This is a picture of part of my library. It's not the greatest photo - I took it with a cell phone sometime last year - but it illustrates the major problem I have with my books. I have too many for the amount of storage space I have. Books are double- and triple-layered on shelves and every available surface.
Some of you who have been reading this blog a while will recognize many of the books i reviewed in the past. The Twilight series, The Whiskey Rebels, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Part Two: The Seed of Banquo, Black Ships, and The Gone Away World are just a few that I see. There's plenty of common books that everyone seems to have, too - the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series are front and center. I can see Memoirs of a Geisha popping up in one corner and The Vampire Lestat in another.
But back to the point. My library seems to be an ever-growing, growling monster threatening to take over my room. It's huge, all things considered. My books number in the thousands. For a college student living at home, that's insane. Out of control. It's probably a symptom of some hoarding disorder. My family's the same way. The book collections of my brother and mother are easily over a thousand volumes, each. My dad could easily have as many, but they're boxed up the garage so we can't be certain. As I grew up, I thought vast quantities of books were simply the norm. It was quite a shock when I moved out for a short period and learned my roommate only owned a dozen books; in her entire house there were probably less than thirty. It was so weird...but she simply didn't read much as a leisure activity. She didn't dislike it; if I recommended a title for her she'd check it out. It just wasn't her "default" mode of entertainment.
Since you guys out there in Internet-land read my rambling book blog, I have to assume you are book fans. I'm curious - how many books do you have in your library? Just a rough guess. If you have photos, I'd love to see 'em.