hobbits measure this with bookfeets

[aamcnamara]

bookfeet (bŏŏk-fēt) pl. n. Unit of measurement in books, in terms of how much shelf-space a given amount of volumes take up; e.g., "How many books are you bringing to college?" "Oh, about five bookfeet."

Comments

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

It is so hard! I made a list but then I kept remembering things that I cannot possibly live without.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Heh. The last time I used this measurement was when I was leaving for college.

It turns out that "the girl with all those books" is not at all a bad reputation to cultivate.

[aliseadae]

I've apparently gotten the reputation of "the girl who knows about many, many books".

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That's a good one, too.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

My family thinks, variously, that I will never have enough time to read all of these books, that it will cost a lot to ship all of them out, and that I should bring as many books as I want.

Guess whose opinion I am going with!

(I was near your college today. Nice place!)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

"Never have time to read all these books" is an opinion I generally discount out of hand. It signals to me "does not have any idea how much I read."

(I'm glad it was nice! I mostly enjoy it, but there are certain things about the physical campus right now that point out to me some very shallow short-term thinking administratively, and that makes me sad.)

[aliseadae]

I have a feeling I know whose opinion is whose. I also have a feeling you're going with the idea that you should bring as many books as you want. I agree.

[aliseadae]

I use all the books I bring and might not use more but I miss the ability to look over at a bookshelf and see it stuffed with things I love and stretching all the way up a wall. My college one is still stuffed with things I love but it does not stretch up a wall. I wish my dorm room could have a wall of built in shelves in dark wood and be in the attic with a roof sweeping down above my bed. I wish my furniture did not look like every other dorm room's furniture.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

This comment is lovely.

[mapache]

I've historically used the term shelf-meters, as in "I have nearly four shelf-meters of RPGs."

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Despite my science teachers' attempts, I have not started defaulting to meters for measurements.

However, it might be a good idea, since the rest of the world does it and I'm no good at estimating distances anyway.

[browniecakemix.livejournal.com]

Ah, but this new term begs the question: are the books to be stacked vertically, horizontally-spinewise, or horizontally-endwise?

You don't like naked people icons, so I'm a nice person.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Yay, no naked people icons! Also, the icon you have now is so appropriate for this post.

It is my belief that measuring them any other way than horizontally-spinewise is blasphemy. One might, in desperate circumstances (one can never have too many books, but one can have too few bookshelves), shove books into shelves sideways, but that is not the ideal position.

[browniecakemix.livejournal.com]

To shelve them horizontally-endwise is also quite useful when running out of room... although it's a shame not to be able to see the spines.

[mlt23.livejournal.com]

I'm estimating about three bookfeet for me, not counting the textbooks. (I love this word!)

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, textbooks. I had forgotten about leaving space for those.

I really should ask someone how big the bookcases are in my dorm, shouldn't I...

I'm glad that you like it!