News from the book wars

[pbray]

Made more progress this weekend on Operation Book Cull, after having two great insights--

First, I realized that I could speed up the sorting by using the same tactics I use in going through my closet--separating things into definite keepers, definite donations and the all important third category of maybes. The maybe pile gets a temporary reprieve and then is reevaluated during the next cleanup cycle. Adding a maybe stack to the culling options has sped things up. I'm still culling more books than I keep, but no longer taking minutes weighing each margin call.

The second realization was simple math-- if I read 100 books a year for the rest of my life, I'll never manage to reread all the books that I currently own. So holding on to thousands of books forever makes no sense, especially when I plan to keep buying (and reading) new ones. Not that I'm going crazed, mind you, I imagine I'll still have over a thousand books when I'm all done, maybe two. But the days of an infinitely expanding collection that I'd stopped counting when I hit five thousand books are over.

Comments

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

You mean you haven't promised your nieces and/or nephews a cut of your book collection for posterity?

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Ah, but where would they store the darn things? That's the eternal question.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

There will likely be a book-vulture party sometime this summer fireun was over last night and covetously eyeing the stacks.

Glad you enjoyed AFTER HOURS and thanks for the nice review you put up. Modern Fae is out in March 2012.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Supposedly when he reached 40 a particular British novelist did the sums on how many more books he could expect to be able to read before he died, and has ever since limited himself to that number in the house. If a new one appears, something else has to be pushed off his 'to be read' list.
I couldn't do that, I think. But I do cull, because some books are one-time things, and others I've outgrown, and they can find new homes, I hope.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And my to-be-read stack is already over 100 books (I actually think it's over 200).

I'm hoping the books find new homes. And that I can properly care for the books I want to keep, instead of being so overwhelmed by the sheer mass of them that the wind up stuffed everywhere--including the damp basement.

operation book cull

[chipwyn.livejournal.com]

Even with all my efforts to limit the number of books, I still find that I need to weed. I think it is the prospect of having to empty the book cases in order to move them so we can paint the walls that has me in the weeding mood.
That, plus the two big bags of paperbacks that are alleged keepers, but which can't fit on the keeper shelves. And keepers are for re-reading and am I really going to re-read all those books? Decisions, decisions...
Sounds like you have a good plan in place. Keep up the good work.
I find, in general, that the older I get, the more 'stuff' is a burden rather than a comfort.

Re: operation book cull

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to subscribe to the theory that our possessions own us rather than the other way around.

I've culled over a thousand books in the past couple of years, mostly romance, general fiction and non-fiction (textbooks and the like.) But the sci-fi & fantasy are not only the bulk of my reading, but also closest to my heart and thus the hardest to go through. Still, I'd like to cull the collection down to a reasonable size where I actually know where all my keepers are. And if I ever do move, having gone through this will make it easier.

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

I have just one thing to say: ITHACA BOOK SALE!!!!

Well, that and it's good to keep the number of books down to a small number that can be kept upstairs, away from potential flooding. :-)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It's like you know me!

Yeah, I took about 1K books up to Ithaca in the spring (mostly romance titles from the basement), and plan another run in the next few weeks with sci-fi, mysteries, etc. The goal is to get all the keepers upstairs, out of the basement. And to be able to actually find books.