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!

One bookcase, but would like more. Grew up with a bookcase in every room.

A hat trick of bingo's

Kids have two large book cases, DH and I have four between us. All my kids are brilliant readers, all assessed way above their actual age from fairly small. Purely due to exposure I think. It's normal for them to see books as valued and reading as part of life. It's the one thing I think we've done well as parents...

Absolutely. Four large bookcases in our study. Another large built in bookcase in the living room. A further three bookcases upstairs in my little dressing room.

I recently discovered that in order to qualify as owning a library you need a minimum of 1000 books in your home. So am thrilled to announce I actually live in a library. Just waiting to realise my all time dream of having a library ladder.

I'm in a council flat on UC, but just prioritise books over other things. I know people from working class families with far more money who just weren't into reading, so I think it's cultural, too.

Of course, I buy mostly secondhand, and I agree of course that there are plenty of people who can't afford many books, which is why libraries are so important.

Well said @RockaLock and I'm sorry you lost your books.
I know some people like to show off how much they read (my BIL). He once sneeringly said "where are all of your books" because we only have 5 bookcases full of book. So I told him that they were in the library down the road. This was in the days before kindles were invented.

I used to, then I spent some time visiting a house owned by a hoarder who accumulated second hand books. That killed my romantic ideas about large volumes of books. I donated/ sold my collection and these days use an ereader for 99% of my reading.

DSD has one in their room as they like to collect sets but that's it in our house
We have a couple of special books in a cupboard in our bedroom and cook books in a cupboard in the kitchen
I don't like things on display, we have a small ladder cupboard in the living room for "stuff" on display but that's it apart from candles and flowers, being able to see books would stress me out.
Read and gone!

@MargaretThursday
My dream is a library ladder in my home library. Actually I'm going to find a tradesperson to make me a library ladder for my bedroom. I had a builder construct fitted shelves floor to ceiling one side of the door then a generous shelf along the top of the wall. I think subconsciously I was designing a room that needed a library ladder.
I spend lots of time looking at my books and rearranging them. I do most of them by colour. The ones in the sitting area are one colour per shelf but in the bedroom they are rainbow coloured across 1 long shelf. My favourite treat is waking up on a weekend and looking at my books without the pressure to get up and go to work.
My desk at school is in the library. Of course. Books are the best.

Yes, love having a houseful of books

I did have.
Then I got a kindle and gave all my books to a charity shop.

yup. books everywhere. in computer/lobby room, in lounge, cookery ones in kitchen, and in everyones bedroom

Yes

Oodles of books in most rooms and the walls in the study, plus loads of magazines in folders and files in one room.
We had loads when I was a child and I suppose the habit was ingrained. Plus, now I'm old and have enough room, I can indulge.
And they are good insulation, as someone said earlier, at least that's what I tell DH!

We had rooms and rooms full of books when I was a child. Moving house was a nightmare. Now we have one room full of books (tiny room, study), a big bookshelf in the living room, a sideboard full of sheet music and windowsill used as an additional bookshelf. Mostly non-fiction. And a library membership...

We have a large custom made bookcase on our first landing. I don't like shelves full of tatty paperbacks in living rooms. The shelving unit in our sitting room houses my larger pieces of stonewear and pottery, a nice Shaker wooden box, photograph albums, some games on the lower shelves which are obscured by a small reading chair, plants, framed photos, my DAB radio, my sewing box.

I don't need to see a 30 year old copy of The Secret History and similar and our Lonely Planet guide books staring back at me every day, they are hardly lovely to look at.

Yes, all over the place! I can see six from where I'm sitting, we have two in the bedroom and one in DH's study, and we converted the box room into a little reading room with floor-to-ceiling bookcases when we converted the loft for DS. We have FAR too many books! ❤️

Yes in 2 rooms.
I am an English teacher though so it's an interesting occupational hazard!

Yes we have bookcases full of books, and books that don't have anywhere to live as we've recently moved and haven't sorted wall shelves for them, yet.

I must say most of the books we have were accumulated a long time ago and over the past 7/8 years we've mostly bought new books as ebooks. We have become a lot more thoughtful about which books we buy since getting ereaders. I buy books if I'm going to read them more than once or want to share them with anyone in the house, and ebooks if they're read-once or I'm not going to share them with anyone.

Yes, books and bookcases all over the house, lol. My parents were academics and instilled the awesomeness of reading early on. Did my first degree in literature too.

Not at all, small 3 bed 1920s semi. 4 x rooms with chimney breasts so that's 2 x alcoves per room plus standalone bookshelves in others. Just down to choices.

My house is largely lined in book cases. I grew up in a home with books.

Yes. Huge bookcase in the living room (whole wall) and large bookcase in baby's room. I do sell a lot of books on Vinted after I've read them and only keep what I absolutely loved. I recently forced myself to read on kindle, too. It grows on me.

Yes. My dream is to have a library. I read on kindle now but I buy my favourites or things I will read again and have collections of fairy tales from around the world and my clothbound classics. I mainly buy hard backs for my shelves

No. Loaded but unread bookcases are a massive middle class indicator which now just represent trying too hard to me. The equivalent of the working class having the biggest TV possible (or a media wall - yuck).

Despite books being a huge part of my job I now think racks and racks of bookcases, filled with books no one ever reads, are really sad.

I used to have them. Hundreds upon hundreds. Then I realised that 90% hadn't been off the shelf in 5 years and I started to see them differently. Now I just have the ones I know I'll reread OR use again in my work. Probably about 150. The rest have all gone to charity shops or second hand bookshops.

I use the library all the time. Never buy new. I'm not trying to prove myself to anyone by having literary wall coverings.