Mystery Photo
This photo fell out of a book that I was perusing and I thought it interesting enough to post here. Although I don't collect many things like the bottles and other items on display in this photo, I do collect books though to be honest, I'm trying to reverse that collection to something more manageable. I used to think I would save books that I found very enjoyable for my kids to read but there was a couple problems with that thinking. The first is that they haven't yet shown an interest in my non-fiction reading habits. The second is that as I look through some of those that I though were keepers, they have become dated over time. I now give most of my used books to others who host free mini libraries on a post in their front yards for those who may walk by. Occasionally I do save a book to pass around and add to my collection, but not nearly as often as I used to and definitely not as fast (still at a fairly glacial pace) as I have been thinning down the ones already collected.
As long as I can remember, whenever I walk into a room with shelves of books like above, I am immediately drawn to them to see what sorts of books that particular person treasures enough to put neatly on a shelf. Most of the time I am disappointed due to them being of no interest to me but occasionally I see books that give me an idea of what sort of interests the person may have. Only once, while helping a friend move furniture out of her house, did a collection of books nearly cause me to drool with envy. In that case, those books belonged to her recently deceased husband and she didn't appear as if she was interested in parting with any of them. He had spend a lifetime collecting them and it showed.
Above, the man evidently has been collecting books for quite some time and was quite proud of the collection. If only they could invent a way to jump into a photo and see what sorts of books they were.
At the other end of the spectrum, I would be glad to part from most of mine. But not the old Bibles for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI have a fairly large box of family bibles. Perhaps one of my kids will show an interest in them but I suspect I might be the end of the line for them.
DeleteLike you, I often go to someone's book shelf and check out their library. I also have been known to blow up photos to read titles of pictures!
DeleteI have blown up photos for the same reason!
DeleteEd, I am at the point that I am slowing in-take of "new" books to a crawl, but definitely still hanging on to what I have. In some cases, I have no idea if they are even available anymore.
ReplyDeleteOne of my past goals was to read all of National Geographic's 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time. I think I got into the 80's but many at the time were only found in used format and of most of them I'm still missing, they have been long out of prints and are considered more valuable than I want to pay. I say this because, I saved all those books and many are probably no longer available as well.
DeleteThis is the first I have heard of this list of books. I will explore this more. Thank you.
DeleteIn case you didn't locate the list.
Deletehttps://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/17
What a curious photo! I love coming across old images like this and imagining their stories. He looks like some kind of teacher or professor. If I had to guess his subject I'd say history.
ReplyDeleteI've kept fewer and fewer books as time passes. I now realize I will never re-read most of them, even the ones I loved, so I pass them on!
That has been my reasoning to in passing them on. I simply don't have time to reread all my favorites and get through my pile of ones I still want to read.
DeleteThat's an interesting photo!
ReplyDeleteI need to do a major book purge. (there are a couple of local libraries I like to donate them to, even if just for them to sell) I use to collect books I thought my kids would read, too... but only one is an avid reader. I now know what books she might want me to pass along, so there's no real point to hang on to the others.
If you recall, I got roped into volunteering at a book sale here in town to raise money for the local library. It warms my heart to see all those books going to good homes as well as raises my fitness level carting all those books down to be sold and then back up to store for next year.
DeleteI have very eclectic tastes in reading and generally use my public library or Kindle. It doesn't mean I haven't accumulated too many books though. I should get rid of a bunch of them since my kids and I don't share the same literary tastes.
ReplyDeleteI just haven't been able to get into my Kindle or public library either one. The former is okay but I just prefer a hard copy, especially with non-fiction books which tends to have maps and insets that I refer to often and are impossible to find on the Kindle. The library quit serving people like me a long time ago. They are more interested in becoming a provider of welfare assistance by providing rental movies, computer time, magazines, newspapers, rental garden tools, rental fishing gear, etc. to those who can't afford them otherwise, than stocking books, especially non-fiction. What few they do stock in the non-fiction section generally have a waiting list two to three months long.
DeleteThe only way I know to deal with the increasing number of books we have is periodically cull them and take to Goodwill or the library for their used book sales. By the time I do that, it seems the remaining ones have multiplied and filled the empty spaces!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen an empty shelf in a decade since I built a wall to wall bookcase downstairs in the family room. The plus side is that I don't have to clean very deeply on the shelves as books take up almost all available space.
DeleteWhat a cool find. He evidently loved books and also a good stiff drink every now and again. Once I got a library book and was surprised when my daughter's senior picture fell out. These days, I buy my books second hand and get rid of them when I am done.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been impressed checking out a book my parents checked out. A picture of them or a daughter would blow my mind. Coincidentally, the book this picture fell out of was written by my great Aunt’s second husband though I bought it used off the internet. I don’t think it s of him but that would be a great coincidence if it were.
DeleteOne thing I have learned is that what I find interesting to read may not hold the same for others. So like you said, handing them down to kids may or may not work.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the only one then.
DeleteWe had a ton of books before we moved back to Hawaii from Illinois. We ended up selling it at a house sale because we just couldn't ship so many to Hawaii. But somehow... we still have a lot of books on three book shelves.
ReplyDelete