count your books: a challenge?

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Apparently last night, before bed, I was so bored that I made the decision to count how many books I have that are displayed on my bookshelf. I have to admit, I knew I have a lot, but I didn't know that I had exactly 152 books!

Looking at my bookshelf, it sure doesn't seem like it holds one hundred and fifty two..

Now, 152 is a lot, compared to an average non-reader person.

But now it got me thinking, maybe to an average person, that's a whole lot, but what about if I compare it to other book lovers? I've seen some of your bookshelves already, and am always amazed with the amount of books you get weekly. So now, I am curious to know - how many books do you have on your bookshelf/ves exactly? (TBR shelves don't count, but you can tally them up too if you'd like)

I think it'd be fun to see who's the craziest bibliophile out there ;)

So count all the books you have, and let me know down below. You can even make a post talking about it. Perhaps a bookshelf tour? Either way, I'd love to take a sneak peek. I love seeing bookshelves and libraries of other people! So go ahead and share away!

28 comments:

  1. I know I have 635 all together in the house at the moment, and i'm guessing around half those are ones i've read, so around 300?
    It sounds worse written down... :-P

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  2. I haven't counted the books on my bookshelf, just the ones that aren't (my TBR pile) - and that's 188! I'm not at home right now but I'll have count the rest when I get there!

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  3. I keep a catalog of all my fiction books and I went through and added it up last night and the exact count is 1975 books. Now this isn't counting any that I may have neglected to list, which is rare, and books I received in the mail this week. Also, I'm going to a library sale tomorrow so after that I may just break the 2000 mark! I also have not cataloged all of my non-fiction and holiday books, but I estimate those at 1000+. I wish I could share pics of my shelves, but I moved awhile back and I still do not have all of my books unpacked. It's a big job! I did set up a blog for my books (yes, my books have their own blog...LOL) and I plan to list my entire catalog on it and have pics of all my shelves. Of course, it is a work in progress. I know I sound like a hoarder, but honestly, once they are all in the shelves it doesn't look too much like hoarding...too much. ;O)

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  4. I'm another hoarder - but I am completely oblivious to the exact number of books I own :)

    I would guess that it's well over 500 thou.

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  5. My count is 'only' 107 fiction books and around 30 non-fiction books, but it seems a lot to me. I'm running out of shelf-space if nothing else. There would be a lot more if I didn't have to be careful with money.

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  7. *eek, spelling errors. lol.. try again.

    I've been looking for a bookshelf for about 2 months, but still haven't found one I like (and can afford, lol).. But I also calculated the number of books I own a few weeks ago too! I now keep a track on Goodreads. I own 59, and have read 30 of them! Only a handful of books, but I'm new to blogging :).

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  8. I have approximately 950, though it maybe more.

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  9. I'm only at 353 books, since I've learned to not keep books I didn't like.
    The TBR gets a separate bookcase so as not to let my good books mingle with potentially bad ones. I don't want them to start drinking and smoking because of bad influences.

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  10. Let's see...goodreads says I own 456, but I didn't bother listing some of the younger middle grade series I own, or every single VC Andrews in the house, and some just got missed because I forgot about them while I was doing up that list. So I'd say I own about 550. 88 of those are my TBR pile!

    The 88 are all on my bookshelves, as are probably about 150-200 others. The rest are in large totes in storage. I'm thinking I'm a bit of a book hoarder, haha.

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  11. I keep track of all the books I own in LibraryThing. The "Your Library" collection there says 4649 but 667 are books on my Kindle. That should be 3982 physical books. They aren't all on shelves though. I have three milk crates in the room I call my office and I have two large laundry baskets full here at my vacation home. 574 are books I own that I haven't read yet.

    You have to keep in mind that I am a librarian, 60 years old, and have been collecting books since I was a teenager.

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  12. +JMJ+

    I counted my books a few weeks ago, but don't remember the exact number. It was a little over 500.

    I remember feeling both surprised that the number was higher than I had expected and sad that it was lower than I would have wanted. =P

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  13. I have a lot, but I haven't counted them. Sorry, I will someday. Maybe tommorow! ;) I'll let you know.

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  14. I don't have that many because I only keep the ones I really love and would read again (not many). BUT brilliant question!

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  15. Misha - woow you should do a post on your bookshelf. That'd be awesome to see!!

    Laura - I agree with you - I like to put the ones I've already read and liked/loved on this bookshelf. The tbr are in my closet, waiting still to be read of course, so those don't count.

    thekams - Haha your bookshelf must be awesome then. You should take a picture ;) I would loovee to see! It would 4x than my little bookshelf :D

    Kathy Martin - Wow. You should definitely do a post on that and show your library to everybody. I bet it'd be a sight to see :)

    E- haha yes that was exactly how I felt - though I always imagined I only had 50 or something lol. It just doesn't look like 100+ to me. Then again, how I wish I had more space in my room for shelves! That would be a different story.

    nina - haha you should. I'll wait for your answer ;)

    Jessica - That's still a lot though compared to an average non-reader person!

    juju - I'm the same as you.. all of these books are actually books I liked and loved. Don't really buy books I haven't read yet, unless it's a new release that I've been wanting for a while!

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  16. Oh my. Just reading the comments of how many books people have: wow! It would be a lot easier for me to count if I was organized and they were all in one place on one bookshelf, but unfortunately, my books are all over the house. I would say over 50... but less than 100? Who knows... I should organize them. I, like Juju, only keep the ones I truly have loved and want to reread or lend out to friends and donate the rest.

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  17. Bex - It does sound worse written down, doesn't it?? But hey, when you look at it, it's not that bad ;)

    Michelle - So awesome! haha I would definitely love to see your books :D

    Jules - Haha I'd love to see.

    Pepca - My shelf space isn't that big either. I'll always just have that shelf, so I try not to buy too much either.

    Alisa - Bookshelf shopping can be a pain, but it can be fun too! :D You should try iKEA if you have one where you live. I got the shelves from there and the bottom one from Target. Both were $40-$60 each - not bad. You could also always go to flea markets and vintage/thrift stores. They always have cool vintage-looking ones.

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  18. aylee - I too just keep the books I really liked and love. I don't typically buy books I haven't read yet, except of course if it's a book I've been dying to read for a while now.

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  19. +JMJ+

    Oh, man! I need more space, too! But don't we all? ;-)

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  20. Dang, what a doozie of a project! I have books everywhere-- even in an outbuilding! But of the books that are actually on a shelf I counted 197. when I get a complete shelf(ves) to myself and get all my BBB books added I will get back to you!

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  21. An entire bookcase is what I meant-- I really need an entire bookcase(s) to myself.

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  22. E - story of our lives.

    Lesa - I have books everywhere too, so I guess I'm not really counting those that serve as coffee table entertainment. Haha. Can't wait to hear your final count!

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  23. oh my gosh, I'm afraid to count! lol.

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  24. I've only recently started building my own collection since I moved out of my parents home. I have a few books there, many of which I share with my sister in terms of cost. But after I've got married and moved out my collection numbers to about 112 books not counting my son's story books and our religious non-fiction books. I suppose if I added those it might number to another 60 books.

    Oh, I must add that in a crazy fit I gave away about a 100 odd books for a church sale before I left my parents' home. I've been regretting it...:-/

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  25. I was really curious after seeing this question. I only keep track of the books I own and need to read with stands at 165. My read collection is roughly 235. So...400 book in the house. Not counting my kids' books. I've also gotten read of around 200 in the past couple years. With blogging my reading expanded and I knew I owned a bunch I would never read again. Might as well trade them for something new.

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  26. naida - haha you should do it.

    Risa - oh I bet if I had a place of my own my whole living room wall would be full of books! Very dangerous..

    Page - The books I end up not liking as much, I usually just give away or sell. Not worth filling my small shelves with not-so-good books, right? But 400 books? would love to see that!

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  27. Jillian - not withstanding the man you marry?:D Really, my husband has a heart attack each time I buy just one book! I was surprised my count was over a hundred...he only has to check that number to ban new books in the house...:-/

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  28. I think I have somewhere around 300, although most of them live at my permanent residence about 8 hours away :(

    I was actually thinking of doing a post similar to this with pictures of all my bookshelves and the different places they have lived, since I've moved around a lot. Maybe sometime soon, stay tuned!

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