to give away  ...... or you can prepare a list of the books you have and email it to your online friends, with the offer of free books but cost of shipping is to be reimbursed    ...... and if the books have a value, there is always eBay  or any of the used book sites (Biblio or Abe) to help you sell them

Hi, my name is Katherine, and I'm a Harlequin addict and a bookaholic

checkout fictiondb.com ....... they have a means for you to catologue all your series romances and others ...... a phenomenal site ...... there is a fee, but there are so many benefits ...... they have a complete listing of all the Harlequin / silhouette imprints .... you can do an author search for complete backlists or to see which books are linked  ...... sign up for a free trial ...... if you are serious about the PDA, the site has a mobile version that will allow you access to your bookshelf on your webenabled smart phone or PDA 

and if you are looking for older Temptations, email me with the list you are looking for .... when I was filling the holes in my Aunts collection I acquired quite a few duplicates that I'd love to give away 

I keep waaaayyyyy too many of my books!  I know it but I just can't help it!  I need a 12 step program.  I don't have a lot of time for rereading although sometimes I sneak in one, particularly in a beloved series.  And to qualify for a keeper on my shelves, all it takes is to be a fave author, part of a keeper series, or just a book I like a lot.  I've collected all the Bombshell, Nocturne, and yes, the Shadows lines so those are all keepers no matter what. 

I am fortunate that I have about 6 UBSs in my vicinty so I can keep them well fed with my non-keepers.  The really old ones that I know they don't want I give to a thrift shop nearby.  Others must too because I usually bring home a bunch of older harlequins on the same day!

I love books, and wish I could get more. I generally don't buy books the first time around. (I'm a student, so I pretty much can't afford anything .) Only 1-2 authors are an auto buy for me (Susan Elizabeth Phillips, mostly). Or, if an author has a series, and I own all the other books. If I find myself going to the library over and over again for the same book, I'll buy it. You'd think this system would keep my book collection down, but at last count I had 8 full shelves of romance novels. (Books from eharlequin I keep - even though I generally don't read them first, because the libraries don't have them so I order them.) Ironically, I sell all my textbooks as soon as I can.