http://www.economist.com/books.....id=9253918

I had a feeling this particular comment would be misunderstood and that is a failing on my part for using such a clumsy expression.

I agree with what you are saying, my point is a library filled with read books is not as enticing as a library filled with unread books, surely, you share the same anticipation as I, of a new book?

I am the first to admit to the pleasure of rereading books; they’re like meeting up with old friends, or comfort food, as someone once affectionately said. I actually find it easier to reread a loved book than read a new one because the latter runs the risk of disappointment while the former will never fail me.

lol @ T-shirt. So true!

As Zaid says in his book:

“And maybe the measure of our reading should therefore be, not the number of books we’ve read, but the state in which they leave us.”

Never. No offense, but that type of attitude defeats the whole purpose of building a personal library. If a book “loses” its excitement after a single reading, one would merely work their way through a public library instead of buying their own books. Books in a personal library should (ideally) be read over and over again, where the “excitement” and joy of re-reading can be re-experienced. OK, so you know how the story will turn out (assuming a novel). So what? There are not other aspects of the writer’s craft to examine and admire? Having a number of books that are unread in one’s personal library is the mark of a serious reader, but they by themselves do not constitute a personal library; it is merely a collection of books. And a personal library filled with books once read is a waste of money; far better to go to the public library then. No, the true personal library is filled with books read again and again, giving the owner value, not only for his or her money spent but also on the knowledge refreshed in his or her mind.

“Speaking of which, has anyone read ‘So Many Books’ by Gabriel Zaid?”

Haven’t read the book, but one of my sisters once sent me a t-shirt that read “So many books, so little time.” I swear, virtually every time I wore that t-shirt, at least one person would stop me on the street to share their commiseration about how they too didn’t have enough time to read all the books they wanted to read.

The only people who don’t react that way are other students of knowledge who themselves are in the quest of filling up their libraries.

I grew up in a house full of books (all types not just religious ones) and I think that helped me in my love of books. I remember going out to my dad’s study and looking through books to see if there was anything I want to read. It was like a treasure trove. To this day some of the books that I clearly remember are ones that I read when I was in my teens in my dad’s library.

A.E. Newton

I was fortunate enough to be brought up in a house where the walls of one particular room were lined with an ever expanding book collection. Like a secret once told, loses all its mystery, a book once read, loses its excitement, for that reason, my father prioritised the expanding of our library to the displeasure of our mother lol
However, I remember asking him once why he chose to interrupt all the volumes, sections of volumes would be placed on different shelves, so that the gold writing on their spines didn’t align, since they looked beautiful that way, especially the Arabic books. And his answer was to deter accusations of snobbery that many people envious of those who love books tend to throw at us.

It actually doesn’t make sense to have a stagnant library. To walk into a room filled with books you’ve already read is like walking into a room filled with people you already know – you’ll feel comfortable, safe, even good about yourself but you won’t feel any sense of personal progression if years go by and you’re not obtaining any new acquaintances/books.

Speaking of which, has anyone read ‘So Many Books’ by Gabriel Zaid?

Books are the new snobbery, according to a survey today. Social competitiveness about which titles we read has become one of the new mass forces of the era and only middle-aged people are relatively free of it.

Driven partly by pressure from incessant literary prize shortlists, more than one in three consumers in London and the south-east admit having bought a book “solely to look intelligent”, the YouGov survey says.