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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to like my obsolete books?

85 replies

Jezzifishie · 05/12/2018 22:01

DH put some shelves up so all of our books are in one place - it completely fills one wall of the lounge. My friend came over and spotted the wall, he asked why we'd bothered as books are obsolete now. AIBU to feel sad about this? To me, it's not a home unless it has books!

OP posts:

scaryteacher · 06/12/2018 10:20

I'd tell your 'friend' that with opinions like that he is obsolete, and to go forth and multiply. I have thousands of physical books and over 2k on Kindle. I'd rather have books than furniture. A new book is exciting, one formerly read is like an old friend.

I did Eng Lit as my minor for my degree - I was curled up on my sofa back in 1988 with a cat, the log fire burning and the Nutcracker on the stereo reading the next book we were going to study, and thought that it doesn't get any better than this.

I never need to wallpaper as I can stick bookshelves up and rearrange the books to look different, and when all the fuel runs out, I could burn them to keep warm.

RangeRider · 06/12/2018 10:24

Personally I'd always be a bit if I found out someone had no books. It's like their house would lack soul. And I've never understood people who only read a good book once - a crap book yes, but one you enjoyed? You savour it and get increasing enjoyment from every reading.
(Owns up to having spent £200 yesterday on books thanks to a Mumsnet thread on books that got me all excited!!)

RangeRider · 06/12/2018 10:25

when all the fuel runs out, I could burn them to keep warm.
Except you wouldn't - you'd be like 'I can't burn that, it's a favourite, and that could be really useful, oh and I loved in that where.....' You'd freeze rather than consigning any to the flames...

PermanentlyFrizzyHairBall · 06/12/2018 10:38

He's being silly, of course books aren't obsolete. I love my kindle but mainly use it for travelling and for books that aren't particularly interesting to look at (e.g. books I use for professional development). I love buying second hand books, also plenty of coffee table books that I dive into now and then - would work at all on the kindle.

PermanentlyFrizzyHairBall · 06/12/2018 10:39

I'm thinking of putting up giant bookshelves in the living room so I can dive in and out when I'm in there but got self conscious after someone said "it's pretentious" to have books on display.

DappledThings · 06/12/2018 11:31

someone said "it's pretentious" to have books on display.

It isn't. They're an idiot.

Junkmail · 06/12/2018 11:39

Your friend is weird. Books are wonderful for many reasons one being that they double as decor. I have a wall of books too in my office. I have collected hundreds of books over the years—I can’t really get along with ebooks. I don’t think books are obsolete at all. I know a lot of people (irl and online) that still collect, read and love “proper” books.

goingonabearhunt1 · 06/12/2018 11:51

When I was doing KonMarie method, the thing I really struggled to declutter was books so I kept only the ones that 'sparked joy' (as she would say) and it's still quite a few. I don't tend to keep loads of novels as I don't read many (and re-read them even less) but I have loads of film, art, poetry and history books that I like to dip in and out of. Like PP I only use my Kindle for travelling. I don't know anyone who thinks books are 'obsolete' and that's including my extremely minimalist DSis.

goingonabearhunt1 · 06/12/2018 11:54

frizzy that's ridiculous, it's only pretentious if you deliberately choose books you think look 'clever' and have never actually read or plan to read

PlayingForKittens · 06/12/2018 11:56

There isn't a room in my house without a bookcase. We got built in ones in the living room, I thought I'd have enough space at last but the books are 3 deep on every shelf.

RangeRider · 06/12/2018 13:00

I had a mass purge and got rid of all the ones that I didn't really enjoy and wouldn't grab off the shelf. Somehow since then I still have full bookcases and have actually bought another one as well. Can't quite work out how that happened....

MissionItsPossible · 06/12/2018 13:07

The amount of people on here that have said in those brain farts/tired threads that have tried to swipe a book or magazine or zoom in with their finger has made me not give into a kindle. Plus, I love books.

buttyblahblah · 06/12/2018 13:11

My books are hidden away in my room. I can't get rid of them for entirely sentimental reasons but a rarely read an actual book any more, I have become too used to being able to enlarge the text on my kindle to manage most paperbacks.

My optician said I will need reading glasses in a couple of years but won't give me any yet. Hopefully I can read them all again then. It's an odd thing to look forward too, declining eyesight!

Huntawaymama · 06/12/2018 13:11

I recently got rid of about 20 books I'll never read again but that still leaves 30 on my shelves and I've just finished my wishlist on my husbands amazon account for Christmas where I've included 3 fiction paper backs and 1 reference book. Books are not obsolete

lonalsland · 06/12/2018 13:16

I collect old books that will never see a kindle. I have to watch and search for them (all a specific subject). Some of them are worth a lot of money. I can't see books going yet although I love my kindle too.

IsThereRoomAtTheInn · 06/12/2018 13:16

I was moving towards going down to minimal bookshelf. Maybe keeping two so as to display other things in the manner of an interior design magazine.

Then I got a life and decided to buy a new bookcase instead!

Fridaydreamer · 06/12/2018 13:18

12 yo DD loves second hand books. Says they smell better. I’m inclined to agree.

No digital reading format can beat holding a paperback in your hand and smelling the pages as they turn.

Minxmumma · 06/12/2018 13:20

What an odd person. Books can never be obsolete, I rarely send my eldest 3 to ask google when they have a question I point them to a bookcase.
And books are memories, old friends to be revisited. I have books from my childhood that my toddler now adores.

IsThereRoomAtTheInn · 06/12/2018 13:23

It is not pretentious to have books you read on display!

I am occasionally buying " fancy " hardbacks and may be thinking of gathering them eventually onto a single shelf in my sitting room.

Now THAT'S pretentious!

IsThereRoomAtTheInn · 06/12/2018 13:24

I'm joking really.

IsThereRoomAtTheInn · 06/12/2018 13:28

As in I don't think what I'm planning on doing is much different to having a photo in a frame I like on display in my room. I don't want to live in a sterile office style space.

Eliza9917 · 06/12/2018 13:41

We have hundreds of books, all over the bloody house but I'm just as bad for buying more I will be making sure my nieces and nephews know what proper books are.

I can't be doing with kindles, its got to be a real book imo.

noVotes · 06/12/2018 13:46

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 06/12/2018 14:14

I've got a kindle which is handy for travelling but I favour the experience of a real book. I feel lost with little sense of scale on the kindle, and I feel more in control with a book, I can flick back and check things more easily.

This is exactly how I feel!

Gilead · 06/12/2018 14:23

I have around 3000 books. I still buy more. As others have said, the smell and feel are important too. I won't buy a kindle as a matter of principle - perhaps if it were named differently, but I'd still buy books even if I had one.

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