Every reader I know confronts this issue: how many books can I realistically read in a year? A not unrelated matter: how many books shall I hold onto at one time? As with everything else in life, it's a matter of balance.
After several moves from place to place over the years, boxing books up, unboxing them and shelving them again and again, some time ago it seemed a better balance to keep the size of my library limited in scale. My balancing goal is to maintain a cap on the number of volumes at about 500. Beyond that, extra books must go back into the cultural stream.
I've come to that point again, having to choose which titles must be given up to make room for the new ones.
Above: T.Coraghessan Boyle, The Inner Circle (Viking, 2004).
Below are the other ones I'm sending back into the wider world at the weekend, so far. I enjoyed reading them, and hope others will, too, if they haven't already.
Marly Swick, Paper Wings -- Advanced Uncorrected Proof (1996).
Verso of Proof. Interesting tidbits include this: "$25,000 National Marketing Campaign" (can you imagine that now for a literary novel?); "National Advertising in Hungry Mind Review" and "Midwest Regional Author Tour." These days, authors must do a lot more to edit, publish and market their own work. Spent well, $25,000 would go a long way. 
Nanci Kincaid, Pretending the Bed is a Raft: Stories (Delta, 1997).
This was adapted into a good indie movie: Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me (2003), starring Sarah Polley, Deborah Harry (i.e. Debbie Harry), Maria de Medeiros, Mark Ruffalo and others.
Antonya Nelson, Female Trouble: A Collection of Short Stories (Scribner, 2002).
Antonya Nelson, Talking in Bed (Scribner, 1996).
Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith, Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life (2009).
Because I work in a large library, keeping the size of my personal book collection capped, though demanding diligence, does not require a major psychic sacrifice. Still, I'll miss having these volumes around.
Today's Rune: Partnership.
2 comments:
Cool but how do you do that--make Cairns along the side of the road and leave a sign saying "free to a good home."
Erik, I always have lots of books on backup. I read 'em and save the best for friends-the rest I donate. HOWEVER, I have a couple of book shelves with books I just cannot part with. I swear, they are like old friends with characters that I still sometimes think about.
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