Something e-books cannot do

[Hopscotch]

How Many Books Does It Take to Make a Place Feel Like Home?
New York Times  Dec 25, 2021

“There’s a reason that some people won’t let go of their physical books — and a new term for it: ‘book-wrapt.’…Individually, [books] are frequently useful or delightful, but it is when books are displayed en masse that they really work wonders. Covering the walls of a room, piled up to the ceiling and exuding the breath of generations, they nourish the senses, slay boredom and relieve distress….To be surrounded by books is to be held rapt in an enchanted circle and to experience the rapture of being transported to other worlds.…’The ability to browse among your books generates something completely new…a guaranteed cure for boredom.’”

[elleoco]

Whoever wrote that probably never had to dust walls of bookcases.

[TimothyEllis]

Whoever wrote that probably never had to dust walls of bookcases.

And doesn't buy dvds.

My books are progressively being pushed back by the dvd covers.

[elleoco]

I've reduced my bookcases from 6 to 2 and bottom shelves on those don't contain books. Also cleaned out every pile of books thither and yon in the house and every stray as I came upon it. All I've retained are reference books and a few like Dick Francis hard covers I reread every few years. It's wonderful to be rid of all the clutter. If it's not on Kindle, I can do without it. Occasionally I do get a physical book from the library, but I don't buy them.

My DVD collection is tiny. The fact formats change every few years is a deterrent for anything I'm not going to watch often enough to justify the price -- like Die Hard for annual Christmas watching.

[Jeff Tanyard]

...piled up to the ceiling...

In the immortal words of Peter Venkman, "No human being would stack books like this."

The ability to browse among your books generates something completely new…a guaranteed cure for boredom.

If one has all the amusements of the internet at one's fingertips and is still bored, then that person might have a serious psychological or medical problem.

Hell, I'm pretty sure I could spend the rest of my life just watching animal videos on YouTube and never get bored.  And don't get me started on tutorials, documentaries, and craft videos.  We live in a veritable smorgasbord for both the senses and the intellect.  There's no excuse for boredom.  Loneliness, absolutely, but not boredom.

[LilyBLily]

I'm still keeping my stacks of paperback murder mysteries for that mythical cottage at the shore or cabin in the hills that I will never own. Mysteries make excellent reading for bored house guests, and Agatha Christie is a master of prose. This isn't the house I expect to die in, so there will be a Great Culling in the future.

Lawyer's bookcases, with their glass fronts, take care of any dusting issues; mine came from the home of my grandfather the lawyer and unlike what are sold in stores new are infinitely adaptable since each shelf is actually a separate unit. An old family music cabinet with a glass front keeps copies of my own novels dust free.

In our family we do have multiple houses stuffed with books. Not only novels--although some are not easily discarded because they're rare or autographed--but also fascinating works on history, art, geography, linguistics, religion, archeology, and many more topics. What to do with them? They'll have to move on someday, as will we. A different version of a Great Culling awaits.

[elleoco]

I'm still keeping my stacks of paperback murder mysteries for that mythical cottage at the shore or cabin in the hills that I will never own.

It's not that I can't read a paperback any more, but that the type is small enough it's a bother, so I don't. The last book I got from the library was hard cover, but it was a cozy mystery, and the type in it was also small enough to be aggravating. It also seemed light, and then when I wanted to finish it in bed, I realized I'd need a light to read by....

Lawyer's bookcases, with their glass fronts, take care of any dusting issues; mine came from the home of my grandfather the lawyer and unlike what are sold in stores new are infinitely adaptable since each shelf is actually a separate unit.

I'd love to have glass fronted bookcases, but that's something I'll never have because of cost. Also, my guess is the NYT article isn't referring to them but to open shelves carefully set up to look impressive even though full of unread books.

[LilyBLily]

I have no trouble with small type, but both family members whose homes are stuffed with books are near to blind and can't read a physical book without a magnifying glass. It definitely is a bummer to try, I'm told. There are services that will scan a book--by tearing it apart--and turn it into a digital file, but one has to pay for them, and then the book is ruined, and what if someone comes along and then digitizes the book? The Kurzweil reader is another option, but again, at what expense and possible damage to a fine old book? So the books sit, as in an episode of the Twilight Zone, unreadable.

Having a 42-inch monitor is a great equalizer for most reading needs, but as for these physical books, I don't know the answer.

[elleoco]

I suppose it depends on how much magnification you need. I don't need so much that the Kindle screen isn't large enough to be comfortable, although I do have and like the larger screen on the Oasis. I can't imagine reading on a large monitor. Maybe if that's all that worked I'd get used to it, but yuck. Since my hearing is worse than my eyesight, and I never liked anyone reading to me anyway, audible is out. In some situations I guess I'd have to find something else to fill current reading time. The dogs are hard at work trying to do that for me.