...I think I'm insane. Just a little.
See, I have lots of books. Compared to other people my age, I would say I have a lot more than most. I really don't know how much more, as my friends are also readers and tend to have lots of books as well. I don't know what the "average person's" library looks like. What I do know is that it is a huge pain in my back to move. And I move rather frequently, unfortunately.
Anyway, I came up with this idea of questionable value. See, I decided to try and read every book in my collection in the next couple months. Is it possible? Who knows? The only books I'm excluding are my books in French and Spanish. I just can't read fast enough in those languages to make it possible to read those particular books.
I started this project, retroactively, at the beginning of December. And since I'm making the rules for this personal read-a-thon, I don't feel bad about this at all. Once I'm done, I will make a post with books titles and authors. Possibly a series of posts; I have a lot of books.
One of the purposes of this project is to winnow my collection a little. By re-reading everything I have, I can winnow out those books I will never read again. I can then trade those books in at the local used bookstore for books I do want to read. Seems to be a winning situation to me.
Oh yes, I am insane.
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4 comments:
I have lots of books, too. I've already winnowed and I still have a lot. Just putting that out there... ;)
My Dad was a well-educated man who, upon visiting me at college one year saw a couple of hundred books on my shelves. He asked me if I had read them all. I responded, "about half."
He said, "Son, I never buy more than a couple of books at a time and finish them before buying more. What's the point of having them on shelves, wasting away?"
I took to heart way back then and every book on my shelf, seen at http://refugeefromreason2.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-library.html, has been read at least once. The picture, by the way, doesn't tell the whole story: The books you see have rows behind them.
Now, I used to have a library of 1200-1500 books, which has been reduced by about a third, as I added to his rule: I no longer keep books that I don't plan to read a second time or don't use for reference.
And, those I give away go to the library.
Reading's probably the best I do and I enjoy it immensely.
However, now for full disclosure: I do own a Kindle and use it for new fiction that I buy.
I don't think your idea's of questionable value at all -- It's of great value to you and possibly to those around you who will no doubt see new and increasingly creative views from you on almost everything because of your reading.
Smart post, by the way.
I have a large library, too. I whittled it down last year when I packed them up before I moved up north. And, my library probably won't get any bigger any time soon. I got a Kindle for Christmas from Steve and I LOVE it. It holds tons of books and is totally light-weight. I thought I'd miss the smell and feel of an actual book, but I've never really been a book snob. As long as the book is good, I've never cared if it was paperback or hard cover. Same with the Kindle. I think you'd love one!
Good luck with your task!
I'm pretty good at throwing stuff away. I don't hold onto a lot of things that I don't use on a regular basis...except for books. For some reason, it feels wrong to desert them to some unknown future. They seem worth so much more than the $0.79 they will sell for on Amazon.
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