Introduction to "A Biographical Inventory of Books"

Just slightly over eleven years ago I started a catalog of books on my other blog PowerofBabel (http://brer-powerofbabel.blogspot.com/). It was a pretty simple affair, with just the title, author, and publisher. Looking back, I am rather amazed at the changes that have taken place since then, at how many books I have sold, and how many new ones I have. Seven of the fourteen in the first batch I posted about are gone. More than that, my new accounting shows that I have slightly more than two thousand at the moment; when I moved from my old house in 2008, I had slightly over three thousand. So a conservative estimate means that I have a thousand books fewer, even with new volumes coming in. There was a time when I would have considered letting go of any book unthinkable. All of which is neither here nor there. I have become less retentive about holding on to every book. But I wouldn't mind having at least a list of those books that are gone. This new inventory serves several purposes. One is to have a complete list of my library as it stands now; if the past is any indication of the future, it WILL change. Another reason is to assess what I own, not only as to number and nature, but WHY I have it, and the memories and motives attached to each volume. I began it as a private endeavor, and there are few people who will understand all the personal allusions, but most of it should be fairly clear. While I have used 'potted' reviews of many books, I have carefully selected them from several sources to echo my assessment of each volume, credit where I found these quotations, and try to at least include my own short observations with most of them. Pictures are taken from the internet, specifically Google Images. A word as to my ranking system. It is by no means cut and dried. ESSENTIAL usually means I would hold onto them until the bitter end, and often that they had a profound effect on me. KEEPER is a kind of squishy term, ranging from books that I have an affection for to books that there is simply no good reason to part with. DISPENSABLE is not a term of disapproval. It just means that in a pinch I think I can do without them.