Re: Hording books and manuals.

[tbone1]

Hey, I can quit any time I want!!!! (TAPS TWO FINGERS ON INNER ARM REPEATEDLY)

Okay, I admit it, I'm a book junkie. When I moved in January, I had more boxes filled with books than all other boxes combined ... including computer paraphernalia. My P.G. Wodehouse collection alone filled two banker's boxes. And I am redecorating the entire downstairs so I can turn it into a library. The bookshelves alone may cost more than the downpayment on the house, but I consider it money well spent. All I need to do is hire a butler/valet named Jeeves to rally round with scotch-and-sodas and life will be complete.

The scary thing is that I can still foresee times when I'll need my Perl 4 books, and they'll have to pry my first edition of Kernighan and Ritchie's C out of my cold, dead hands. Should I seek help now, or is this normal?

--
tbone1
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

[morleron]

P.G. Wodehouse is worth keeping at any cost. In case you aren't aware of it the Overlook Press is reprinting all of the master's works in batchs of three or four volumes every few months. They started last year and now have eight volumes out. The books are printed on acid-free paper and are wonderful to hold, read, behold, etc. The nice folks at Overlook will put you on an e-mail list to be notified when new books come out. You have to call them about that though.

Beyond Wodehouse my "must keep" books include the O'Reilly' books, anything by TheDamian, and a few other odds and ends about C++ and C. Of course, this doesn't include my collections of military history, railroad, and sci-fi books. That list gets a lot longer.

Just my $.02,
Ron

[tbone1]

Yes, I have seen the master's works reprinted by Overlook, though I didn't know they were reprinting all of them. That is sheer bliss; I only hope the project goes to completion, or at least through Love among the Chickens; what can I say, I'm a Ukridge fan.

Getting back to computing books, I am a member of the O'Reilly cult as well, particularly since I moved to OS X at home. I've even saved my old Fortran 77 book from college, which may be giving away my age more than I'd care to think about.

And while I think ebooks are great, there is something viscerally pleasing about the smell and feel of an old book by Mencken or Saki that adds to the reading experience. Silly, but there it is.

--
tbone1
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.