I could easily talk about the books I've read over the years that have moved me; for example, the first book that broke my heart, Charlotte's Web. Instead, I'm going to talk about the physical act of moving books. In this case, from moving them from Texas to Mississippi.
I am a serious bookaholic; I admit it freely. From the time when I started collecting Nancy Drew books and other juvenile mysteries in my pre-teen years to collecting medieval history and classic and contemporary mystery fiction in my post-teen years, I have never been able to suppress the urge to collect books.
Have I read all the books I possess? No. Do I intend to read them all? Of course. Will I live long enough to read them all? Probably not.
Part of the fun of collecting is the thrill of the hunt -- finally tracking down a copy of an obscure or difficult-to-find book, like The Rectory Mystery by A. Fielding. Or a pictorial cover copy of the Judy Bolton book The Puzzle in the Pond. Or a book signed by Margery Allingham, my all-time favorite mystery writer.
During the 30 years I worked at Murder by the Book in Houston, I had access to lots of mysteries, both juvenile and adult. I have several hundred, if not a thousand plus, books signed by contemporary mystery writers. I have my own library, frankly, especially when you add in the medieval history and reference books on the history of the mystery genre that fill my shelves.
If I had a 35,000 square foot house, I could easily display books in one large library. Instead, in a much smaller house, I have bookshelves and books in every room in the house I recently book. Every room, that is, except the bathrooms and the laundry room. (Although the laundry room has a lot of shelves in it, so some books could end up in there.)
I've only been in the house about two weeks, so there is still a lot of unpacking to do. It probably won't surprise anyone that, after making sure I knew where the cat food was and my clothing and meds, I started unpacking books. The kitchen is only partially put together. The two guest bedrooms (pictures provided) are full of boxes yet to be unpacked. At some point I have to get around to buying furniture for those rooms...
In preparation for the move, I weeded a couple of thousand books, perhaps slightly more, from the collection. I still brought with me something in the neighborhood of seven to eight thousand (could be more, frankly). Am I nuts? Perhaps. But I can't imagine living in a house that isn't full of books. Anything else would be too sterile for me.
It's going to take months for me to get them organized. Right now, I just want to get them out of the boxes, and perhaps find room for another couple of bookshelves....
What is your shelving system, Dean? Mine is too haphazard.
Posted by: Kay | June 10, 2015 at 03:48 AM
I've been following you on my facebook page, so I know about your move. My relatives want me get rid of some of my books, they thing I'm nuts to have them, of course they don't read. I don't have as many books as you have but I have a few bookcases smaller ones. I really am upset I sold my hard cover Nancy Drews in a garage sale. Good luck on getting your books done.
Posted by: Dawn Kramer | June 10, 2015 at 03:55 AM
Kay, with the children's mystery series, I shelve them in series order. Otherwise I tend to group similar types of books together in sections, for example, Golden Age mysteries in one section, contemporary mysteries in another. I don't generally alphabetize by author, but I do alphabetize an author's titles, or else put them in series order. Quirky, I know...
Posted by: Dean (Miranda) James | June 10, 2015 at 04:11 AM
Dawn, though there are some other readers in my family, none of them collect books. So they do think I'm a bit odd for wanting so many books. :-) Years ago, I sold all my children's series, except for Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls. I have slowly been re-acquiring them.
Posted by: Dean (Miranda) James | June 10, 2015 at 04:12 AM
I would love to see pictures of your series books once you have everything shelved. I also have books in every room except the bathroom and laundry room. Even my son's rooms upstairs have bookshelves with my books on them because I'm out of room. Does that stop me from buying? Absolutely not. :)
Posted by: Dina | June 10, 2015 at 05:21 AM
Hmmm....looks a lot like Chez Donna. Good luck with the shelving!
Posted by: Donna Andrews | June 10, 2015 at 05:25 AM
Dean,
That sounds like an amazing collection, totally dwarfing my "tiny" 2000 book library.
Still, I'd like to put a thought in your mind...... LIBRARY SOFTWARE! I bought this program and it has helped me keep track with amazing speed.
www.collectorz.com/
And good luck in your new home.
Posted by: Nora-Adrienne | June 10, 2015 at 05:41 AM
Dina, once the series books are organized, I will post them, probably on FB. Though I might do a future post on them for this blog. Hmm....
Posted by: Dean James | June 10, 2015 at 05:54 AM
Nora, thanks for a tip about that software. I did have another one I was using a few years ago, but the work involved was overwhelming, considering the size of my collection... and the fact that I was already spending so much time at the computer without spending many hours cataloging, much as I love it.
Posted by: Dean James | June 10, 2015 at 05:55 AM
When we moved, we gave ourselves the luxury of having the basement room turned into a library. Before that, we frequently had a hall lined with bookcases, and cases in all the rooms.
Posted by: Charlaine Harris | June 10, 2015 at 06:23 AM
Oh no, you are not nuts! Those pictures of all the boxes of books are beautiful ;-). I have a much smaller collection, guessing maybe 1500+ books, but we are getting ready for a home remodel and my husband and granddaughter have been packing books for what seems to them like forever. I tell them that well, no, I haven't read them all yet but I certainly intend to, of course I have gotten rid of some, they just can't tell, and I skip by the question of will I live long enough to read them because at my age probably not. I have many friends and family members who are readers but only one friend who loves to acquire them like I do. He loves library book sales - brown grocery bags full of books. Great post, looking forward to seeing the results when you are set up.
Posted by: Sally Schmidt | June 10, 2015 at 06:58 AM
For the newer books, surely there must be end-user software that allows you to scan the barcode, like with your iPhone, thereby avoiding data entry? If not, someone should invent it!
Posted by: Marcia Talley | June 10, 2015 at 07:24 AM
Sally, so nice to meet a fellow collector! Marcia, there is software that allows use of a barcode scanner, and perhaps even the use of an Android phone (in my case; no iPhone). I will have to check it out once the current deadline is past...
Posted by: Dean James | June 10, 2015 at 07:36 AM
Oh, I am SO relieved! Whew. I look at my books, sometimes, and I wonder--is his how other people live? Now, knowing "other people" is you, and he answer is yes, you have made my day.
Thank you!
My shelving system is: wherever there is room. Not the bet, indeed no. But! The easiest.
Happy move!
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 10, 2015 at 08:06 AM
There are many of them Marcia. Such as: http://www.collectorz.com/book/ and https://www.libib.com/
We use an app for our wine collection that can also do books, but I can't remember the name of it.
Posted by: Kristopher | June 10, 2015 at 08:12 AM
I out mine on a container ship and brought them to the new world with me. You are not crazy!
Posted by: catriona | June 10, 2015 at 08:23 AM
Dean, Don and I moved 2000 pounds of books from DC to Florida and the movers thought we were crazy. After seeing your books, I realize we had a modest collection. Congratulations on your new house.
Posted by: Elaine Viets | June 10, 2015 at 09:32 AM
Wow. Compared to you, I'm a rank amateur at only 4,000-odd books. (And that's only the ones I have catalogued -- I use LibraryThing, and commend it, also, to your attention. It allows search by scanned ISBN number.) It would have been far more books, but I just lost somewhere between 500-1,000 (uncatalogued) books in a basement flood -- never, ever again will I put anything in the basement that cannot be submerged in water safely.--Mario R.
Posted by: Mario in DC | June 10, 2015 at 09:39 AM
Mario, sorry to hear about the loss of books! I am now living in a non-floodplain area, thankfully. No basement, though, for extra storage.
Posted by: Dean James | June 10, 2015 at 09:49 AM
Catriona, the most I have shipped overseas is 26 kilos... a result of my 2006 visit to Blackwell's in Oxford. Glad to hear there are others who hang on to books the way I do!
Posted by: Dean James | June 10, 2015 at 09:51 AM
If you are nuts, you're my kind of crazy. I've had to cull my book collection so many times and had to curb buying impulses because of lack of space. Still, there are piles and piles of books on every flat surface. Your collection is most impressive!
Posted by: Nancy Roessner | June 10, 2015 at 10:22 AM
The last time I moved, I moved into a two-bedroom apartment so my books could have their own room. I still have stacks and stacks of unread books in my living room and dining area (most of them from Murder by the Book). A friend of mine once said, "There is no such thing as too many books; only not enough shelves."
Posted by: Jerry Ann Berry | June 10, 2015 at 11:56 AM
I'm delighted to see that it isn't just me! I have books in multiple bookshelves in multiple rooms plus stacks in the hallway and on a dog crate and stacked anywhere there is a surface for stacking. Thankfully, only one of my dogs has been a book chewer (and grew out of it after only one recent first edition fell victim). Happy unpacking!
Posted by: Liz Caldwell | June 10, 2015 at 12:26 PM
My late hubby was in the military. We always had to pack up books and ship them overseas or from place to place as we were way over the allowed weight limit. Coming back from Japan we mailed so many boxes we filled up the small post office. People thought we were crazy to have so many boxes of books to mail from place to place. But books make it home.
Posted by: Lora Devlon Eckler | June 10, 2015 at 12:30 PM
Books make me happy. Lots of books make me happier. I have forced myself to cull over the past few years but I still have at least a couple thousand books, probably more. Congratulations on the move!
Posted by: Aubrey Hamilton | June 11, 2015 at 04:56 PM
Dean, congratulations on your new house! Years ago, we had custom cases built for my office and the library; I put five more shelves in the closet in my office.
Posted by: Dana | June 15, 2015 at 04:54 AM
You need taller shelves! I saw wall space above some of them. I use and recommend Librarything.com for its ease of use. You can use a CueCat to scan your bar codes to input them. (It is my dream to buy a library and remodel it so I can live in it.)
Posted by: B Knighton | June 19, 2015 at 10:27 AM
I don't have as many books as you, but I have 2 5-shelf bookcases, 2 4-shelf and 13 3-shelf plus books in closets and boxes that have no permanent "residence". My husband asks, "Why don't you just check out books at the library?" Duh -- because I like to re-read them! My system is mostly alphabetical by author. He reads also (fortunately) -- just not as much! Linda W., Baytown, TX
Posted by: Linda Walker | June 22, 2015 at 03:42 PM