And, why do we do this to ourselves?
I have two copies of:
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
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Small Island by Andrea Levy
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Thinking Clearly by Jill Leblanc
These are due to integration between my partner's books and my own.
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The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
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No Logo by Naomi Klein
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Island by Aldous Huxley
These are because they are some of my favourite books and, except for No Logo, I have one hardcover and one softcover edition.
Story time! I bought "False Knees" because I love those comics. I love it in print, I read it frequently and it's one of my favourite books. I made the mistake of lending it to a family member. A week later I ask for it back, and it's missing of course. Months of asking for it back. I even search their house for them. Eventually I give up and buy a replacement copy of the book, vowing never to lend a book again.
Months later, at Christmas, I get a suspiciously book shaped present. Oh boy, I love books! I wonder what it is?! … My Christmas present this year was the book I lent to them, they finally found it. I was so disappointed it actually ruined Christmas for me, I had finally forgotten and forgave them for losing it, and all those negative feelings came rushing back. As a "side gag present but for reals here's your actual present", sure, but there was no other present. My present was, "now I have two false knees", which I suppose makes sense anatomically at least.