Books
I've been trying to clean up my library, and while I'm making progress it's remarkably tough. I've sorted through all my bookcases now, which just leaves all the books that have randomly collected in odd corners around the house.
The hardest part was choosing a stack of books to get rid of. I just have too many, and many of them I'm unlikely to read again. Some were left behind by old housemates when they moved interstate, and they're not to my taste so I'll likely never read them at all. I still hate to get rid of any books! I have a whole shelf of books that I will only ever look at again for nostalgia's sake- children's books, many of them gifts from friends and relatives, some of them religious- that I just cannot bear to part with purely for sentimental reasons. I mean, even back when I still thought of myself as a Christian I never looked at my illustrated children's Bible. But I've had it my entire life, and the illustrations are quite pretty. Anyway, at least I cleared off several shelves and now all my books fit onto the bookcases with only a couple of shelves stacked double.
If my books were all arranged neatly and I had adequate shelving, they would take up approximately two and a half full bookcases. Considering that when I moved here in 2007 I had maybe two thirds of a bookcase full, and I still remember the books being difficult to move, I'm a bit worried! Even more worrying is the fact that I have (at last count) 66 books that I haven't read yet. Some of these are part of a series, and I don't own the other books. If I were to read all of these books before August, I'd have to get through at least three books a week. While it's theoretically possible, I doubt it'll happen! I'm still going to give it my best shot though.
The thing that really kills me is that the number of books I have that I cannot bear to part with is greater than the number of books I can reasonably store or take with me when I go overseas. But that's a problem for another day, because right now I'm too wimpy to face it.
While I'm on the subject of books, here's a book meme that I stole from uyuki
1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
I think it must be my illustrated Children's Bible that I mentioned before. I don't remember being given the book- it was a gift from the bishop when I was baptised as a baby. I guess that makes it the first book I owned!
2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?
I'm currently reading Anna Karenina, and while I'm enjoying the characters I find the plot pretty ho-hum. It's not what I'd call a page-turner.
Before this, I had just re-read Dreaming of Djinn, an anthology of short stories inspired by the Arabian Nights. Since the first time I read it I was proofreading the galleys, it was really nice to hold the actual book in my hands and revisit the stories in a relaxed way. Also the book is dedicated to my dance troupe, which is pretty cool- the editor is a friend of mine from dancing :D
Next, I'm going to pick something off my unread shelves of doom. Something light, probably fantasy. I have a few YA fantasy novels that look like just the ticket after the long and gloomy Russian classic.
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
Pretty much everything by Dickens. Can't stand the guy. I will be giving him another try since there's a few of his in my unread shelves, but I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
Ulysses, also on my unread shelf.
5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
Pffft, why save a book for later in life when there are books NOW?
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
Wait for the end! It would spoil everything knowing how it ends. Kinda the problem I'm having with Anna K, I think. Although the foreshadowing is pretty darn obvious so it's not like I wouldn't have guessed the end by now either way.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
I read them sometimes. They can be entertaining, in some cases. I especially read the acknowledgements in Liz's books because I'm vain and it's nice to see my name there :D
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Ooof, hard decision. I'm tempted to say Hermione because I always wanted to go to Hogwarts, but then there are so many other worlds I'd love to be in. I would love to be Isabeau from Kate Forsyth's The Witches of Eileanan series too!
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Lots of books remind me of the time when I first read them, or the person who recommended them to me. In general terms, Harry Potter reminds me of high school when I would come home and read and reread and reread the series. Kate Forsyth's Witches of Eileanan series and Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy remind me of the best parts of student life, writing my honours dissertation. The most specific memory of a time that I have attached to a book would be Isobelle Carmody's Green Monkey Dreams, which I was reading on a school night at 10pm when I got an unexpected phone call from a friend telling me to turn on the news. It seems oddly fitting that an anthology tied together with the theme of what makes us human and how we are monstrous should be what I was reading on September 11 2001.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
I don't think I have any interesting stories. I just buy a lot of books, and people give me a lot of books too.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
*hissssss* I never give away books!
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
My copy of Dragonclaw (first book in The Witches of Eileanan) is pretty well travelled. It's been with me on multiple road trips, a few visits interstate, and it came with me to New Zealand on a skiing trip too. I reread it pretty frequently.
13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
There are only two books I remember disliking in high school: Frankenstein, and Heart of Darkness. I still don't especially enjoy either, although I've come to appreciate Frankenstein for founding one of my favourite genres.
14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
I can't remember finding any items in a book.
15. Used or brand new?
Definitely brand new! I keep my books in mint condition, if I can manage it. My only exception is that I'll buy second hand if something I want is out of print or if I have an entire series except for one book with an old cover design.
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I've never read any King, but based on the movie adaptations I've seen I'll go with opiate of the masses.
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Lord of the Rings. More ladies, fewer unnecessary diversions. Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortenson. It's all upside.
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Harry Potter. I've seen the films only once, and that's the way it's staying. How could they get so much wrong?! ... I may be unreasonably attached to those books. The films make me angry.
19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
No, but this question did.
20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
My friend M has excellent taste in books and we rarely disagree. I read everything she recommends me.
The hardest part was choosing a stack of books to get rid of. I just have too many, and many of them I'm unlikely to read again. Some were left behind by old housemates when they moved interstate, and they're not to my taste so I'll likely never read them at all. I still hate to get rid of any books! I have a whole shelf of books that I will only ever look at again for nostalgia's sake- children's books, many of them gifts from friends and relatives, some of them religious- that I just cannot bear to part with purely for sentimental reasons. I mean, even back when I still thought of myself as a Christian I never looked at my illustrated children's Bible. But I've had it my entire life, and the illustrations are quite pretty. Anyway, at least I cleared off several shelves and now all my books fit onto the bookcases with only a couple of shelves stacked double.
If my books were all arranged neatly and I had adequate shelving, they would take up approximately two and a half full bookcases. Considering that when I moved here in 2007 I had maybe two thirds of a bookcase full, and I still remember the books being difficult to move, I'm a bit worried! Even more worrying is the fact that I have (at last count) 66 books that I haven't read yet. Some of these are part of a series, and I don't own the other books. If I were to read all of these books before August, I'd have to get through at least three books a week. While it's theoretically possible, I doubt it'll happen! I'm still going to give it my best shot though.
The thing that really kills me is that the number of books I have that I cannot bear to part with is greater than the number of books I can reasonably store or take with me when I go overseas. But that's a problem for another day, because right now I'm too wimpy to face it.
While I'm on the subject of books, here's a book meme that I stole from uyuki
1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
I think it must be my illustrated Children's Bible that I mentioned before. I don't remember being given the book- it was a gift from the bishop when I was baptised as a baby. I guess that makes it the first book I owned!
2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?
I'm currently reading Anna Karenina, and while I'm enjoying the characters I find the plot pretty ho-hum. It's not what I'd call a page-turner.
Before this, I had just re-read Dreaming of Djinn, an anthology of short stories inspired by the Arabian Nights. Since the first time I read it I was proofreading the galleys, it was really nice to hold the actual book in my hands and revisit the stories in a relaxed way. Also the book is dedicated to my dance troupe, which is pretty cool- the editor is a friend of mine from dancing :D
Next, I'm going to pick something off my unread shelves of doom. Something light, probably fantasy. I have a few YA fantasy novels that look like just the ticket after the long and gloomy Russian classic.
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
Pretty much everything by Dickens. Can't stand the guy. I will be giving him another try since there's a few of his in my unread shelves, but I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
Ulysses, also on my unread shelf.
5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
Pffft, why save a book for later in life when there are books NOW?
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
Wait for the end! It would spoil everything knowing how it ends. Kinda the problem I'm having with Anna K, I think. Although the foreshadowing is pretty darn obvious so it's not like I wouldn't have guessed the end by now either way.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
I read them sometimes. They can be entertaining, in some cases. I especially read the acknowledgements in Liz's books because I'm vain and it's nice to see my name there :D
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Ooof, hard decision. I'm tempted to say Hermione because I always wanted to go to Hogwarts, but then there are so many other worlds I'd love to be in. I would love to be Isabeau from Kate Forsyth's The Witches of Eileanan series too!
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Lots of books remind me of the time when I first read them, or the person who recommended them to me. In general terms, Harry Potter reminds me of high school when I would come home and read and reread and reread the series. Kate Forsyth's Witches of Eileanan series and Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy remind me of the best parts of student life, writing my honours dissertation. The most specific memory of a time that I have attached to a book would be Isobelle Carmody's Green Monkey Dreams, which I was reading on a school night at 10pm when I got an unexpected phone call from a friend telling me to turn on the news. It seems oddly fitting that an anthology tied together with the theme of what makes us human and how we are monstrous should be what I was reading on September 11 2001.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
I don't think I have any interesting stories. I just buy a lot of books, and people give me a lot of books too.
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
*hissssss* I never give away books!
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
My copy of Dragonclaw (first book in The Witches of Eileanan) is pretty well travelled. It's been with me on multiple road trips, a few visits interstate, and it came with me to New Zealand on a skiing trip too. I reread it pretty frequently.
13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
There are only two books I remember disliking in high school: Frankenstein, and Heart of Darkness. I still don't especially enjoy either, although I've come to appreciate Frankenstein for founding one of my favourite genres.
14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
I can't remember finding any items in a book.
15. Used or brand new?
Definitely brand new! I keep my books in mint condition, if I can manage it. My only exception is that I'll buy second hand if something I want is out of print or if I have an entire series except for one book with an old cover design.
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I've never read any King, but based on the movie adaptations I've seen I'll go with opiate of the masses.
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Lord of the Rings. More ladies, fewer unnecessary diversions. Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortenson. It's all upside.
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Harry Potter. I've seen the films only once, and that's the way it's staying. How could they get so much wrong?! ... I may be unreasonably attached to those books. The films make me angry.
19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
No, but this question did.
20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
My friend M has excellent taste in books and we rarely disagree. I read everything she recommends me.