ReflexandResolve's 2014 Battle agqainst the TBR bulge

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ReflexandResolve's 2014 Battle agqainst the TBR bulge

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1reflexandresolve
jun 14, 2014, 3:42 pm

(I thought I originally posted this here, but somehow it ended up in a different group. Has anyone else been having that problem? Posting here, so it's in the right place.)

Time for a confession:

I am reflexandresolve, and I'm a book hoarder.

It's gotten bad, guys. I now have so many books, I'm losing them in other books. I went home for Christmas (and to pick up some more books from my mother's house, who kindly stores them for me). I know (KNOW) I had two books -- Les Miserables and The Once and Future King that have been picked for an online book club I'm a part of. They're not logged on LibraryThing. I can't find them anywhere. I know I had them. They've just -- disappeared.

My collection is officially a problem.

So, as I battle my book waistline, I'm going to keep track of the in and out in inches. Maybe weight, too, since I tend to cart these puppies all around the country with me. (And sometimes internationally!)

My goal is (hopefully) simple. At the end of 2013, have fewer books than I started with. That includes getting rid of books that I've inherited that I have no interest in any longer, which will theoretically be an easy subtraction. (But but but but! I might want to read it SOMEDAY....)

The overall goal is to read 30 books. I read 25 last year, and feel I'm up for a (tiny bit) bigger challenge.

Here's to my 2014 battle!

2reflexandresolve
Bewerkt: jan 28, 2015, 10:51 pm

Books Read:
1. Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
3. The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
4. Emma by Jane Austen
5. Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
7. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
8. Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander
9. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
10. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
11. Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox
12. The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
13. The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
14. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
15. Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells
16. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
17. Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen
18. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
19. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
20. The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan
21. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
22. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
23. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
24. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
25. Cold Mountain by Charles Fraizier
26. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
27. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
28. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore
29. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
30. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Books Donated / Sold / Books I No Longer have to Move:
Children of the Lion by Peter Danielson -- 1.3 inches, 0.3 lbs
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- 0.7 inches, 0.35 lbs
The Monkey Wrench Gang -- 1.2 inches, 0.9 lbs
Island of the Sequined Love Nun -- 1.4 inches, 0.4 lbs
Sense & Sensibility (Two Copies!)-- 0.9 inches, 0.4 lbs; 0.8 inches, 0.45 lbs
Always Looking Up -- 0.8 inches, Weight TBA
The Lost Continent -- 0.94 inches, 0.57 lbs
Stupid White Men by Michael Moore -- 1.1 inches, 1 lb
Julie & Julia -- 1 inch, 0.42 lbs; 1.1 inches, 0.7 lbs
Little Altars Everywhere -- 0.7 inches, 0.5 lbs
Freedom -- 2.1 inches, 0.65 oz
Lucky You -- 1.1 inches, 0.5 lb
The Expected One -- 1 inch, 0.7 lbs
Cold Moutain -- 1.2 inches, 1.3 lbs; 2.5 inches, 0.9 lbs
The Jane Austen Book Club -- 1.12 inches, 1.02 lbs
Where's Mom Now That I Need Her? by Betty Rae Frandsen -- 1.67 inches, 1.5 lbs
Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove --0.77 inches, 0.52 lbs
A Lion Among Men -- 0.89 inches, 0.81 lbs; 1.1 inches, 0.75 lbs
The Thief Lord -- 1 inch, 0.55 lbs; 0.93 inches, 0.5 lbs
Total: 27.12 inches, 14.19 lbs

Books Loved / Kept / Will Be Used to Build a House:
Mostly Harmless -- 1.2 inches, 1.2 lbs
Emma -- 1.3 inches, 0.75 lbs
Their Eyes Were Watching God -- 0.7 inches, 0.3 lbs
Gypsy Rizka -- 0.6 inches, 0.33 lbs
Northanger Abbey -- 0.6 inches, 0.4 lbs
To Kill a Mockingbird -- 1.2 inches, 0.75 lbs
Blue Lily, Lily Blue -- 1.2 inches, 1.2 lbs
Total: 6.8 inches, 4.93 lbs

Library Books:
Girl of Fire and Thorns
The Doll's House
Mansfield Park
The Raven Boys
The Invisible Man
Ender's Game
Dream Thieves

Books That Found their Way Home with Me:
The Complete Sandman Volume Three -- 2.3 inches, 8 lb
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand -- 0.84 inches, 0.45 lbs
Freakonomics -- 1.02 inches, 1.1 lbs
Flight, Volumes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 -- 4.7 inches, 8.88 lbs
Lucky You -- 1.1 inches, 0.5 lb
Blue Lily, Lily Blue -- 1.2 inches, 1.2 lbs
On Food and Cooking -- 1.8 inches, 3 lbs
Ratio -- 0.7 inches, 0.85 lbs
The 4-Hour Chef -- 1.8 inches, 3.7 lbs
Total: 14.36 inches, 27.18 lbs

Total TBR shelf read (or given up on): 33.92 inches, 19.12 lbs
Actual space cleared: -12.76, +12.99 lbs
Net Loss (or gain!): -19.56 inches, -6.04 lbs

3MissWatson
jun 14, 2014, 4:22 pm

Welcome to the group! Interesting idea to measure your success in inches and pounds!

4rabbitprincess
jun 14, 2014, 5:18 pm

Welcome and good luck! I hope those two books turn up somewhere!

5Merryann
jun 21, 2014, 3:16 pm

Welcome!

The subject of book hoarding is an interesting one. As I finish reading your introduction I look around at the boxes of books on one side and the rapidly filling bookshelves on the other and I feel a great sense of relief that I seem to have figured out where I stand in the Keeping of Books. This was not easy, though.

I commend you on sorting it out for yourself and hope you have a great time with us here in ROOT! :)

6connie53
jun 29, 2014, 7:00 am

Welcome, R&R! I love your introduction.

7LadyBookworth
jul 3, 2014, 12:34 am

Hi ReflexandResolve
Welcome to the group.
And I can totally relate on losing books.- rearranged/played with their{book ordering last month and swear 3 books are missing! And I can't remember loaning them out!They must be hiding! No doubt in plain sight in one of them {cough} many {cough} stacks!

And one more thing -saw something really sad the other day. it's a show where strangers renovate and decorate your house. The couples bedroom was FULL of books. It was wonderful . at the end of the show NO books -not even shelves! So sad...My comment to my DH 'I hope there wasn't any really loved,
loved books in those piles!!"

ps I an not a book hoarder I am a book lover!! But I will admit I have stopped entering books in to Lt because of the number shown! {smile}

8Merryann
jul 10, 2014, 11:33 pm

>7 LadyBookworth: Really? Stopped entering them because the number is too LARGE? LOL! But...but...being on LT and talking about having lots of books is sort of like going to the Cocoa Convention and admitting to a love of chocolate. Not only do people understand, they're glad to hear it.

About the show: that's so sad. Already we have to put our public face on to function in the world (and that's only right, I have no problem with that)...but now we can't even let our own home be whatever we want it to be? It has to look like someone else's idea of what our home should be? And value what they think it should value (i.e. no books) instead of what we value? Phooey on that!

I like what StormRaven says in his blog, "When I run out of shelf space, I acquire more shelves." Very nice. :)

>2 reflexandresolve: How cool, Reflexandresolve: you've only just joined the group and already you're a quarter of the way to your goal! And it's pretty interesting to see your weights and inches turning into reality.

9reflexandresolve
aug 1, 2014, 9:03 pm

Okay, I think I'm finally caught up with how many books have gone into (or come out of) my apartment. It's funny that I've lost inches, but gained pounds! It's all the graphic novels. They're very tall, and not necessarily very wide (although the Gaiman is thick. I guess I'll have more room, just saggier shelves!

Onwards and upwards. I hope everyone is doing well with their goals!

10Merryann
aug 3, 2014, 2:10 am

I listed a Thea Stilton (sister to children's book hero Geronimo Stilton) book the other day. It's one of those books that's so lavishly illustrated it's almost a graphic novel. That book was like a brick! Amazing how that pretty, glossy paper has such impressive weight. :)

11Tess_W
aug 10, 2014, 6:51 pm

Hope your rooting is going well!

12Familyhistorian
aug 11, 2014, 11:39 pm

>10 Merryann: Glossy pages are heavy, aren't they. I seem to remember that the gloss is made by the addition of clay which accounts for the weight.

13connie53
aug 17, 2014, 3:01 pm

Happy reading, R&R!

14Merryann
aug 26, 2014, 8:36 pm

>12 Familyhistorian: How interesting! I did not know that. Thanks!