Do you have bookcases filled with books at home?

[CatteryCatss]

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!

No, I am an avid reader but I give all my books away. I don't want them cluttering the house

Our kids love to read but it's harder to give their books away when they're done!

Yes, and I’m thrilled my daughters always both have a book or book set on their Xmas/birthday lists. I was always bought books as a child too and my dad put alot on reading. I’m horrified at the amount of people now who have no books in the house and no library card!

That’s so weird, thinking of books as ‘clutter’. Don’t you ever want to reread?

No. I love reading but don't like to re-read so always prefer to borrow them from the library, most of the books I own are on my Kindle.

Some of you must live in enormous houses to accommodate all those books.

I guess this ties in with a pp comment about owning lots of books being the preserve of the wealthy/middle classes.

This definitely isn't me I only have a small flat but I'm lucky to have lots of walls to accommodate storage.

My house is small, so I do have to be careful. I go through my books regularly because I felt it’s pointless keeping books I don’t enjoy.

Perhaps, in some cases, but I don’t believe it’s the norm!

We have a bookshelf in the bedroom that's full to bursting, but that's it.

I also have a stack of books by the bed and DH has some on the coffee table.

We have about 300 non fiction books on shelves, and about 100 fiction books to read in a bookcase. As soon as I've read a novel, it goes. I never reread books.

I read a lot but like pp find books awkward to hold due to a chronic condition, was so pleased when Kindles were invented! I rehomed all my books and bookcases a few years ago and it freed up loads of space. The rooms feel calmer and more restful .

I've never seen the appeal of a room full of books on shelves or in bookcases IMHO it can feel claustraphobic in an average sized room. Perhaps larger rooms with high ceilings look better.

We have 1 wall full of bookcases in the study and then we all have book cases in our bedrooms with books and there are several boxes of books in the attic

No. We have 1 bookcase and a bookshelf of precious books. Our house is small with little storage so books have to be given to charity generally after reading. Neither of us read much these days though.

I read loads to my child. He has books spilling out everywhere! I grew up in a house full of books, newspapers, magazines and was constantly reading. I had a book in the car, in my bedroom, in the sitting room etc. I'd just read everywhere. My mum was brilliant in finding us all books/series we loved and would often leave a new one on our pillow for when we got home from school. I'll try and encourage the same.

Bookcase on the landing filled with kids books and special books and a few books dotted around the house, that’s it.
I read all my books on kindle so not many grown up books in the house.

I do but they are upstairs in my study and studio space, 1000's of books, too many really.

My mum was a big reader but not sentimental so while she was always reading she tended to use the library or pass books on after reading. I have more reference books to be fair, art books and things I use for my work as well as novels and poetry etc.

Yes. Living room, study and spare room, with a huge overflow in the attic. I find that houses without books look so sad and "unlived in".

Just because you don't feel the need to keep old books doesn't mean you don't read.
They really are clutter, they gather dust and take up space in the house. I rarely re-read and if I do I usually borrow an e-book.

We have 3 bookcases but only keep certain books , the rest get passed on . I only ever read on my kindle , my daughter does a mix of kindle and book .

I guess this ties in with a pp comment about owning lots of books being the preserve of the wealthy/middle classes.

I think it's more complex than that. My family were far from wealthy or middle class but both sets of my grandparents had books. My mum was 11 before she lived in a house with electricity so she had to read by candle light (in the late 50s). Her father was an immigrant who as a child didnt know where he'd be sleeping that night but books were always his constant. The one thing his parents bothered packing when they had to do another moonlight flit. My father's mother was Roma and struggled to read herself but she got books for my father and encouraged him to read. Education was seen as a way of assimilating and bettering yourself/your children. I think that's what has changed. My grandparents had faith that their descendents wouldn't be stuck wondering how to feed their kids or contemplating taking up the rent man on his offer of sex in lieu of rent. I think for many people in similar situations these days that hope has faded.

I used to and I grew up in a house with loads of books but when I lived in a tiny house I had to declutter a lot and I realised I wasn’t going to reread a lot of them anyway. The children each have a bookcase full but I now read mostly on kindle or BorrowBox and get library books. I’m on my 19th book of 2025 so it’s not like I don’t read!

I have seven bookcases and some mini shelf type ones. Not posh - usually passed on. But I have hundreds of books. Likewise I didn’t grow up in a reading household. Someone bought me Alice in wonderland as a child through and my lifelong love of reading started there xx

I have one small bookcase in my bedroom. I read mostly on my kindle and buy cheap books from charity shops which I then leave either at work or Tesco on the community bookshelf. I never re read books.

My poor sad bookless home.

I don't have any books, just 2 kindles and re-read a lot, love having such a huge selection to choose from.

So much judgement of houses without books.

My DS have bookcases full of their books, but there are no other books in the house.

This does not make me a philistine or a non-reader or an uneducated oaf.

It means I am someone who lost a lifetime's worth of books in a fire when they were in (supposedly safe, secure) storage during a building project.

I still read everyday, but i am not prepared to get emotionally attached to physical books again and so it's all on a kindle. Which I actually love, much more than I thought I would.

So people making "oh it's so sad to see houses without books" comments can fuck right off as far as I am concerned.

3 big book cases then 4 sections of the kallax filled with books. Then a box full in the cupboard that are xmas kids books that we get out each year 🙂

Loads.