What books do you keep, and do you read them?

[ElderSkillz]

I keep any skill books that are associated with my preferred skills. I usually read books when I pick them up to decide if I'd like to keep them or not. Usually it's history books that span multiple volumes I end up leaving, as I don't find them interesting. I'll also keep books I think aren't particularly common in Skyrim. (Most books I find in Solstheim end up on my shelf!)

Journals, maps, letters, and notes I throw in a chest for safekeeping.

What books do you guys keep on your shelves and why?

[Archer]

All of them. I have yet to read a single book that I didn't like, so why not keep them all?

[Kerr]

I like to keep one of every book I come across. If I get more the one of a certain book then I'll sell the extra ones. This means I have a lot of books. I also downloaded an App on my phone that has the books from all the Elder Scrolls games so that is usually how I read my TES books. I read all sorts of TES books.

[Sloady]

At one stage I had read most of them. Still haven't gotten around to The Lusty Argonian Maid - I don't do smut A favourite of mine is The Immortal Blood. Palla is very good too.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

I at least browse all books I find and if I find something of interest for my character, I take it with me and read it in an hour of leisure (mostly over supper at the next inn). Which books I keep depends on character too; my current Bosmer assassin's travelling library includes

-Sithis
-A Kiss, Sweet Mother (both for obvious reasons)
-Before the Ages of Man (because she's a bit of an elven chauvinist)
-any volumes of A Dance in Fire she comes across (for Bosmer lore)
-The Lusty Argonian Maid (because she has a lascivious side)

My former Breton/Forsworn witch collected things like The Madmen of the Reach, The Legend of Red Eagle, The Bear of Markarth and the Thalmor dossier on Ulfric... you get the picture.

[Witchery]

What Finn said! I tend to keep books with me that fit the character I am playing. For example, the current character I've been investing my time into is a Nord ranger (Companion, Kynareth devotee, Dragonborn, member of the Dawnguard), and some of the books she keeps with her are:

- The Book of the Dragonborn (she's very much into the whole "Way of the Voice" thing)
- Children of the Sky
- Great Harbingers
- Herbalist's Guide to Skyrim
- The Gold Ribbon of Merit
And still growing as she travels and finds more she likes.

[Ursula R. M.]

Love to read them. hard to take the time away from the actual play, but i save them and sell the duplicates.

[MidbossVyers]

Argonian Maid and uncensored version of Real Barenziah volume 2.

[rcbecker123]

I like to collect them all but it is hard to find enough time to read them all. But assuming over time' I will enjoy all theses fountions of knowledge.

[Mickey]

Love the "A Dance In Fire" series, and certain stories like "The Black Arrow" ( anything about Valenwood ) . Just for laughs, I've been loading my bookshelves with spell tomes I have no intention of reading.

[matt314hew]

I have picked up and kept all books so far. When I find duplicates, I will sell them

[skullclutter]

Depends on which character I'm playing. My main keeps one copy of every book he comes across, and will occasionally take the day off saving the world to sit at home and catch up on his reading, but he doesn't usually have time to read them when he finds them.

My assassin will read the odd book if it interests her and if she has time when she finds it. She never keeps any of them.

Lastly, my warrior doesn't read any, but he'll grab and sell them when he finds them.

[Mefris Elmek]

On my first playthrough I kept and read every book I came across.On the rest of my playthroughs I stuck mostly with skill and character appropriate books (plus the ones introduced by the DLCs).

[Will Zurmacht]

I collect most skill books, but use a mod that places an affix describing their associated skill, to avoid reading the wrong ones or reading prematurely.

For pleasure, I read histories and accounts of current events (Calcelmo's work on the Dwemer is a personal favorite), hold guides, and practical adventuring self-help books. I deliberately avoid the psuedo-literary stuff, and most Kirkbridian theosophical flights of fancy.

[Mattbott]

I keep books that I have seen mentioned in lore discussions on this site

i am broadening my lore horizons

the rise and fall of the blades, barenzia's series and where were you when the dragon broke are examples

i also had a dwemer archaeologist hero who collected all the dwarf books

[Aarah]

I keep the treasure maps (after finding the treasure). Also decided to collect the series of four books Beggar, Thief, Warrior and King. I have the latter two so far.
I keep any books that are journals or special. Don't keep any just for reading though.

[Raynil dralas]

All my characters horde books, i pick up most books i come across and end up storing them in one of my houses. Theres loads of great reads, the skill books tend to be interesting, i love anything related to lore or history as well. Most of the best books were written for morrowind but there has been a few good new additions, i love coming across books i read in morrowind in skyrim.

[SM-Dreamer]

I pick up whatever is character-appropriate. My fighter, Blade, is fairly illiterate and has trouble reading; it frustrates her, so she doesn't try most times. She sells what she finds, and keeps a few around that look useful or readable, mostly for those nights waiting for a blizzard/rain to end while she's trapped in her tent.

My warrior Kiro picks up anything related to fighting, strategy, and survival.

My (new character) thief-mage Vaelynn keeps everything he finds.

I haven't read a lot of the books in game, since my playing time is limited; I read it on the site when I have more time available

[matt314hew]

I finally found both Lusty Argonian Maid 1 and 2.

I make sure to keep those in my night stand in my house. The rest of my books are on my bookcase and in a chest.

[MidbossVyers]

Doesn't uncensored Barenziah work better for that?

[dzio]

For me it's different with every character - my thief only keeps books about thieving, my mage collects everything to do with magic and Dwemer, my Nord lady tried to gather all chapters of Songs of Return, and so on.

[Elenath]

Does anyone else wish time in-game didn't stop while you're reading? I would read a lot more if it was a good way to kill time while waiting. As it is, waiting is boring and I never have the time to read.

[Dark Spark]

Does anyone else wish time in-game didn't stop while you're reading? I would read a lot more if it was a good way to kill time while waiting. As it is, waiting is boring and I never have the time to read.

In this particular regard, my Cassie does some cooking at a cauldron or brew some potions to pass the time.

In the general regard of the thread, my Cassie keeps The Red Kitchen Reader and reads it whenever she feels homesick about the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.

[CreeperX]

My roleplaying fails when it comes to books because I have this obsession with journals. Always collect them, read them and keep them.
Though I'm in the process of shaking this habit and putting more thought in what to keep with each character =P.

[SM-Dreamer]

Does anyone else wish time in-game didn't stop while you're reading? I would read a lot more if it was a good way to kill time while waiting. As it is, waiting is boring and I never have the time to read.

That's why I use this mod. It scales the time you took to read; like I said, Blade reads when waiting out a storm, so using this helps her waiting a bit. And I, too, like to be able to read and not have to use the wait function.