Virtual "Keeper Shelf"

[bookdragon]

In the e-book age I have thousands of e-books all neatly organized in calibre. Some I have read only a few chapters of then deleted it off my kindle bored. Some I read and enjoyed but will never read again. Some I have never read or plan to read, they were downloaded because I knew someone else wanted to read it. I just cannot seem to delete a book once I add it to calibre and convert it. However only a small number of books among those in my calibre library are truly "keepers".

Before the age of ebooks. I labeled books I could read over and over again "keepers". Books you do not donate, loan or trade. Books that remain in your library and get pulled out when you need to curl up with an old friend. I have slowly replaced my hard copy "keepers" with their ebook counterparts. I have even found new "keepers" since I went paperless.

It got me to thinking. What makes a book a "keeper" because some of my keepers have books better written, with better plots and more interesting characters. Yet those books that are "better" are not keepers. Some books are just like old comfortable robes; worn and full of holes but loved for there easy fit and familiarity.

Questions-

Do you re-read books, or are you one of those no repeaters. If a no repeater the next 2 questions do not apply.

I am obviously a re-reader, but have met many a no-repeaters.

Do you have a sentimental attachment to a book due to your own life events?

I do it is Seduction by Amanda Quick. When my Mother died I was grief stricken. I did not smile. I did not laugh and reading for once was more a reminder than an escape since my love of books came from her. My 20th birthday was a few moths after her death, she made a big deal out of birthdays. My brother bought me the Amanda Quick as a BD gift. To placate him I picked it up and started to read, shockingly I forgot for a while and became lost in the book. I actually laughed while reading and felt lighter when I put it down. Needless to say the book became a comfort read and is on my "keeper" shelf even now over 20 years later.

Do you have ratty "comfort reads"? Guilty pleasures that you probably would not read if it were released today, but you love it none the less.

I dislike most 1970-1980 series romance but a few I loved as a teen like my Ann Cristy Second Chance at love and few select harlequins remain "keepers"

[thereader]

I am going to ask a stupid question here - not about your thread but what is it with the ice cube with the frog in it? I have signed up with image shack and still I get the frog in the block of ice for some reason. Any idea why??

In response to the thread - I find e-books harder to cull than paper books. They do not have a lot of the features that I use with paper books - well they do, but you have to spend the time to locate, look within and try to remember - and for me that means turning on the computer, going to the external storage - yes I have that many and then sometimes hunting as I haven't been very good at sorting and organising lately!! The age of e-books means that I am also reading at a much faster rate than ever before and some books are not even that - they are short novellas or prequels and I tend to forget a lot of what I have read unless it is really really good!!

If it is a bad book I got on the Kindle app or on IBooks, then it is an instant delete or in Kindles case banishment to the cloud! I am definitely a re-reader - these days with series and so many characters, you have to be to keep them all straight and keep the story clear in your head.

Stupidly I gave away all of my Harlequins and Mills and Boon - they were keepers because I had already traded in the not so good ones for others - back in the day when we still had second hand book shops where you could trade books and not spend any money and come away with a whole pile of new books to read.

[bookdragon]

I am going to ask a stupid question here - not about your thread but what is it with the ice cube with the frog in it? I have signed up with image shack and still I get the frog in the block of ice for some reason. Any idea why??

What frog in the block of ice? Are you talking about my signature? it is a tiny dragon in front of some books with a the letters BD entwined and flashing.- A BOOKDRAGON. The max size of a sig pic is 50X100 so I could not make it large but I did not think it was THAT badly done!

I am, as I have mentioned before, OCD about my digital files so everything is instantly uploaded into calibre with a cover and discription added before conversion. So finding a book is no problem for me, but I can understand how e-format makes it much harder to gather "keepers" because once upon a time it was the case of wadnering to your book case running your finger along the spines until you found that one book that suited your mood. E-book collections make a simple browse much harder to do. You have to KNOW what you are looking for.

[thereader]

Hi there Bookdragon, yes I think it is your signature - I just get a picture of the frog in the block of ice with the words - domain unregistered. To view, register at: bit.ly/imageshack-domain. I wasn't criticizing.

Sorry, but I can't see your cute dragon! Not sure why!! It also happens in other posts as well, not just yours!

I try to be organised with the e-books I have, but it all comes down to time - I would rather read more often that not. Sorting only happens when I cannot find an e-book I know I have but can't find.

[Syndora]

[...]

Questions-

Do you re-read books, or are you one of those no repeaters. If a no repeater the next 2 questions do not apply.

Do you have a sentimental attachment to a book due to your own life events?

Do you have ratty "comfort reads"? Guilty pleasures that you probably would not read if it were released today, but you love it none the less.

Hey, bookdragon

Im a total packrat and have my collection - paper and e-version - neatly sorted with genres labeled. I also have lists. Lots and lots of lists ^^ And I cant delete anything either. I even have lots of back-ups so I wont loose anything in a data crash.

As to your questions:
1. I re-read a lot, currently re-reading all Lynsay Sands historical books and just finished re-reading some of Sandra Hills Viking series All in all I re-read more than I read new books mostly because I have been disappointed quite often by new reads.
2. I dont think I have a sentimental attachment because they remind me of my own life, but rather I have a sentimental attachment to books I read in a happy time. For example I started reading Anne McCaffreys Pern series when I met my soon to be husband and even though I tend to like more "erotic" reads I re-read them once in a while because they remind me of this time
3. There is this one Jude Deveraux book I read when Im really really depressed - I think you could call it a bodice ripper or what they were called then. I wouldnt go anywhere near this author under normal circumstances, but... ah well... yes, I do have ratty comfort reads

[purplejune]

I use Calibre too, its pretty neat. I plan to clean up my calibre regularly. I try to keep only my favorite, while the one that I won't reread (or read at all) would have to go.