Keepers

Someone mentioned this in a post, but no one started a new thread, so...

What book or books will never leave your possession?

Gone With The Wind.

None of my books will ever leave my possession.

The ones I have on Book Mooch are duplicates.

Illusions by Richard bach, Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson. A Treasury of the World's Best Loved Poems and The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. When I move these go in my luggage. I'm not taking any chances.

My Everyman's Library hardcovers of Jane Austen are only lent to people I absolutely trust and I know where to track them down. I'm just a sucker for bound ribbon bookmarks. I've bought hardcovers just for that feature!

too many to list. the ones that I am not interested in keeping go quickly~mooch or just given away ~

Mostly, as has been noted, none. But the books I must have in my possession include . . .

Lord Jim (or, let's just say, my Conrad collection)
The Ghost Writer and The Counter Life by Philip Roth
Don Quixote and, of course . . .

The Baseball Encyclopedia.

The obligatory Harry Potter (don't throw things at me)

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian

The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

all slush related really, but they are the books I couldn't be without, for pure unadulterated comfort reading.

My Harry Potter series. I have the whole series in the British children's editions (I live in the States), and I picked them up on various travels throughout the years: Poland (3 & 4), England (1, 2, 5 & 6), and Kenya (7).

My inscribed books (too many to list).

The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway: favorite book of all time.

I will always keep my Easton Press books. They are so beautiful and so well made that I began buying them with the intention of passing them on to my own children. I don't have many, but I have been scouring ebay for more.

I wish my sons wanted my books. I asked them how they wanted to divide up the books. They tripped all over themselves trying to get the other to take the books. They aren't interested in the types of books I read. In fact they suggest I might try asking their cousin if she might want them, she's 8.

#5 callen - I have all the hardcovers of Austen in Everyman too - I love them!

I'll never part with the entire Outlander Series and Pride and Prejudice

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Exodus by Leon Uris
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

>10 emaestra: So, how's that scouring eBay for more children going?

If it's in my LT library, I want to keep it. Otherwise I'm trying to sell, BookMooch, or otherwise give away the rest.

#8
Well, they'll have to throw stones at me too. You'd have to kill me first before I give away my Potter books. Also, my Jane Austen books (both Norton edition and Everyman).

When you think about it, it's a bit ridiculous. All of the books I own are still in print so it's not the end of the world. I know of a girl who's an avid reader and whose house caught fire last year. When she was able to come in again there was only time to save one single thing before the firemen soaked everything in water. She went straight for her family pictures. She asked me what I would have done and I can't say I would have done any different. Books can be replaced.

15> When I was a little thing I read, in a manner of speaking, Black Beauty. I commented proudly that I had finished it and wouldn't sell it for a million dollars. My elder sister said, "That's stupid. With a million dollars you could buy another copy and have money left over." I don't know where that copy is, but I do have a copy around here somewhere; I should read it.

Robert

#14: ">10 emaestra: So, how's that scouring eBay for more children going?"

Hahaha!

Seriously though, how can people refuse books? That's amazing.

#14, 17, uh, that's not what I meant in #10. Though don't think putting my own children up for auction hasn't crossed my mind.

Hmmm... quite a few for me I think. My favourite books from my childhood wore out for the most part but I have replaced them and hope to always have a copy of. They are The Secret Garden, The Borrowers, and The Enchanted Wood.

Apart from the books I read as a kid, the ones that I'll never give away are:

All of the Harry Potter books
All of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Alchemist
I Capture the Castle
The Time Traveller's Wife - although having said that I can't currently locate my copy.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
This Thing of Darkness

>19 Moomin2009:

I've just gotten a copy of The Time Traveller's Wife, so I'm happy to see your inclusion of it on your list. Makes me really look forward to reading it.

I only deleted my message above for extreme hyperbole, unnecessary remarks. I have a signed copy of The Time Traveler's Wife which I wouldn't surremder for anything. Kindle Readers,...eat your heart out!

Books leaving my possession?!? Aaaargh!... Scurries off, having nervous breakdown.

edited to correct typo

Sorry Matt - Didn't mean to dip into the "Barking" part of your name by starting this thread! *giggle*

I, too, have a hard time sending them off into the world, but I better start or I will be single again. Hmmm...but I would have more closet space for books and shoes. Hmmmm...

I would never let go of my Gabriel Garcia Marquez books or my Isabel Allende books--no matter how much my mom asks for them back!! I hold onto my language books too--the dictionaries and workbooks for each language I speak.

Actually, on second thought, I don't really part with any books. I live in a pretty small house, so my mom's attic houses all the ones I can't accommodate.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Hummingbird's Daughter just found a nice solid spot in my keeper's shelves. Extraordinary read.

I'll always treasure Clapton: The Autobiography.....I found my copy at Goodwill, in perfect condition for $5. I was thrilled.

The Crimson Petal and the White, Revenge of the Rose by Nicole Galland and The Day of the Jackal if I can find it. It is misplaced uuuughh! I was having a good day till now... have to leave and get in a nervous tizzy looking for book.