Utentehelsinki30

I have ca. 8000 books in two geographic locations of which ca. 50% don't feature a barcode + an expected "inheritance" of another 5000 volumes. On this site I just added a random selection of my recent acquisitions which I keep near my computer.

Other useful statistics:

Average growth rate: ca. 2 books per week
Average reading rate: 1 book per 2 weeks
Average price per book added: ca. 1 to 10 Euros
Preferred book condition: Second hand
Oldest book in collection: Strahlheim: Die Geschichte unserer Zeit. Unsere Zeit oder geschichtliche Übersicht der merkwürdigsten Ereignisse von 1788-1830.

I am a strong believer in adding previously owned books to my collection, I particularly look for:

- books with ex libris stickers or handwritten owner names
- annotated / commented books
- books that come with either the receipt or newspaper clippings
- customized books (ex library-issues, paperbacks turned into hard covers)

Since, I have two small children and a wife not interested in reading, collecting or owning books, I will stick to the limit of 200, occasionally taking books in and out in order to see where I can find them in other members' libraries.

An engineering graduate who went into IT during the .com-boom times. My whole workday is spent using computers and dealing with immaterial issues like electronic documents, processes and developing useful & profitable "e-services".

So in my spare time, I am more or less just into reading physical books / non-fiction on philosophy, history and other academic subjects.

There are 5 things very important to me when it comes to buying a book:

1. I was not looking for it in the first place, or ...
2. Somebody recommended that particular book to me in a face-to-face conversation.
3. I have a pleasant and stimulating conversation before and after making the purchase in a book shop.
4. The book enables me to start to discuss topics that I don't deal with in my regular live / existing expert domain.
5. Since I am not likely to read that book given my acquisition rate, it should "age well" i.e. I always ask myself: "Will an intelligent person pick up that volume in 20 or 50 years and read it with an appreciation of the times it was written in?"