Yes, yes, I know I only updated you all on my Mount TBR progress a couple of days ago, but I just wanted to share these pictures with you.
On Monday night and my day off on Tuesday I managed to clear another 40 or so books off the shelves - and to try and drive the message home to myself, I built a bonfire. No, I didn't set it alight - though it was tempting for a minute there. It comprised of about a third of my book collection, I'd say, maybe just under. These are books off my overstuffed kitchen bookcase and from the medium-sized box I had under the table (to the left of the picture). I took them all down from the shelves and (gently) threw them onto a massive pile, which I then left overnight to shock myself with the next morning.
It worked! When I came back to it on Tuesday I was pretty horrified by how big it looked! It took several hours to sift through and because I was getting so tired, much of it got re-shelved anyway, unfortunately. The box is empty now though, so that's a start. Nevertheless, the fact remains that if Mount TBR is currently sitting at, say, 1000 books, that means that at a reading rate of roughly 75 books a year, I have enough to last me 13-14 years. I WOULD BE NEARLY 40 BY THE TIME I FINISHED THESE BOOKS!
If that ain't enough to convince me I need to be more ruthless still, I don't know what is!
And on a duckling-related note...
My last ducky photo was, quite frankly, crap - so I took another one! All seven ducky babies, plus eight moorhen babies, were out by the path near the car park, awwww...
SO MANY BABEEEEZ! :)
Well, that's me done for now! I'm (finally) writing a review of V for Vendetta so hopefully that'll be on its way soon... As for right now, it's humid and sticky and thundery and wet and headachy, so I'm going to go stick my nose in a book and ignore everything for a while (including the crazy customers who have VOLUNTARILY ventured out in this, the fools!)... Read on!
Sometimes I truly get depressed thinking about the fact that I'm never going to be able to read all the books I want to read. That's when I consider quitting my job to become a full-time reader.
ReplyDeleteI opened a bookshop and became a pretty-close-to-full-time reader and I still don't think I have a hope in hell! ;)
DeleteWow, you weren't kidding about it being a MOUNTAIN, were you? ;)
ReplyDeleteI never kid about my out-of-control buying habits... Okay, maybe occasionally... :)
DeleteWow, now that is a pile!!! Mine was nowhere near as big (20?) and I felt overwhelmed!
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY! ;)
DeleteGO ELLIE!! Your purging posts always make me feel simultaneously guilty (because I *really* need to get round to doing the same) and proud (because I'm always proud of book bloggers that manage to purge books and especially those I like the mostest!). That pile is pretty impressive!
ReplyDeleteAnd also, duck pictures remind me of my parents' house so I totally love them! They live opposite a duck pond and they just always looked so cute waddling around the front garden - so yey also for adorable ducklings!
I'm getting to the really difficult stage now - where a lot of the most 'obvious' candidates have gone, and I'm stuck paring down the mostly-good stuff that's left, eeeek! Some tricky decisions and ruthless culling still to come... :P
DeleteP.S. Duckies are just lovely, big or small! How you can resist those little waggling butts?
We had a discussion at work the other day on whether or not we'd want a draught of immortality if we were offered it (do all offices have such random discussions?!). My first thought was yes - purely for the fact that I might then stand a chance of reading everything on my wishlist and TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's even so much that Mount TBR will take me too long to read - it's more that having so many physically around me all the time means they're always clamouring for my attention, no matter how good my current read. The 'Must read more, faster!' mentality is STRONGER when there are too many in the room with me!
DeleteSo, how old will you be in 13-14 years if you don't read these books? Still 40, I'm assuming. I will be turning 62 in a couple of months. My TBR mountain is more than 1300 books high today and growing almost daily. I don't expect to get them all read but am not eager to get rid of anything in case the book does fall off the mountain and get read. I don't want to narrow down my options. I don't know what I will want to read tomorrow -- but I'm pretty sure that it is somewhere on my TBR mountain.
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, that was precisely my thinking as I was AMASSING these books. But I'm moving soon into one small room (most of my books are currently in my old flat and my little room in the house if already full) and the mere thought of trying to move and rehouse this many books is... terrifying.
DeleteNot to mention the fact that I think having too many waiting for me detracts from my enjoyment of what I'm currently reading. Maybe twenty years from now I'll be in a different position, but for now - they gotta go! And I need to learn to control my compulsive book buying while I'm at it! ;)
Wow Ellie, just look at that pile! What's your target TBR amount?
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of getting rid of books in dribs and drabs. Well, small dribs anyway. A few to the charity shop one day, a few the next... It's slow going, but it makes me feel like I'm achieving something and it doesn't wrench my heart as much!
My Mum came into my room the other day for the first time in ages (four storey house and I'm at the top, so I don't get 'visited' often!) and the first thing she said was 'HANNA! These books are TAKING OVER!' She keeps threatening to 'Do Something' about it, and my mother Doing Something never ends well...
Oh good grief chuck, tell me about it! When maternal threats start being made, you know you've got too many! ;)
DeleteI've definitely been taking it slowly as a WHOLE, but still feeling good about it. About 20 books left today, for example - but I've taken one back (oops) and as a percentage of the whole it's still miniscule! My end aim? Er... watch this space!
No no! That should read -'When maternal threats start being made, you know you need to be sneakier!' :)
DeleteOh, unless the weather is HORRENDOUS (as in, even more horrendous than it has been), I should be in visiting on Monday!
Yay! I've promised myself that if I have a really good mega-session clearing books out tonight, I'm allowed to go on a little book spree tomorrow... :)
Deletehahaha That's huge! Gotta love it though. My TBR pile keeps growing and growing but I keep adding to it! My problem is that even after I've finished a book I still want to keep it. My goal is to try and read most of my beat up paperbacks (since I very rarely wish to keep those) and at least give those to my local bookstore to reduce my owned pile. Good luck with your goal!
ReplyDeleteThis is just the kitchen books, remember - not the 'Hannah's bedroom' shelves, or the living room shelves, or the 'Ellie's little room' shelves... ;)
DeleteI'm definitely going to try and prioritise a bit with the ones I AM reading, so some of the hardback fiction can be read and released (heavier to carry!), and some of the more run-of-the-mill fiction too. Slowly, slowly...
You have no idea how much I wanted to dig through that pile!! Love those babies!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes! It reminds me a bit of the 'this is how much food you eat in a week, you PIGLET!' moment on diet programmes - it's simultaneously horrible and utterly delicious... :D
DeleteBABY DUCKIES!!!!!!! *coos at cuteness* having enough books to last you 13-14 years is actually nuts, not that I can talk I'm pretty sure mine would be something like that too. When I think about it, what makes me sad, is that someone else could be taking pleasure out of these books that may be sitting waiting for me to read them forever, why do I not just by new books when I need them like a normal person? Because I want them NOW and like the option of having them on hand JUST IN CASE! Never mind that I have several other books like it that could hit the spot just as nicely *sigh* I'm pretty proud of myself though, I bought 6 books the other day and have already read 3 of them! Now that's more like it!
ReplyDelete