Today’s “sparks” come to us from Booking Through Thursday. Our question of the day:
What’s the largest your personal library has ever been? What’s the greatest number of books you’ve ever owned at one time? (Estimates are fine.)
Is your collection NOW the biggest it’s ever been? Or have you down-sized?
What’s the fewest number of books you’ve ever owned (not counting your pre-reading years)?
When I downsized four years ago, I did give away some books…but over the past years, I have also accumulated quite a few, too. So, when I went around counting and estimating this morning, I came up with around 1,000 books—including the TBRs of about 144. The largest it has ever been.
They’re on shelves like these:
Or these:
And some are here:
They do surround me in my cozy little space.
Once upon a time, I mostly took books from libraries…and my smallest personal collection might have been during my teens, when I had maybe twenty books of my own.
What about you? What is your personal library like?
SNOW SPARKS 
Cozy! I guess I feel that being surrounded by books is almost like being covered in a soft quilt.
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Yes, I like that analogy…that’s exactly how it feels! Thanks for stopping by, Kristy.
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TBR of 144! Wow! 🙂
I really don’t want to imagine how many books I’ll be having if I own an eReader.
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Yes, I think of the TBR as small at 144…it used to be more. But my total books of 1,000 are all “read” books, except for the 144. Thanks for stopping by, Sugar Peach.
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It would take me most of the day to count all my books and, by then, I will have probably acquired more!
Ubiquitous…that’s books for me…Booking Through Thursday: Size Matters.
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I like that label…ubiquitous. That definitely says it, doesn’t it? Thanks for stopping by, Deb.
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I’m impressed that your TBR is only 144 – I’m certain that my owned TBR is about 400, never mind my unowned…
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I started zealously working on reducing the TBRs, and even started a blog to help me do that. So I’m kind of proud of it. My old TBRs are 60 something, and the others are the new ones. So, as you can see, I keep taking more in!
Thanks for stopping by, readingwithtea.
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I love the pictures of all your shelves! Very, very cozy-looking. The way I grab up books that I just “gotta” have or just look good, my TBR list is WAY more than 144….
Here’s my answer: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday-size-matters.html
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Yes, I’ve been working on keeping those numbers down, Bev. Striving for balance…LOL.
Thanks for stopping by.
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I really enjoyed reading your post. Love the eclectic world of your bookshelves with books, photos, dolls and other precious things. Very cool. Thank you for visiting my new book blog today. http://unicornslaststand.blogspot.com/
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Oh, thanks for the compliments, Nicolette. I do like to “pose” my various collections together. Glad you could stop by.
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Very nice book shelves,holding a lot of great reads.
here’s mine:
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday_30.html
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Thanks, Mary Ann….glad you could stop by.
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My collection is at its lowest since I agreed to borrow more books than I buy in an effort to help the family budget. I have been successful at this for over 10 years now. My library grows with gifts, giveaway wins and ARCs.
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That’s wonderful, Nise…I applaud you! Thanks for stopping by.
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I’m so used to looking at my bookshelves everyday that it kinda shocked me when I took the time to figure how many I had.
Here’s My BTT
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I know what you mean, Vicki…we do get used to the things we see everyday. Thanks for stopping by, and welcome back to blogging!
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Great photos – You have a lot of books!
I also didn’t think about including my Kindle books in my answer.
Thank you so much for checking my BTT post out too!
Best wishes!
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Yes, and these are just a sample, Jennifer…thanks for stopping by!
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It’s just so easy to accumulate books, but I’m trying to downsize – which isn’t easy either 🙂
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Oh, I know, Yvonne…thanks for stopping by.
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As many as I’ve given away (and the apartment I live in has a “library” next to the laundry facility with a “take a book, leave a book” general policy where I’ve left a number of books rather than do otherwise) I still seem to wind up with more. I’ve avoided two Half-Price Books stores near me for months in an effort to 1. save some money and 2. keep from winding up with even more for the TBR pile.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my post!
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Yes, the totals do creep up on us, don’t they? Thanks for stopping by, Walt.
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Wow, I love the pics! Bookshelves LOOK so nice, don’t they, even aside from what they contain. I remember my very first studio apartment: it was small and drab, and the one thing that gave it any color was my bookshelf.
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Thanks for stopping by, Ludy…I agree that books make the greatest decorations. They add color, a cozy ambience, and definitely bring in a splash of personality.
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