Last Thursday (August 11) I
announced I was making a Book List, to better and more accurately come up with
a count of how many books I actually have. Last night (August 14) I completed
that list.
I had previously calculated
a total of 2,216 books (with a variance of -20 or +20 either way), which, as it
turns out, was exactly 90 short of the true sum of the 2,306. Then I had been
counting from this blog and keeping the numbers ‘in my head’ and on some shaky
notes in a pad. An actual list helped me keep a better grasp of my
calculations.
This morning I copied the
List and eliminated titles I think that I might part with in the case of dire necessity.
I came up with 659 books that could go if circumstances arose, or that could be
put in storage if it were just a matter of room. Such an event happened when
I moved from Loop Drive where, as I recall, my library was just a dozen or so
volumes away from three thousand.
That would leave me with a
core collection of 1,647. There are a few books that could be trimmed in a
pinch, I suppose, but this has still been a ruthless (if purely hypothetical)
winnowing, with little regard to sentiment. Some of my oldest childhood possessions
were eliminated, as well as a painful selection of Tolkien books (mostly about
and not by him, it is true).
And so, the game is over,
and my library remains, for now, as it was. I have enjoyed raking over my hoard
in thought; it is an entertainment that amused me for four days. Time to turn
to more productive activities, I hope. For one thing, Monday (and all that entails)
must be accomplished.
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