I just finished updating my list of books owned but not yet read; I hadn't done so in almost a year and now I know why.
At my current reading rate it would take me almost seven years reading nothing but to get through 'em all; that's including the two outstanding orders that should be delivered in late January.
A resolution should follow that admission, one that involves a lengthy stay on book purchases, but I'm still considering other options at the moment: accidentally on purpose deleting the list, transferring ownership of books to the cats, establishing a goal of having at least a decade's worth of unread books on hand at all times.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.
--Ben Franklin
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A bang, not a whimper
Two months into L.'s retirement, and I'm finished with the stockpiling of books. No more book purchases! Or at least, no purcha...
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In your shoes, I would transfer ownership of the books over to the cats. Consult your legal counsel; I'm sure there must be boilerplate language for such a thing.
ReplyDeleteThe cats will benefit as long as the arrangement of the volumes provides them with an appropriate sleeping area with an adequate view of area traffic.
I'm just a tad flippant after only one cup of coffee. At two cups, I become my normal self again!
I like the idea of having a decade's worth of books on hand at all times! I've got not quite two years' worth of books here -- maybe I need more?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I used to have book plates that had a picture of a cat on them. . . I wonder if I could unearth them.
ReplyDeleteTwo years' worth is definitely not enough. What if bird flu hits? Or library budget cuts continue? What if you're unemployed at a later date and can't afford to buy books at all?
Stockpile while you can is my motto.
I've got about five to six years worth of books. I have tried to stop buying but that only lasts so long. I prefer your alternate resolutions instead of stopping the book buying :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I am right there with you. I'm seriously trying to make some headway in my backlog, mostly for this reason: What if a large number of the books I own are duds and I could be trading them at Bookmooch? I MUST find out; I don't want dead weight in my TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteSusan, I could have (and nearly did) post something similar this morning. At my current reading rate, I have more than (*shhh*) three decades' worth of books "stockpiled." Yeah, that's nearly four thousand unread books. Here. In the house. And, yes, I had planned to stop by Borders after lunch today to spend more holiday rewards.
ReplyDeleteOmg, that's the kind of perspective I need! I don't have nearly enough books. I have a mere piddling fraction of the books I ought to have stockpiled. (And I ought to quit my job so I'll have more time to read which will also give me reason to buy more books at an even faster clip. I'd run that one by my husband but he'd poke holes in the logic.)
ReplyDeleteI have 100 books in my TBR pile. I don't feel so bad about today's shopping trip in which I purchased 6 new books. I can't believe it is possible to have nearly 4,000 unread books -- that is simply wonderful!! :)
ReplyDeleteI like your stockpiling motto Susan and follow it religiously myself. For that reason I don't even try to figure out how many unread books are in the house. There are a lot, that's all I know, but there always needs to be more. I must be ready for the time books go 100% digital. I will then have plenty to read, no batteries required.
ReplyDelete10 years worth on hand at all time sounds reasonable.
ReplyDeleteDon't transfer ownership, the cats might decide to trade them for catnip or something! So what is the exact number we are talking about here?
ReplyDeleteI don't feel quite so bad about having so many unread books now! I cringe to think how many years I could get out of all the books I have unread sitting on my shelves (and on the floor, and in boxes...).
ReplyDelete