Do you have books for your guests?

[Rubén16]

Curious if other hosts have reading material/books for their guests, in my case I love reading books, and pictured below is the little library in  my guests cottage. several of my guests have mentioned how wonderful it was that they were able to read a book during their retreat.

I have found that having books are great for long and short term stay guests and also I have noticed they are read more frequently in rainy and snow filled days.

Share your book story and or picture of your library.

[Michelle-And-Michael0]

@Ben551  Haha.... absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounds impressive! 😉

[Sarah977]

Read an interesting study years ago- they had measured the brainwaves of people when reading, when conversing, when watching TV. Your brainwaves are most active when reading, conversing is second, while watching TV they are almost indistinguishable from being in a coma. And it didn't matter if you were watching some stupid cartoon or soap opera, or something educational like Discovery Channel. 

[Sarah977]

I find my guests are most drawn to books of short stories. They're easy to read while on vacation, and can be put down after one story and picked back up again without having to remember what had taken place or who some character was the next time you decide to relax and read.

[Sandra126]

''Why come to Slaka'' by Malcolm Bradbury. ''Land of lake and forest, of beetroot and tractor. Slaka! Land whose borders are sometimes here, often further north, and sometimes not at all. ''

A perfect addition to any traveller's library. A personal favourite. It has a small readership I think, but if anyone has read it, say Hi.

Many years ago I worked at the State Library and I used to borrow it frequently, in order for it to stay in the system and not get deleted (as books are, if they never get borrowed). It was a protective gesture. But when I left the job, nobody was there to protect it. So eventually it became mine for keeps, it now lives in the accommodation.

[Susie5]

I have about a dozen books on Boston (including some aimed at children), a bunch of short story books from the Greatest American Short Stories series (2001-2010) and they are colorful, plus a somewhat random collection of mostly fiction.  I also have a couple of kids books, kids games, toys, crayons, action figures.  And I have games for adults, including cards, Monopoly, and Scrabble.  I don't get the impression they get used much but people comment on their presence!  Agree totally that "Books do furnish a room"! 

I also have a boombox with a radio and am thinking about putting out about a dozen CDs for people to play... does anyone do that? Mostly people watch TV it seems. 

Fun thread!!

[Sandra126]

@Susie5, I have hundreds of CDs. They are a combination of mine, all of a friend's who no longer uses them, and I have bought a couple of big collections on ebay which guarantees something for everyone. From linedancing to metal to opera to whatever you care to mention - I probably have some. I also have vinyl for the bathtub room only. Mostly old disco, collection given to me by friend. Many guests have zero interest in music, but the ones that do say the collection is ''epic''. Look on ebay for collections!

[Michelle1164 · Accepted solution]

@Rubén16 This is my first time commenting in the community but have done lots of reading on the forum. My husband and I started hosting a room in our home in September 2018. I like seeing that others have books and games for their guests to read and play. Right outside our guest bedroom we have a bookshelf that guests are free to take and/or leave a book. However, in the family room we have a personal collection of books that guests are free to read while here. 

I am also a lover of board games, so have placed a shelf full of games out for people to enjoy while here.

[Nicole3327]

I love this! I also provide board games but haven’t gotten a ton of adult books yet. I do have children’s books, blocks and toys nicely set aside in one of the closets and will continue to add. 

[Donna316]

Most of my guests that come tend to go out and about, as we have a number of awesome outdoor activities not too far away. On the off chance there is bad weather and they want to stay indoors I have magazines,crossword magazine, novels with multiple stories in them, sporting, fishing and boating magazines.  I dont think many have been read though as people are too busy out exploring.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

My book collection is now down to 2 cabinets........I used to have A LOT of books which were taking up so much space it was driving my mom and Henry crazy so I donated or sold (at a company flea market)  about 300 paperback books that I felt I would not end up reading again. I will still buy the occasional book I want in paperback or hardcopy, but nowadays everything's on my kindle. 

I tell guests they are welcome to borrow a book from my small collection - most browse a bit but don't seem to read much which is understandable. They have school, classes, and so much sightseeing to do 🙂 

[Hanna143]

Hi guys, I’m new to this community and I’m really thinking about joining airbnb as a host. But I also live in my apartment so I would like to let it for summer only. I have a lot of belongings including huge collection of books. I would definitely move most of clothes etc out, but I would like to leave the books, as they are the hardest to move in and mobe out especially when it’s a huge number of them. The only thing I’m a little afraid of is that people would take the books. I know, maybe it’s dumb on my part but people literally steal the dumbest things. And books is a thing I care about a lot. Obviously I don’t mind people reading them or even putting staina on them so much, as I’ afraid of losing any of them to be honest. Have you ever had a case that you noticed that a guest stole a book from you?

[Crystal378]

Hi if you don't want to risk them stealing your books here are two options: 1) leave a very nice note that says "Please leave books here after you read them, they are part of our inventory during each cleaning".  Option 2) Dont leave the books you don't want to risk losing.

[Bronwyn100]

I have a library of books and guests are invited to take a book home if they have not finished it. 

[Ashleigh117]

I have a few books on my book shelf for guests to read, most of the guests I had loved the game boards more. 

[Heather289]

Yes, I have books.  But they are nearly all Guide Books to London, or interesting books about London or the UK.  There's a few others, and also guests leave books behind.    

I also have a jigsaw puzzle, some playing cards, and some colouring in books and pencils.