If this were a poll,

[--Pete]

Hi,

I'd love to have my books cataloged!

No time like the present. A scanner isn't too much and Book Collector is worth it in many ways beyond just keeping a lit. When packing or unpacking, you need to handle all the books anyway, so scanning adds little effort to the task.

My original packing plan had almost all books laying flat in their boxes so they would be highly stackable. (Meaning they could be stacked up to 6 high without damage to the books.) I'm now able to give each box its own shelf and I'm using a different approach.

The first layer has the books edge on, then an evening out layer, and topped by whatever will fit to fill up the box.

See attached if you like.

Looks like good packing techniques. I knew my books were going into storage, so I pretty much used your original technique to prevent as much damage as possible when they were stacked.

--Pete

[LavCat]

How would you respond?

How many books do you own?

1: Zero
2: 1-10
3: 11-35
4: 36-100
5: 101-250
6: 251-1000
7: 1000+

I counted exactly 200 books in the bedroom, and then found a few more. Mostly religion (the oldest of which printed circa 1721), some literature and social science and philosophy. A good number of lesbian graphic novels.

In the dining room I counted 67, almost all cookbooks. A few chemistry texts, guitar books, and the 50th anniversary edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Plus one of my mother's old nursing text books from 1917 (which might yet come in handy on that desert island).

In the living room I estimate about 200: science, literature, history, and photography. In here by the computer I have about the same number or a few less. Mostly computer books, though the volume nearest my elbow is Raymond Sokolov's The Saucier's Apprentice.

I fear to consider what may be in closets.

What are the top 2 Dewey Decimal classifications or genre of your library based on quantity of the books you own in said categories?

I work in a library. The last thing I want to do is catalog my own books. However as I recall, cooking is 641.

Sub-Topic 1

If you were to be stranded on a desert island for one year, what 3 books would you like to have with you? (We will assume there is reasonable food, shelter, and clothing as well as an unlimited supply of paper and writing implements.

I would take a copy of the bible. If I could choose the translation/edition, it would be the Great Bible.

Beyond that maybe Origami Aeroplanes and Piloting, or perhaps a copy of Robinson Crusoe. While a cookbook might be nice, there are only so many ways to skin a banana.

However, there are no medical supplies, so if you have a condition (such as I do) which would cause you to die before the year is out, does that affect your selection?)

No one that I have seen has addressed this. I suppose it depends on how long it takes to fold an aeroplane. I know the bananas shall come for me eventually, and I plan to take as many of them out first as I can.

Sub-Topic Alternative

If you could substitute the complete musical works of any 3 composers, groups (bands), or artists for one book, what would you select and how many books would you replace with music? (We assume there is an awesome musical playback device.)

As said with all seriousness above, I would take a bible. But I don't really feel that much need for books. I am grateful for the unlimited ink and paper (I only wish there had been a few more alchemists on that ship) and I would amuse myself by writing.

In place of my second two books I would probably choose music. If I read the question correctly that would give me six selections (three per book). Off the top of my head I would take Beethoven, Indigo Girls, Wagner, Dylan, and a couple lesser known artists.

[kandrathe]

I thought about the medical issue. Beyond normal first-aid, no one is going to work with Gilligan to make a bamboo dialysis machine. If you need a complicated diagnosis, you're probably going to die. Even basic self surgery and stitches are difficult to handle without strong anesthetic (long story).

My approach was to be practical first. Three books would barely provide coverage for basic survival, let alone entertainment. Perhaps, I'd start thinking about something entertaining at about book 11. I've spent a fair amount of my youth in primitive survival situations for periods of two to six weeks. It's enough time to know what I don't know, and how thankful I am for good food, sound shelter, refrigeration, hot water, and a soft bed that isn't crawling with insects.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I thought about the medical issue.

I actually just ignored it. Without my medications, I'd last less than a month. In which case, a detective novel, a western, and a sf novel would probably be enough. I doubt I'd be reading after day ten or so.

Three books would barely provide coverage for basic survival, let alone entertainment.

But the needs for basic survival have been stipulated as being available. So 13 Ways to Prepare Iguana Casseroles isn't really going to be necessary. And Frank Lloyd Wright's Guide to Better Bamboo Bungalows probably wouldn't be worth it, either.

... how thankful I am for good food, sound shelter, refrigeration, hot water, and a soft bed that isn't crawling with insects.

I love all those things, and in my present state, I probably wouldn't survive if marooned at a Club Med. There was a time when I could live off the land anyplace that wasn't too extreme. Canadian Rockies in winter, mid Sahara, plant less atoll, no way. Temperate or tropical jungle or swamp, no problem. But this particular challenge doesn't sound like any of them.

--Pete

[ZatarRufus]

I thought about the medical issue.

I actually just ignored it.

The thread is doing just fine without the medical stipulation. When I was writting the original post I thought about my own situation and realized it would make a difference in what books I would select. Feel free to add all necessary medical supplies and devices to the scenario so the topic can remain focused on books of interest.

[LennyLen]

How many books do you own?

7 - I don't actually know what the number would be with any precision. I counted my books once, and had just over 800, but that was many years ago. At one point after that, a friend of mine inherited her grandmother's house which included a book collection. She didn't want them, so she gave them all to me, and by my estimate there were between three and four hundred books. I've also bought a few more myself since then as well, so the rough total is probably 1,200 - 1,300.

What are the top 2 Dewey Decimal classifications or genre of your library based on quantity of the books you own in said categories?

Of the books I bought, at least 90% are fiction, mostly Sci-fi and Fantasy, with a lot of classic literature as well. Most of the books I inherited dealt with the social-sciences, as my friend's grandmother had been a university lecturer on the subject. The rest of the collection was mostly taken up by classic literature.

If you were to be stranded on a desert island for one year, what 3 books would you like to have with you?

I'd want books that stimulate my imagination, so the three I'd choose are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, and Weaveworld by Clive Barker.

If you could substitute the complete musical works of any 3 composers, groups (bands), or artists for one book, what would you select and how many books would you replace with music? (We assume there is an awesome musical playback device.)

I'd stick to books.

If you could add one book or the equivalent quantity of music to the selection of another Lurker, what would you suggest and for whom?

I think all lurkers should read Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.

[ZatarRufus]

Origami Aeroplanes and Piloting, or perhaps a copy of Robinson Crusoe.

I got a good chuckle out of the first of these two.

BTW, in Robinson Crusoe there is a rather glaring inconsistency where he has swum naked to the wrecked ship to gather supplies and when he finds some biscuits, he puts them in his pockets.

If I read the question correctly that would give me six selections (three per book).

You did. And nine musical selections if you skipped the Bible.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Itsy bitsy nit:

I think all lurkers should read Heinlein.

There, fixed.

--Pete

[LennyLen]

Hi,

Itsy bitsy nit:

I think all lurkers should read Heinlein.

There, fixed.

--Pete

A good correction. Oh, and happy birthday.

[shoju]

3.) Brave New World - Aldous Huxley, ...

I have Brave New World (and Brave New World Revisited) in my collection but have not gotten around to reading them. Since BNW is top on your list and it happens to be one I un-boxed and had in my hand not more than 24 hours ago, I have moved it up in my priorities.

Is this one you have read and enjoyed so much that you would re-read it several times on that island?

I read Brave New World it seems, once a year.

[Long story incoming]

When I was a senior in high school, I was taking an AP English Class (can test for college credit at the end of the year). I was struck with this unbelievable fear that I no longer wanted to graduate high school. I was young (turned 17 during my senior year), and I had absolutely no idea what I really wanted to do with my life. My whole life I had spent chasing other peoples ideas of what they wanted me to be, but didn't know for myself.

Well, I only needed the AP English class to graduate. I could have failed every other class but that, and still graduated. So, I decided to fail my AP English class.

The class was basically "Read this book, write this paper answering broad opinion based questions that touch lightly on literary ideas, and largely on your ability to analyze what you read, and take quizzes once a week based on where you 'should' be in the book" Well, the quizzes weren't worth much, but the papers were. If I didn't turn in papers, I would EASILY fail. I loved the books though

Book 1: The Great Gatsby. I read it, aced the quizzes, didn't turn in the paper.
Book 2: The Catcher in the Rye. Again, I read it, aced the quizzes, didn't turn in the paper.
Book 3: Brave New World - The rest of this story takes place right before we are assigned this book

At this point, my teacher came to me and asked what the deal was? I told her that I was struggling blah blah blah, and she called my BS, and told me that for every paper I didn't turn in, I would get a saturday school (7a - 12p) and would hang in her class and write the paper, and that it started that saturday.

Well, after doing the first two papers, we started talking, and I started showing up on saturdays and discussing the novels with her. She was excited for me to read Brave New World. She thought that it would be a book that interested me so much, that I would find I "had" to write the paper.

Turns out, she was right. I love the book. I love the themes, the ideas, and the whole world that Huxley had put out there. I am fascinated by his opinion, and his use of such a fantastical place as his warning to the world.

[End of detailed story]

Every time I have read the novel (12+ times) I have found something new. It could be some dynamic I didn't notice/care for before between characters, or some other subtle message that huxley placed in the book. If I were on a deserted Island, I would probably spend a lot of time dissecting anything and everything about the book.

I credit the book for changing my life (even though it was mostly my 12th grade english teacher), and it started my enjoyment of Dystopian themes (I will read/watch just about anything Dystopian) and made me look at the authors intent in works with a more discerning eye.

It is the only book that I have ever actually searched hard to find an original printing of. Most books that I truly enjoy I try to find a hardcover edition of, but with BNW, I wanted an original. Luckily, I have an awesome wife and parents, who 3 years ago tracked down a UK First edition for me

5.) I would love to get people to read Jennifer Government, or Syrup by Maxx Barry, ...

Because?

Maxx Barry is the first author I have read in a long time that reminds me of the mood that Huxley created with BNW. Jennifer Government is a good Dystopian Novel, That reminds me of BNW in style.

Syrup isn't really a dystopian affair, more of a really good pulp novel all about the insane world of high dollar advertising.

While I doubt many will look back in 50-60 years and say that Barry was a "Literary Genius" his stories are very engaging, full bodied, and a joy to read. His style isn't for everyone, as it is a little more "pop culture" stylized than some prefer, and he does use more profanity than probably needed. But, his books kept me engaged from beginning to end, he is detail oriented (I love this), but not to the point of someone like Stephen King (who is overly detail oriented at times).

Really, I just want to be able to have a conversation with someone who has read Barry's work, and see what other people pull from it.


As far as Brave new World Revisited, I have never actually read the whole thing. I read parts of it in high school for my paper that I wrote (which I aced), but I have never purchased a copy. I'm not sure why I haven't, it is just one of those things you always mean to do, but when you get home you realized that you forgot.

[kandrathe]

Well... if I had a library of survival guides, cook books for lizards and fish, and basic island crafts... Then, what books would I bring merely to keep sane?

1) The King James version of the Bible
2) The Cantos of Ezra Pound
and something like...
3) Great Treasury of Western Thought: A Compendium of Important Statements and Comments on Man and His Institutions by Great Thinkers in Western History by Mortimer J. Adler and, Charles Van Doren.

[kandrathe]

You know what I hate about e-books? It's the smell.

E-books don't smell.

Exactly. I miss that.

http://smellofbooks.com/

Ah, modern technology... We can bottle up anything now.

[ZatarRufus]

I read Brave New World it seems, once a year.

Wow. Thanks for the lucid account.

I was rather sure I knew the definition of dystopian (and I was close enough) but I decided to look it up. So, off to Oxford's Dictionary of Current English and I am dismayed to find it goes from Dysprosium to Dystrophy without narry a mention of the word in question. Well, I can remedy that methinks and off to Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz Byrne. Turns out that was over-kill. She has Dysthymic to Dystychiphobia. I found the answer in The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Estraordinaryily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich.

dystopia (dis-TOH-pee-a) noun (Actually its an upside down e at the end, but I don't have one on my keyboard.)

a place real or imaginary where living conditions are considered to be as bad as possible.

Related words: dystopian adjective, dystopianism noun.

[shoju]

My English Teacher's Definition (and the one that I most find myself applying)

a Utopia is a sublime, perfect place where society works blissfully and perfectly. People are happy, things get done, there is no crime and possibly no illness. It is, the perfect place to live.

By contrast, a Dystopia, is the very opposite. Sometimes it tries to mimic a Utopia, but upon further inspection, the reader finds that this place is dreadfully oppressive / Apocolyptic / Uptopian only in shallow surface appearance.

It works best with examples (these are personal choices as "good ones"):

• 1984
  
• Brave new World
  
• Animal Farm
  
• Logan's Run
  
• THX-1138
  
• V for Vendetta
  
• Jennifer Government
  
• The Matrix (they even reference it in the first movie, by talking about the first matrix and it's utter failure... I hesitate to call the series good, but the first film was great)
  
• Equalibrium
  
• Gattaca
  
• Metropolis (freaking amazing)
  
• The running Man
  
• Dark City
  
• Blade Runner
  
• 12 monkeys
  
• Planet of the Apes
  

At one time I was trying to put together a website about dystopoias, mainly just as a fun project. Sadly, I never got around to it.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I was rather sure I knew the definition of dystopian (and I was close enough) but I decided to look it up. So, off to Oxford's Dictionary of Current English and I am dismayed to find it goes from Dysprosium to Dystrophy without narry a mention of the word in question. Well, I can remedy that methinks and off to Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz Byrne. Turns out that was over-kill. She has Dysthymic to Dystychiphobia. I found the answer in The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Estraordinaryily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich.

That is funny. I have two dictionaries on my Palm Pre and they both had it.

The Matrix (they even reference it in the first movie, by talking about the first matrix and it's utter failure... I hesitate to call the series good, but the first film was great)

Good list. And I'm glad not to be the only one who thinks the series would be much improved if it wasn't -- just one excellent stand alone movie. Not as bad as the Highlander fiasco, but not god.

--Pete

[kandrathe]

At one time I was trying to put together a website about dystopoias, mainly just as a fun project. Sadly, I never got around to it.

Oh yes. I like dystopian stories too.

Some that come to mind are;

Well, some of Robert Heinlein's work... certainly The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Harry Harrison's -- Stainless Steel Rat
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - PK Dick.
A World Out of Time -- Nivan

Ok, guilty pleasure when I was younger was the Piers Anthony Apprentice Adept series.

[Treesh]

Harry Harrison's -- Stainless Steel Rat

That series right there was my little guilty secret pleasure when I was little. Going back and reading it now, not as compelling and really not that well written, but the story I still love.

[Taem]

Harry Harrison's -- Stainless Steel Rat

That series right there was my little guilty secret pleasure when I was little. Going back and reading it now, not as compelling and really not that well written, but the story I still love.

I am having that same problem with all forms of media lately. I watch a movie in the midst of my youth I thought was quite possibly the best ever made, then see it again fifteen years later after I've had kids and a full time job, and suddenly that movie has new meaning and the characters actions I thought were "cool", I now feel are anarchistic and a determent to society; the movie looses its flavor! Again with books, I've been re-reading some books I haven't read since high school, and wouldn't you know it? The same results apply. It's funny, because I never felt this change happen, but I have without a doubt changed, and for the better I feel. Nothing generally stays the same forever.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I am having that same problem with all forms of media lately.

I don't know what you mean by 'kid', but movies and literature from my youth are a mixed bag for me. I recently watched Lawrence of Arabia again, and found it just as good -- maybe even better -- than I remembered. Fantasia was briefly re-released in the '70s (or '80s) and I loved it every bit as much as I had as a child. Many of the westerns and action films from that era have lost much of their appeal since then, but a few are still worth the time.

Some of the stuff seems better when viewed with older eyes, some worse, and some just like I remembered it.

--Pete

[ZatarRufus]

My English Teacher's Definition [...]

That is more in line with what I thought the definition was.

@Pete, I imagine space is much less limited in electronic form as opposed to the printed dictionaries I consulted. Though I will Google definitions when time is of the essence, I often prefer to look in the physical books because I am likely to run across other intriguing words in the process.

From shoju's list I own and have read the following:

• 1984
  
• Animal Farm (Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.)
  
• Logan's Run
  
• THX-1138
  
• Metropolis (Watched VHS silent movie only)
  
• The Running Man (The book and the movie are bit different, especially the ending.)
  
• Planet of the Apes
  

I do have the electronic text version of Metropolis but haven't printed it yet to read. (I have a GBC style binder machine and I will make a physical book when I'm ready to read it.)

---

Ok, guilty pleasure when I was younger was the Piers Anthony Apprentice Adept series.

For me it was his Xanth series.