The Books In My Room

Right off the bat I should let you know that my collection of books isn't varied, and it isn't sophisticated.  It isn't even intentional so much as it is leftover.

A couple years ago I got into some legal trouble and, frustrated, made the decision that in a worst-case-scenario I was going to move and try to start over somewhere new.  In an effort to be prepared, I set about reducing my holdings.  I emptied my stored furniture into a co-worker's kitchen and living room.  I sold DVDs.  I got rid of clothes.  I began the long and ongoing process of digitizing my collected papers.

Most painfully, I emptied my bookshelves and sold the majority of my books.  What remained after the decimation was a stack of things I hadn't yet had a chance to read or was unwilling to part with for being just too darned good.  I bought a Kindle, opting to build a digital library which could be easily transported in a quick-move situation.

Then things worked out (as well as they can when you're a jackass and you get into trouble) and I didn't end up moving.  I estimate I had reduced my stock of books to somewhere between 30 and 40 physical volumes.  That number is now 139 after another 2 years constantly picking up something else that seems desperately interesting to me.

Fair Warning?  It's mostly Science Fiction/Fantasy.  If you haven't yet checked out my LibraryThing listing, I have broken it down into an easily digested chart.

Now, I'm not a professional mathematician, but any time one wedge of your pie chart is clearly trying to devour the rest, I think it is safe to say that's significant.

The Horror category gets a boost because I can't help but love Stephen King and the general Fiction category is getting some padding from titles like 1984 and 2666, which just can't be called Sci-Fi because it isn't ladylike.*

If you were hoping that I might be undertaking this blog to enlighten my fellow man on works of great literature, I gotta believe that the pie chart is dousing your mood a bit.  If, however, you were hoping to hear an idiot talk about Star Wars or Star Trek, you're in capable hands, Friend.




*Not a good explanation for why those books are not considered Sci-Fi.**
**Understatement