What do you do with your old books....
 

Recently I was in Prescott Arizona and due to not enough space in my suitcase I intentionally left a book in my room called Something to declare by Julian Barnes. It is a book written by an Englishman about some historical goings on in France and includes much about Flaubert who some of you know wrote Madame Bovary. There is about 1 in a 100 chance that it will get read. Some books I keep forever such as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Some books I give away to friends who I know will enjoy them and read them. Just what do you do with your old books? If you lend them out and don't get them back do you get upset?

Give them to friends and family to read. We all trade around books all the time. If they ever make it back to us, we just donate them.

i give them away. well, i used to.

now i just get my books from the Library. did you know you can download them from the Library, onto your reading device? crazy.

the Dewey decimal system is going to go extinct.

I generally keep the books that I spend the buxs on because they are Spoon specific. One book can either make me money or save me money, and many of them become sought after, after they go out of print.

Several years back a friend of mine edited and published a 5 volume set entitled "The NY Firearms Trade." which was the a 20 year comprehensive project on the gun makers in the state of NY in the 18Th and 19Th centuries. Three thousand sets were printed at $495 a set, about 400 sets were initially sold mostly to antique gun dealers and auction houses. After that sales slowed to a trickle, the Party that paid for the printing and my friends time got tired of storing them so he had the rest shredded. I was told that there were about 40 sets that were outstanding. My opinion is what a waste, a donation to every Public Library in the State of NY could have been made. Eventually this set is going to become very desirable to have...

Also several years back a book on Elsie Smiths SXS's was published, the man who wrote the book passed away ( I met him 2 months before he passed) and his son took over the marketing of the book. I asked him if it was ever going to be reprinted and the answer was no. About 200 were a deluxe leather bound edition priced at $200 a pop. Latley I have seen ads priced at $495 for that edition. It is the information inside the covers that makes it so valuable.

There are quite a few books out there on Spoons that command dinero. Clawsons, "US Govt Model 1911"s is about $800, The 2 volume "Parker Story" is at $495, the Jan Sill 5 books on Axis and Luger Pistols is running in the neighborhood of $1500. All outa print..and the list goes on.

The local non-franchise bookstore buys and sells used books...great place.

Here in Kentucky we have a chain of stores called "Half Price Books" They are great! My favorite wife is a book nut & deals there all the time. They also buy books and magazines video games & players. I had years of Panorama, Excellence, The Star and motorcycle magazines. Unloaded all of them. The store gave .50c for each issue.

I have always taken mine to the local hospital. They are always very grateful.

Crap! How am I going to keep track of all my Porsche parts?

I take mine to 1/2 price books - I must have sold over 150 back...

this is a good idea!!

I've donated some of mine to the Sleep Disorder Institute of Texas, seems its a safe alternative to cure insomnia...

Analog paper books?

You still have those?

Cool antiques. :cool:

I keep mine. So far I only have one bookshelf's worth, so it is not a burden.

My older sister is a used bookstore junky, for both buying and selling.

Thats a great idea.

What gets to me about books is the price, cheap in USD but way more in CDN money and we've been at par for years. I always pay in USD
Finn

At my building we have a tradition of leaving them in the laundry room. There's a bookcase and a couple of chairs in there, and frequently someone will start a book while waiting on a load and take it when they're done washing.

It's interesting to see what lingers, what disappears quickly, and what my neighbors are reading. There's a book I left called "The Wrestler's Cruel Study" that's languished there for over two years. Someone recently left 5 or 6 books on achieving female orgasm, and I don't think I saw them on the shelves more than a week. :)

donate to the library - they keep what they want & sell others at a fund raiser

I give them to the SPCA and they sell them in their little store. The proceeds go towards animal care.

good for you...bravo!

Donate them.

Some of my books go here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/722547-ppot-gift-exchange-version-3-12-a.html