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Original poster

Do you have bookcases filled with books at home?

468 replies

CatteryCatss · 08/02/2025 12:50

I grew up without books at home, but my DM frequently read magazines.

Surprisingly, I turned out to be a big reader in adulthood. I have bookcases either side of the chimney breast filled with books (as well as LEGO sets and a couple of ornaments) I also have a bookcase on my stairs and in the office, which are filled.

Whenever I visit my DM, I’m reminded of my childhood without books and it makes me quite sad!

OP posts:
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5
FreedomandPeace · 08/02/2025 23:50

EggshellAttic · 08/02/2025 22:15

I find this attitude so bizarre. It comes up every time there’s a thread about books. For this type of person, obsessed with eradicating ‘clutter’ and not having anything ‘on display’, the only acceptable way to read is in secret, preferably returning every book to the library the moment you read the final page, or, if you must have books in the house, keep them under the bed in a shoebox. Not downstairs ‘on display’, because that would be boasting and showing your ‘superior’ habits. I mean, God forbid.

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Just because people don’t have book shelves it doesn’t mean they are necessarily living a minimalistic life with no stuff.
Im sure most will have stuff hung on the walls and sitting on shelves.

Some people like books
some people like ornaments
some people are just surrounded by random shop clutter
not many people read and even fewer have books

Each to their own…..
Agree @EggshellAttic why are people obsessed with judging.

Original poster
CatteryCatss · 09/02/2025 00:07

Arraminta · 08/02/2025 22:57

I think I own about 17 different editions of LOTR? Promise I don't stroke any of them though (yet).

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Do you call your 17 editions of LOTR “my precious” though? 😀

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 09/02/2025 00:14

RampantIvy · 08/02/2025 19:17

But the feel of a book cannot be replaced by a screen

You can't increase or reduce the character font size of a book
You can't read a book in the dark without a reading light
I find holding a kindle while lying down in bed at night easier than trying to hold a book open
One kindle takes up less size and weight than a suitcase full of books

Yeah, and I could listen to music with my earbuds too, but I prefer vinyl, so I have a nice big collection of my favourite albums and singles.

If I want to read in bed I have a smart bulb ready to turn off at my command, and I don't have to charge my book of the moment.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Books
mondaytosunday · 09/02/2025 00:14

No. I have a kindle. I do have a shelf of cookbooks. And a stack of books relating to art and craft books.

Original poster
CatteryCatss · 09/02/2025 00:20

I have to say, it never occurred to me that people may store books downstairs as if to show people they were middle class…

I keep books in my lounge because I have bookcase either side of the chimney breast. They’re not kept there as a status symbol, it’s just the best place to store them! Alongside the bookcase on my stairs, I also have bookcases in our office…

I’m baffled how this could occur to anyone!

OP posts:
TheAmusedQuail · 09/02/2025 00:30

CatteryCatss · 09/02/2025 00:20

I have to say, it never occurred to me that people may store books downstairs as if to show people they were middle class…

I keep books in my lounge because I have bookcase either side of the chimney breast. They’re not kept there as a status symbol, it’s just the best place to store them! Alongside the bookcase on my stairs, I also have bookcases in our office…

I’m baffled how this could occur to anyone!

It's not a made up Mumsnet thing.

It's sociology.

Middle class = books, smaller TV, piano.
Working class = no/only a few books, big TV, media wall.

TheAmusedQuail · 09/02/2025 00:30

Lounge - working class.
Living/drawing room - middle class.

FTTTC2025 · 09/02/2025 00:37

We have a big tv AND a packed bookshelf. But the bookshelf is upstairs on the landing so nobody really sees us apart from us. There are some books I’ll never part with but many I should probably put on vinted or donate. There are also too many I’ve sadly not managed to read yet!
I’m also very working class and live in a standard new build, the bookshelf is an ikea one so not posh at all 😆

BeaTwix · 09/02/2025 00:38

I think the snobbery about book shelves is now outdated due to tech.

I read a fair bit but don't have many books anymore as I predominantly read on my kindle. In fact pretty much the only hard copy fiction I have is stuff I've been given but not read as it is hard copy.

However, I do have a reasonable collection of work reference books, recipe books and books associated with my hobbies that cannot easily be digitised.

I also use the library a lot to "try" out recipe books before buying them as I've been disappointed so often by the latest "must have" cookery book only to get it and find I only make about two things from it.

ViciousCurrentBun · 09/02/2025 00:39

You would think we are total plebs. All our books are in cupboards in a seperate room that guests do not go in, also in the loft and in a very large sea chest and in the office. We have given away the equivalent of 2 Billy book cases of books but still have probably 2,000. DH is a published author, was not his main job, academic books though he has been quoted in some regular books.

Giggorata · 09/02/2025 01:16

I haven't read the full thread since I commented earlier on, so apologies if this point has already been made.
Useful though it is for travelling, the issue with Kindle and its cousins is that all the available books can be abridged, censored, sanitised and modernised, to the extent that the text is no longer what the author wrote.

Also, I am not certain if the books on my Kindle are actually mine or effectively rented, in the same way that downloaded films and TV programmes we thought we bought can be withdrawn.
This has driven a recent upsurge of DVD purchases.
If I buy a Kindle version of a book and like it, I will nearly always buy it in book form afterwards.

PinkoPonko · 09/02/2025 01:29

EggshellAttic · 08/02/2025 13:01

We’re a household with two literature PhDs. We have all the books.

I know this well, and love it!

ThisIsMyYearToFindMyself · 09/02/2025 01:36

Some cookery books in the kitchen, fiction in my room, some reference type books in my room and some dip in and out type books in the sitting room. None of the bookshelves are just books, they’re all a mix of books and ornaments, photos, boxes of paperwork etc. The kids have books in their rooms but they (the books) tend to stay in their rooms. Mine wander here and there sometimes. We borrow freely from each other and the only thing is you don’t ever get rid of a book without offering it to everyone in the house first.

emailthis · 09/02/2025 03:00

Grow up in a house full of books.
Don't have the space and they are a dust magnet (struggle to keep on-top of basic housework). I have a shelf or 2 in my office full of books but that's it
When I was a child I used to re read books over and over, now it's once then out.

Natsku · 09/02/2025 08:39

TheAmusedQuail · 09/02/2025 00:30

Lounge - working class.
Living/drawing room - middle class.

What if you keep your collection of books in the lounge? What class are you then? Grin

RampantIvy · 09/02/2025 08:48

Giggorata · 09/02/2025 01:16

I haven't read the full thread since I commented earlier on, so apologies if this point has already been made.
Useful though it is for travelling, the issue with Kindle and its cousins is that all the available books can be abridged, censored, sanitised and modernised, to the extent that the text is no longer what the author wrote.

Also, I am not certain if the books on my Kindle are actually mine or effectively rented, in the same way that downloaded films and TV programmes we thought we bought can be withdrawn.
This has driven a recent upsurge of DVD purchases.
If I buy a Kindle version of a book and like it, I will nearly always buy it in book form afterwards.

I am aware of that but it doesn't bother me. I don't tend to re-read books on my kindle anyway.

I love reading, but I'm not a literary person, even though I have joined a book group. I just read for pleasure.

EggshellAttic · 09/02/2025 08:53

RampantIvy · 09/02/2025 08:48

I am aware of that but it doesn't bother me. I don't tend to re-read books on my kindle anyway.

I love reading, but I'm not a literary person, even though I have joined a book group. I just read for pleasure.

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Why do you think ‘literary people’ read, if not for pleasure?

RampantIvy · 09/02/2025 08:59

EggshellAttic · 09/02/2025 08:53

Why do you think ‘literary people’ read, if not for pleasure?

Show quote history

My response was in relation to texts being amended or abridged, which wouldn't bother me, but might bother someone who was more literary than me.

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say.

NavyBleugh · 09/02/2025 09:48

Natsku · 09/02/2025 08:39

What if you keep your collection of books in the lounge? What class are you then? Grin

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I must be quite posh because I'm multi lingual regarding these 'social markers'. I learn very quickly who says front room/lounge/sofa/ settee/ dinner/ supper/ loo/ toilet and remember to use their words in conversation most of the time 😂

RampantIvy · 09/02/2025 10:02

I don't stick to one word for my living room, front room (even though it is a through room), lounge, sitting room.

Same with settee/sofa, loo/toilet.

The class markers have passed me by.

We have books, kindles and a largeish TV. DH and I don't have great eyesight so need to be able to adjust the font on kindles and to see the TV clearly.

I suspect that this won't have occurred to those who are against modern technology.

Natsku · 09/02/2025 10:15

I grew up with lounge and settee, lounge has stuck but settee has morphed to sofa. My lounge isn't the front room, as its at the back of the house, but the house is back to front so the lounge does face the road so maybe it could be the 'front of the back room'

RampantIvy · 09/02/2025 10:16

I grew up with lounge as well. English wasn't my mum's first language, so I don't think class had anything to do with it.

Arraminta · 09/02/2025 10:36

CatteryCatss · 09/02/2025 00:07

Do you call your 17 editions of LOTR “my precious” though? 😀

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Yes, obviously. What else would I call them?

BobnLen · 09/02/2025 11:36

I said front room upthread but it is the lounge and at the front. When we were small, the lounge was in the middle of my parents bungalow and we called it 'the house' Grin, the hallway was called 'the passage'.

latetothefisting · 09/02/2025 13:24

Yellowbananasarebetterthangreen · 08/02/2025 19:06

@TheAmusedQuail yes I read daily. Currently reading Judi Dench's book "Shakespeare" and The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy. And a non fiction one about 16th century explorations in North America. And the book that was published to go with the tv series Edwardian farm (its a bit big and heavy and liable to land on my head if I read it in bed lol) Am keen to get Unruly by David Mitchell but cant really justify another new one just yet.......
I read about 40 books most years. I imagine this year will be no different.

@IroningBoardAgainstTheWall for the joy of owning them. An art form in themselves- just looking at the spines cheers me up tbh. Looking inside even more so. Ive got quite a lot of reference books....... they get looked in regularly. Quite a lot of kids picture books (my kids now grown) because I love the art work in them plus the story/poetry of them. Craft books - because I make stuff from them. And I love just gazing at the pictures.

The joy of owning books = doth maketh me a happy person.
I feel sad when others say they dont own books because for me books = joy but it also = learning. I have learnt SO much from books over the years. Way more than from other sources eg the internet. Reliable, well sourced and referenced info. I often refer back to a book Ive previously read. I dont keep all the ones Ive read (only what I truly love) and I havent read all the ones I own (but Im working on it).

Ill bet you own things that bring you joy? Im sad for you if you dont own a collection of something that brings you joy. For me.......... its books!

Its not about class status either fgs. Its about me and what makes me happy.

I feel sad when others say they dont own books because for me books = joy but it also = learning.

So you can only get joy and learning from owning physical books?

You think people just stare at, say library books or kindles or listen to audio books and nothing goes in, they learn nothing and get no joy?

That is the point you are ignoring - OWNING is not analogous to READING