Okay–here was an interesting article by Christopher Schoppa in the Washington Post.
Avid readers know all too well how easy it is to acquire books — it’s the letting go that’s the difficult part. … During the past 20 years, in which books have played a significant role in both my personal and professional lives, I’ve certainly had my fair share of them (and some might say several others’ shares) in my library. Many were read and saved for posterity, others eventually, but still reluctantly, sent back out into the world.
But there is also a category of titles that I’ve clung to for years, as they survived numerous purges, frequent library donations and countless changes of residence. I’ve yet to read them, but am absolutely certain I will. And should. When, I’m not sure, as I’m constantly distracted by the recent, just published and soon to be published works.
So, the question is his: “What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?“
This is a hard question. I have 257 unread books. Actually, I have a few more than that, as there are some I didn’t have a chance to catalog before I left, but those were new, mostly bought for the purposes of my collection rather than for immediate reading. I never purge my unread books either. I probably should, but I intend to give them all a fair shot eventually, even if it takes me a few years. Some of the ones that have been sitting around:
- Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
- The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien
- Death of a Stranger, Anne Perry
- The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (I’ve read about half of these but have always meant to go back and read them all in an order)
- The Shelters of Stone, Jean M. Auel
- Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Antonia Fraser
- The Skystone, Jack Whyte
Those are probably the oldest that I have. The vast, vast majority of my unread books are from this year, so they haven’t been sitting around nearly as long. Typically, I haven’t brought any of these books with me to England. I do have some that I purchased in 2007 though, so I am getting to them slowly but surely. Should I be reading any of these books soon (or over Christmas break)?
What about you? Which books have been waiting patiently for you to read them?
Since it looks like it will be a while before I can read and review The Fire, I thought I’d put up a post about it in case you hadn’t heard of it. I’m waiting to acquire The Eight from interlibrary loan so that I can better understand this book, its sequel, and can give it a more educated opinion. If you’re already interested or for more info, go ahead and check it out 
. You can also wait for my review, which I hope to get up in a couple of weeks. I’m awaiting a few very exciting books in the mail, but I’ll put these first when The Eight comes in.
, which is what I’m doing!
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