I’ve mentioned the video game Skyrim here several times. I’m
still playing it a fair amount and enjoying it. Recently, however, a certain ‘behavior’
of mine has come to the forefront in the game. I’m talking about book
collecting.
Skyrim is part of a series of games called the Elder Scrolls
games, and there are a lot of books in the game. Reading some books gives you
perks, leading to improvements in archery or defense or so on, and others teach
you magic skills. Many are just there.
Some of these talk about historical incidents. Others are biographies or
personal journals. I don’t know how many there are total but I’ve seen over 100
so far. I find it pretty cool.
And now to the subject of this post. Many of you know that I’ve got lots and lots
of books at home. I’ve reviewed thousands at Goodreads. I’ve got many hundreds
more in my TBR piles. I collect books
and keep records of what books I read. I
seek out all the books in certain series that I enjoy. And now I have become a book collector in
Skyrim.
Skyrim allows you to ‘buy’ houses in various cities and I
have four such properties now. Each of these properties has actual bookshelves
that you can activate and store books on.
I set up a computer file the other night and began systematically
collecting the books of Skyrim and putting them into the bookshelves in my
various properties. Many of the books
come in series and I’m keeping the series together on the same shelf as I get
them. All books have a “value” that is attached to them too, and,
interestingly, I’m finding in many series there is one volume that is worth
more than the others. Just like in real
life. Now, if only Skyrim had a Goodreads subsite I could access.
So what do you think? Am I certifiable? Am I a true bibliophile? Or would the term be bibliomaniac? While I wait for your answers, I’ll leave you
with some pics of real life books in my real life house.
Definitely bibliomaniac ;-)
ReplyDelete(Written while staring at walls of books.)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it say of me that I'm drooling over all that shelf space, and all those meticulously curated books?
ReplyDeleteIf I had a rare, or out of print, or even "normal" book, for every one that I have collected and lost in my years, well....I'D BE Charles Gramlich!
It gives me a small private satisfaction to know that, even as a mere "object" my own slim volume has been Gramlich-ed and is on a shelf. . . . somewhere. . . perhaps a galaxy. . . or web-space far, FAR away!
Wishing YOU & Lovely Lana
a sweet week
with Aloha, from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
<(-'.'-)>
Certifiable. No question.
ReplyDeleteI tend to keep my book collection culled, but even so it's overflowing. I could easily go 2+ years, even reading 100-125 a year, without buying another one, and my TBR pile would keep me supplied. It is a kind of sickness, I think.
Bibliomaniac? naaah, only a.. Ok, you're a bibliomaniac. I think i mentioned this before. But some fans did all the work of collecting the 100% of the Skyrim books and converting them in epub format to be able to read it in his kindle, or whatever dvice they use.
ReplyDeleteAnd is a BIG file.
Phile or phage, phage or phile, ah, but THAT is the question.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a sickness. It's an advanced stage of human evolution. We're ahead of our time.
ReplyDeleteI'm also annoyed that I can't read more of the spines of the books in the pictures. :)
Don't think I'm quite that organized when it comes to my Skyrim book collection...
ReplyDeleteMerisi, yeah, I think so.
ReplyDeleteCloudia, yours is right next to some others by friends on a shelf in the living room. I should take a pic of all those books.
Chris, I know. I've got ten years at least worth of reading in my TBR pile, but it isn't going to keep me from getting more. I know that.
Deka, I think you told me about that. Amazing!
Snowbrush, what a difference a letter makes.
Keith, that bothers me when that happens too.
Alex, you're young yet.
I've never played Skyrim, so I don't know the parameters of what a player can or cannot do, but as an experienced Grand Theft Auto player, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "I'd find Charles' houses and break in to steal all the books."
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty cool that you can collect books in the game. I'd say "bibliomaniac" is probably accurate -- I'd be the same way if I had the space. I like collecting books, but shelf limitations make me get rid of some to get others, so the collection stays small. But there's something about having a huge collection of books on your shelf, both ones that you've read and ones that you can look forward to reading.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool. Astonishing even.
ReplyDeleteSalute & Salud~~!
We are all like you. I have a least two hundred books I have not read-and that's not counting the several thousand lying around here that I've read.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is David and I have a problem, I am also a Bibliomaniac.
ReplyDeleteI used to have to buy three books a day but with the help and support of my family I am down to three a week.
Ty, don't know if you should steal from the Dovakin, man. I've got bad ass skills in that game.
ReplyDeleteGreg, I just can't stand to cull. I've tried.
Erik, compadre! :)
Patti, I've got to cut back. I can't get to the ones I really want to read.
David J., you make me want to buy more.
Charles, I have a hard time keeping track of my modest collection of books half of which I haven't read. Imagine collecting books in a game and keeping track of them! Skyrim must be a very addictive game.
ReplyDeleteThere is variety on your bookshelves. I can see a lot of Stephen King, a Michener here, a Steinbeck and Bradbury there, "Contact" by Carl Sagan (was the Jodie Foster film based on it?), Crichton and Dan Brown too... But the book that caught my eye was "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer. I remember borrowing this book from the library many years ago though I don't remember actually reading it. I do recall watching "Albert Speer: The Architect of Berlin" (if I am not mistaken) on VCR — a very absorbing film on the man who rebuilt Berlin the way Hitler wanted it. Speer, again if I remember correctly, was a moderate who hated what the Nazis were doing. Thanks for sharing these photographs.
I think people who don't collect books are weird. If there's something wrong with you, then I have the same malady, and I imagine most people around here share it too. :)
ReplyDeleteAngie, who's read one or two Elder Scrolls books too
When we were cleaning out my moms house between her and my grandmother there were well over 5000 books...I think you've got a good start there. I wonder what it will be like when you retire?
ReplyDeletenah... y're just a BOOK NUT, like me! :P lol
ReplyDeletewhile i have several thousand books here, i lost many more, among other things, when my landlord helped himself to most of my things i left behind on the west coast while parenting my kids on the east - he claims he put em 'in storage', yet the manager there could not confirm it... so i lost some $50-60 K worth, including my gmc pickup truck, when prohibited from attending to my business in the west by the government in the east... i was told my kids would be 'seized as abandoned' should i take one step out of the province', despite the fact the kids' aunt would look after them for me while i was away GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Prashant, I was a history minor in college with a particular interest in WWII Germany. That's when I originally got the Speer book. It was definitely a good read. Speer didn't apologise for his role in the 3rd reich but he didn't sugar coat things either. He definitely made some efforts toward bettering the lives of his workers, although the treatment was still horrible, of course.
ReplyDeleteAngie, I agree. I'm freaked out when I go in a nice big house and they have bookshelves with no books on them, only videos.
Mark, I can't see it getting any better! Unless more books is better, and I kind of think it is.
Laughingwolf, effing awful, man. I don't know how people live with themselves when they take advantage in such situations.
In my world, Charles, you're normal. I would live in a library, say the New York Library or the Smithsonian or the Library of Congress, to start if I could.
ReplyDeleteI used to be jealous of American Girl dolls, for they linked their dolls with books (which was a wonderful, if not expensive, way to get my daughter into history. Now I see the gaming world is no different! I, too, have too many books. I haven't reviewed 1000s, but have reviewed several hundred online and dozen or so in print.
ReplyDeleteLately, I have gotten into giving away books, keeping only those that I know I'll want to use/revisit
Exactly, or when bookshelves are just decor. O_O You know, when someone has a beautiful shelving unit that's tastefully arranged with a combination of vases, statuary, maybe some silk flowers, assorted misc. tchotchkes, plus a dozen or twenty picturesque books spotted around in small groups, some upright and some stacked flat with a little statue or something on top.... [shudder] The whole thing looks like they hired an interior decorator to set it up, and no one's touched it since. The (few) books were bought second hand, based on size and color and how well the binding (weathered, leather, embossed, ragged, etc.) enhanced the look the designer was going for.
ReplyDeleteAwful. :/
Angie
It's nothing to worry about. It's not a prosecutable offense. If it doesn't annoy Lana, then no harm, no foul. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd say just normal for a writer.
ReplyDeleteOscar, I've already homesteaded those places, man. :)
ReplyDeleteSage, you must be a saint giving away books. I'd probably give blood easier than I would books.
Angie, you speak of a true horror in our world. I shudder when I think of it.
Bernard, Lana just gets a laugh out of it.
Golden Eagle, whew!
I would say that so long as we don't see you on an episode of "Hoarders" you should be good to go. :D
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, so long as your books don't overwhelm your domicile and you're not spending every waking minute collecting and not reading them, I would say that you're definitely an afficionado of the written word.
G.B., I'll go with your diagnosis. Whew, I'm ok. Guess I can buy some more books. :)
ReplyDeleteturns out the government bitch was wrong, i could have left to get my affairs in order...
ReplyDeletei learned that after she had retired from the child safety division, or whatever it was called
my stuff was long gone by then :(
Charles-name it anything you want, books are the coolest thing in the world. More is more! Read on..
ReplyDeleteLaughingwolf, not only do few such officials care about the people they serve, many of them are actively nasty and happy to see people suffer. That's why they get into it.
ReplyDeleteJodi, will do! :)
I'm hopeless when it comes to books. I am surely certifiable. I've said it more than once. Readers are like a kid in a candy store. We want everything we see, don't know what to grab first, and given half a chance, we WILL glut ourselves.
ReplyDeleteRandy, yeah, luckily we can't founder on books like a horse or cow can when they drink or eat too much.
ReplyDeleteyou're a bibliophile, for sure--but then so am I. I have a list of all the books I own, read, have read, and will read too. Love librarything and shelfari!
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I bought my condo because what for normal people would be a dining room, for me is perfect as a library. My books look wonderful on the 5 full book cases.
ReplyDeleteAnd now my Kindle has well over 100 more.
nutschell, we sound similar. I keep my lists on goodreads. I have an account at shelfari but haven't done much with it.
ReplyDeleteTravis Cody, good man!
I'm both a Skyrim "addict" and a bibliophile. I'm not collecting in-game books as you mention although it's a very interesting approach to this, very immersive, RPG. Playing Skyrim, I was really excited to find a "choose-your-own-adventure" styled book in the game.
ReplyDeletePeriklis
PeriklisB, I haven't found that one yet. cool.
ReplyDelete