If you had lost all your books in a fire, would you replace them, or just get them all on a Kindle?

[PeekaPeeka]

Just that, really.

We had some stuff in storage while we're having some building works done at home, and everything was completely destroyed in a huge fire at the storage unit on New Year's Eve.

Some people have lost literally everything they own, so I am trying to feel lucky that we have "only" lost a relatively small proportion of our belongings.

BUT amongst other things, I've lost every single book that I owned. I'm gutted. A collection that I've built up over the last 30 years or so. Books that I've cherished and loved. Maybe 200-300 in total

I already have a kindle, and it's useful, but I don't love it in the same way as actual physical books.

So: if this were you, would you try to replace your collection, however gradually, via a mixture of second hand and new?

Or would you just think fuck it, it's fewer bookcases to dust and less "stuff" in the house - and just buy everything (eventually) on a kindle instead?

I think a PP has made a good point: DS1 is 12, and I'd started over the last few years pulling out books that I thought he'd enjoy.

It's not quite the same, though, handing over a kindle!

So I'm coming down on the side of building up a collection on a kindle, but buy actual books of my most-loved and those that I'd want my DSs to read.

Re: insurance etc - there is still no news on how the fire started, and how it was able to spread and destroy a 1200+ storage unit warehouse. The company is still insisting it was fully compliant with all safety regulations etc Occasionally we get an "update" email which is just a load of corporate twaddle and says nothing.

The insurance company want us to list everything, which is a long slow task because we literally packed the entire contents of 2 rooms into boxes, and didn't make an inventory because it was only going to be stored for 3-4 months - what could possibly go wrong(!)

But hopefully when we've done that and remembered as much as possible, then I at least think they should hopefully settle the claim quite quickly. Fingers crossed, anyway.