This photo resembles my “Read Real Soon” stack. How many books do you have waiting to be read? What is the book you most want to read from your book stack?
This photo resembles my “Read Real Soon” stack. How many books do you have waiting to be read? What is the book you most want to read from your book stack?
Hundreds. I have been using the library much more now that I’m on a fixed income and library books come first. A reread of The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth. Loved it when I first read it in the late 60’s. Unfortunately it’s a doorstop which has caused me to put it off for so long. Also the Robert Silverberg short fiction which Subterranean Press put out in nine volumes. I’ve read one so far.
Steve, I loved THE SOT WEED FACTOR when I read in 1967. I own the Subterranean Press series of Robert Silverberg’s short fiction, but I’ve only read a few of the volumes. Enjoyed what I did read, though!
I’ve read all nine volumes of the collected Silverberg stories, His introductions are the highlight for me.
I have to admit that I’ve given up sorting the books into three or more piles (read already/real soon/don’t want to/ …).
I just look at them, put into my library alphabetically and when I see a title that sound interesting (or get a hint from you :)) I take it and open it -and sometimes put it back immediately or after a fewpages …
Often I get asked whether I’ve read all the 10 000 + books that I’ve collected over the years, but of course not – some I bought just for completeness.
OT:
I’ve been thinking about selling the books – nobody in my family is really interested in having all of them, no space …
Wolf, I donated 30,000 books to the State University of New York at Buffalo back in 1995. Over the years, I’ve donated more books to SUNY at Buffalo. Now, I’ve set up a plan with the Special Collections librarians to make a yearly donation for the next 10 years until the bulk of my books are gone. Everyone needs an exit strategy…
George, Mount TBR is approaching (or has past) Everest-sized proportions. The spare room I keep them in has somehow become a TARDIS — much bigger on the inside than out. No matter how many books I add, no matter how thin the air at the top, the room grows to accommodate. I think the one I most want to read is Le Fanu’s UNCLE SILAS; I’ve started it a number of times in the past but something always interferes. I have read and enjoyed the novelette it is based on, though.
Jerry, I have a copy of UNCLE SILAS around here somewhere. Like you, I’ve had Good Intentions to read it…but some other book always nudged it aside. I should remedy that…
Fortunately, my stack does NOT look like that! The problem is, there are so many that when something new pops up (Look! Shiny!), it makes me forget three other things until I’m reminded of it. At the moment I am down to one library book, but there is one (the new Colin Cotterill) waiting to be picked up today, plus three others (which could be there today too) in transit, as well as seven ebooks on hold, which could pop at any time.
If I had the time I’d probably start Martin Gilbert’s 1100 page PROPHET OF TRUTH: WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, 1922-1939, the volume I’m up to in his authorized biography series, but then there is the collection of Jo Gar stories by Raoul Whitfield (WEST OF GUAM) and THE COMPLETE DIARY of Samuel Pepys (thanks, Deb,for putting that in my head!).
First, however, will probably be the newly arrived final volume of the complete Dr. Sam Hawthorne stories by Edward D. Hoch, from Crippen & Landru,, CHALLENGE THE IMPOSSIBLE. The good news is that volumes of Simon Ark and Alexander Swift stories will follow.
Jeff, I’m prone to the same Shiny Object phenomenon. Books I thought I would read immediately fall further down the Read Real Soon stack as new books arrive daily. I’m a big fan of Crippen & Landru’s books!
So Jeff, all of the books on your shelves have been read? Wow.
Rick, no. I do have one bookcase in the hall filled with hardbacks – and a number of trade paperbacks – that have all been read. Crider, Pronzini, Hoch, Muller, and the like. The rest, it depends. The first two bookcases in the den are my mystery paperbacks and a good proportion of them have been read.
Jeff, my shelved books are a mix of hardcovers and paperbacks. SUNY at Buffalo loves vintage paperbacks! But they were also happy when I donated a First American Edition of George Orwell’s 1984.
My entire house is my TBR pile. Or almost. I tend to donate books we have both read to the library sales. I am hoping to read the forthcoming Kate Atkinson novel when I am finished EDUCATED. I have an arc of it.
Patti, Diane usually passes on the books she reads to friends. And, of course, Diane’s friends pass their books on to her. Diane’s TBR pile has about 40 books. My Read Real Soon pile has a few more zeros after the 40.
I don’t really have a TBR stack because books are everywhere. I try to keep book purchases to a minimum because I really don’t have anywhere else to put them, so mostly I read library books, most of which are new and not renewable. I try to read whatever is due next, but that doesn’t always work when I’m confronted with lots of new books by writers I always read. Last night I finished the latest Linwood Barclay, “A Noise Downstairs”. Barclay has become a huge favorite in a fairly short period of time. Next up is “Some Die Nameless” by Wallace Stroby.
Michael, my wife insists on organization and neatness. So my tendency to create piles of books everywhere in the house is reined in. I have the run of the “computer room” (aka, Patrick’s bedroom) and, of course, the basement where 20,000 books reside.
Got about 50 books on the TBR shelves and as many films on the TBW shelves. But like the guy in MASK OF DIMITRIOS, “I confidently expect to be dead before it is finished.”
Dan, sadly I agree with that guy in MASK OF DIMITRIOS. I don’t have enough time to read 20,000 books. But they’re fun to look at!
Every time I think I’ve conquered Mount TBR, I find another hidden stack—like the other day when John was looking for a place to keep his new laptop and opened the cabinet under an end table only to find the 50-or-so books I’d put there after a FOTL sale. Oh dear. And I realized the other day that, while I’m not buying too many physical books, my kindle has a lot of unread books on it (mostly freebie downloads, but still). Oh well, I know I’ve shared my favorite book quote from Schopenhauer, but it’s worth repeating: “We buy books in the hope that we will live long enough to read them.” I know, whenever I go, I’ll leave a pile unread.
Jeff: if you’re rereading Pepys, I strongly recommend reading it in conjunction with Claire Tomalin’s biography of Pepys—it really makes it a much richer experience.
Haven’t started yet, but I thought I would get the Tomalin book first. I’ve only read snatches (so to speak) of Pepys before, but I’m determined to get through more of him this time.
As for the Kindle, let’s see. Hmm, somewhere between 500 and 725 books. The higher total includes books I’ve read but am keeping plus Jackie’s books, so 500 unread is probably about right. Oh, but I must admit, some of the 500…well, when you get the Complete Wizard of Oz Collection, or Complete Works of Anton Chekhov (15 plays, 200+ stories, THE SHOOTING PARTY – which was what I was looking for in the first place), or Complete Works of Charles Dickens,,,well, you can see where we’re going here. That way lies madness.
Jeff, and I thought I was out of control with about 150 ebooks on my iPad! You and Jackie certainly have me beat!
Deb, I love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I read a whole stack of books. But then I realize I have a dozen more stacks of books on various subjects waiting to be read. Love your Schopenhauer quote!
Deb, don’t you keep your books on shelves?
Oh yeah—even after a monster cull, we have a lot of book shelves throughout the house (including an entire wall in our bedroom); but over the last few years, I’ve tried to buy fewer physical books and read more ebooks. There’s still a tbr though—either in physical form or on a kindle.
Jackie wants to know what is at the top of your Read Real Soon list.
I’ve finally gotten her to keep a notebook with a list of the books and authors she reads/wants to read. She will give me a list and I will check the library first. The ones that come out directly as ebooks, I will buy and download to her Kindle. Lately, she has asked me to check the library for ebook versions of paperbacks she owns, as it is easier for her to hold the Kindle than to keep a paperback open.
The other thing at the top of my list: Trollope’s Parliament/Palliser series, which you and Deb are so fond of. I picked up paperback copies several years ago, but haven’t gotten far beyond starting CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?
Uh oh, I see Michael has mentioned another of my favorites, Wallace Stroby. Time to check the library again.
If you’re looking for a Trollope “gateway drug”, try THE WAY WE LIVE NOW. Fascinating…and still entirely relevant.
Deb, I usually recommend Trollope’s Barchester Towers because it’s shorter than THE WAY WE LIVE NOW–and more funny. But, you’re right: THE WAY WE LIVE NOW is both relevant and scary. I enjoyed the PBS version of THE WAY WE LIVE NOW, too.
I just checked 100 BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE (it’s on the Kindle in two fifty book sections), and I was right – THE WAY WE LIVE NOW is there!
Jeff, tell Jackie that she’s psychic! The book I most want to read in my Real Real Soon Stack is Trollope’s Phineas Redux, the fourth book in the “Palliser” series. But I have a number of Library books to finish first as well as a couple review books some publishers have sent me. Hopefully, by the end of the Summer…
Omarosa, UNHINGED?
Jeff, a lot of people want to know what’s on those 200 tapes Omarosa has!
1. You TBR doesn’t look like that, I’m sure it’s at least shelved spine out.
2. I have walls of books in three rooms, not full walls, but a lot of shelves, and they’re full.They’re organized by genre, then by author. But those are my library, not my TBR. My TBR is a little three-shelf bookcase in the bedroom with probably thirty books on it. Some have been there a while and should be returned to the main shelves until they have some reading priority. Every now and then I go through the main shelves and move a few things “up” to TBR, and move something “down”, back to main shelves.
3. I also have three or four books that I’ve started but haven’t finished. I don’t like to do this, but it happens. So those are the books with bookmarks in them (three at present) on the dresser. Usually one of these is a short story collection I read between other things. Rogues is there now, and The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick is next.
4. I have 17 books on hold at the library, 5 of which are on order. These things tend to come all at once and then I’m pushed to read them and all else stops.
5. I get ebooks from the library (so they have a 3 week limit, non-renewable, and I buy some now and then, but I probably have 100 books on the iPad.
6. Once in a while I think I should go through the shelves and weed out things I don’t expect to read or re-read. I did that with mystery paperbacks last year and went through A-B. A box of books to the library sale. I need to do more of that. As for your “exit plan”, George, I have none.
Rick, you’re right about my Read Real Soon stack being shelved spine out. But the number of books in the photo gives you some idea of the number of books in the stack!
Thousands. Almost all have had some part of them read. But not entire.
Todd, I read one book at a time. Occasionally, when I’m reading a Big Fat Book, I’ll take “breaks” by reading some short stories.
About a year ago I looked into my database and made a list of books that I classified as “to be read.” On that list were 20 baseball books, 13 other non-fiction books and 25 fiction. Of course, there were hundreds that didn’t make that “short” list. I just checked and I read two baseball, three NF and one novel. So far this year I have read 70 other books and last year it was 96. Most were from the library or new purchases so obviously I have a problem. I have been donating to both our Friends of the Library and Chidren’s Hospital sales and trying with some difficulty to include books that I have had for a long time and know I will never get around to reading. Being a Canadian, I need to move Richard Ford’s Canada higher on that TBR pile.
Kent, I admire your precision in book organization and de-acquisition. You might not want to move up Richard Ford’s CANADA after you read my review: http://georgekelley.org/canada-by-richard-ford/
I guess I will leave it wherever it is. Last night I bought about 200 45s at an auction sale. Now I need to go through the box to see if any will make it onto my Rockola juke box. My latest book acquisitions that I bought yesterday are The Country Music Story a Picture History of Country and Western Music, Willie Nelson’s
autobiography with David Ritz titled It’s a Long Story My Life, and How Nashville Became Music City USA. It came with a CD of rare demos and cuts with Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Bobby Braddock and Willie. It was a hospital book sale and a major investment of $4.00. as all books were 50% off. On the first day I bought a book that I bet even you have never heard about. The title is Searching for Jimmy Buffett. It’s about a 14-year-old boy who goes looking for Jimmy after his mother told him from her death bed that Jimmy is his father. Her name is Sister Moonbeam-Goom-jigi, which should tell it all. I couldn’t reist it.
Kent, you scored Big Time! Love that SEARCHING FOR JIMMY BUFFETT book! I may search for it myself. Today, I stopped at a Library Book Sale and bought a handful of Tanith Lee paperbacks. Who can resist those DAW classic covers!