"For there are, it seems, people who feel stress about owning volumes they haven't read." --Scott McLemee, Inside Higher EdThe First Month of the Great Unbookening
5 books mooched
13 books checked out of the library*
8 books received for review
Bought 1 book
Got one book from my mom.
= 28 books in.
12 books given away on BookMooch
7 books returned
Gave Mom two books
= 21 books out.
So I took in 7 more books than I got rid of. (Yearly total: 21 books gained.)
Well, that's inauspicious. I haven't said this since I graduated, but geez, I really need to learn to read faster, or start giving away more books I haven't read. (I read eight books in February.) Of course the easiest way to reduce that, uh, surplus if you will, would be to return all my library books (which includes two book-club books and a play I have to read for a different project), and to stop requesting so many. I have five requests in right now, but none of them are close to being filled yet.
You'll notice BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN, my free book, isn't counted up there. I'm not sure how to deal with e-books. I don't count Dailylit books when I have them, so I won't count that one.
Illustration: dullhunk, found in a Flickr search for "too many books."
*in my defense, the last 5 of these I checked out last night, and did I think about putting off my trip till the weekend in order to count those for March? Oh, yes I did.
3 comments:
call me crazy, but, why do you want to get rid of books? i just like acquiring them.
Ok, we are doing well with the Great Unbookening!!!(Thanks SO much to your blog and info on Bookmooch!!!)We sent out 34 books in Feb, we had mooched only 3, but then realized we are going on a trip to nowheresville (Abaco) for two weeks and the kids needed books so we mooched ten more. But, all in all we are really doing well.... Thanks Ellen!!!!!!!
Emily - I love acquiring books too, but there are a few reasons not to right now. Most practically, I have more than fit in my shelves, and no room for more shelves. I wouldn't mind the jammed shelves if all the books I owned were ones that I knew I loved and wanted to keep around, but most of them I haven't even read yet. (Also, I still keep a bunch of my books at home, and eventually my folks will evict them.)
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