The other day I saw a reference to a zero-sum bookcase. I can't find it now, but the idea of a zero-sum bookcase is that you've read every single book you own. In the discussion I saw, it was pretty much taken for granted that no one had reached this state and the conversation was focused on how long it might take one to achieve such a thing, assuming no new books are bought and no other books re-read before it's over.
This intrigued me. I certainly have several books that I bought or was gifted and haven't gotten around to reading. There are a few I started reading, but never finished. So I decided to take stock and see how long I could theoretically stay occupied if I stopped buying books.
I'm not including textbooks, which I read sections of for classes but have never and will never read cover to cover. I am including books I was supposed to read for class, but never got around to. Mostly because I already sold the ones I actually have no intention of reading . I've also excluded several of Boyfriend's books, because there's a whole shelf full and I'm not really sure whether or not I'm interested in them. A lot were for classes he took in college.
This is actually a good time to do this as I haven't bought any new books for a while and this list mostly captures things that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A friend of mine got this for me just before I left for college because we're both huge Buffy nerds. Although it sat on my bookcase in my dorm room all through college, I never even attempted to read it. I might someday.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Okay, I've actually read most of this. The bookmark indicates that I made it to page 213 of 309, which isn't bad. I just put it down one day and never picked it back up. I'm not sure I will. I know the story and I read enough of the book to get the gist. There's a ton of French and German that I never understood. Besides which, it centers on an older man pursuing a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl and there's only so much of that I'm willing to read. I sort of waver back and forth between considering this book "read".
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare. This is a good book to own. I can reference things easily and it looks cool on my shelf. But it's not exactly something you just sit down and read. I'd be more likely to buy Dover editions of individual plays if I ever got the urge to read them. Which I kind of want to do for Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and a few others. Thus far, I've read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, King John and seen Macbeth performed.
The Iliad by Homer. I've read The Odyssey, which was a bit more to my tastes. Adventures on the high sea are more interesting than bloody battles. Also, we were supposed to read this in a week, which was a frightening prospect during my sophomore year of college when I was taking 18 credits. So I didn't quite finish it, though I still intend to one day.
Metamorphoses by Ovid. We read bits of this in my Classical Mythology class, but I'd still like to read all of it at some point. The Greek Gods are fascinating
The Voyage of the Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes. Another book I bought for Classical Mythology. I'm not sure if it was never assigned or if I ignored the assignment, but I have yet to read it. I really just need to go on a Greek myth kick at some point and knock these out. Maybe this year?
The Bible. I made it through Exodus. I'm still determined to read the whole thing at some point
The Koran. I bought this at the same time as the Bible. It's a book I'd like to have read, though actually reading it is proving less interesting.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. I'm not sure if I'll ever actually read this in it's entirety. It's about the Vietnam War and is broken into chapters that basically work as short stories. We read a chapter in a high school English class, but the copy we got there was censored. I forget if it was for language or violence or what, but entire passages were occasionally blacked out and it made me mad. So I bought the book with the chapter so I could read the uncensored version.
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. This is the ninth of eleven books in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I loved the series in high school, but I got so angry at the premise of this book that I only made it 100 or so pages in. I doubt I'll ever attempt it again, but there's a chance I will. So it stays with the rest of the collection.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I bought this shortly after rewatching Muppet Treasure Island a few years ago because I was motivated. I made it about four chapters in before I got distracted. Not long after, I decided to attempt it again and again got distracted about four chapters in. If I could only make it to the ship I'm sure I'd stick with this one to the end.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I just received this book for my birthday six months ago. It is entirely reasonable that I haven't gotten to it yet. It'll probably happen soon.
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft. Boyfriend's mom got me this for Christmas. I'll probably be picking at it for years. But it's also totally reasonable to have not read a book I've only owned for a week. Especially since I haven't been home for that week and this book is a beast. Not as beastly as The Complete Works of Shakespeare, but still difficult to cart across the country
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. This was a Christmas gift ages ago. Maybe a decade ago? Either way, I think I made it halfway through and then got distracted. That happens sometimes.
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I received this around the time the movies were coming out. But it was toward the end of my interest in Middle Earth which peaked during my junior year of high school. I don't think I've seen Return of the King since I saw it in theaters. However, that interest has recently been reawakened. I am currently re-reading Fellowship of the Ring and intend to come back to The Silmarillion once I finish Lord of the Rings
The Town That Forgot How the Breathe by Kenneth J Harvey. My friend bought this for me for All Hallow's Read and I've been having a difficult time getting into it. I'll read a few pages, get bored, and move on to something else. Then a week or so later I'll find myself wondering about the characters or plot. So I'll pick it back up and read a bit before getting bored again. I think this points to the book being a poor execution of an interesting idea.
This intrigued me. I certainly have several books that I bought or was gifted and haven't gotten around to reading. There are a few I started reading, but never finished. So I decided to take stock and see how long I could theoretically stay occupied if I stopped buying books.
I'm not including textbooks, which I read sections of for classes but have never and will never read cover to cover. I am including books I was supposed to read for class, but never got around to. Mostly because I already sold the ones I actually have no intention of reading . I've also excluded several of Boyfriend's books, because there's a whole shelf full and I'm not really sure whether or not I'm interested in them. A lot were for classes he took in college.
This is actually a good time to do this as I haven't bought any new books for a while and this list mostly captures things that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A friend of mine got this for me just before I left for college because we're both huge Buffy nerds. Although it sat on my bookcase in my dorm room all through college, I never even attempted to read it. I might someday.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Okay, I've actually read most of this. The bookmark indicates that I made it to page 213 of 309, which isn't bad. I just put it down one day and never picked it back up. I'm not sure I will. I know the story and I read enough of the book to get the gist. There's a ton of French and German that I never understood. Besides which, it centers on an older man pursuing a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl and there's only so much of that I'm willing to read. I sort of waver back and forth between considering this book "read".
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare. This is a good book to own. I can reference things easily and it looks cool on my shelf. But it's not exactly something you just sit down and read. I'd be more likely to buy Dover editions of individual plays if I ever got the urge to read them. Which I kind of want to do for Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and a few others. Thus far, I've read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, King John and seen Macbeth performed.
The Iliad by Homer. I've read The Odyssey, which was a bit more to my tastes. Adventures on the high sea are more interesting than bloody battles. Also, we were supposed to read this in a week, which was a frightening prospect during my sophomore year of college when I was taking 18 credits. So I didn't quite finish it, though I still intend to one day.
Metamorphoses by Ovid. We read bits of this in my Classical Mythology class, but I'd still like to read all of it at some point. The Greek Gods are fascinating
The Voyage of the Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes. Another book I bought for Classical Mythology. I'm not sure if it was never assigned or if I ignored the assignment, but I have yet to read it. I really just need to go on a Greek myth kick at some point and knock these out. Maybe this year?
The Bible. I made it through Exodus. I'm still determined to read the whole thing at some point
The Koran. I bought this at the same time as the Bible. It's a book I'd like to have read, though actually reading it is proving less interesting.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. I'm not sure if I'll ever actually read this in it's entirety. It's about the Vietnam War and is broken into chapters that basically work as short stories. We read a chapter in a high school English class, but the copy we got there was censored. I forget if it was for language or violence or what, but entire passages were occasionally blacked out and it made me mad. So I bought the book with the chapter so I could read the uncensored version.
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. This is the ninth of eleven books in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I loved the series in high school, but I got so angry at the premise of this book that I only made it 100 or so pages in. I doubt I'll ever attempt it again, but there's a chance I will. So it stays with the rest of the collection.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I bought this shortly after rewatching Muppet Treasure Island a few years ago because I was motivated. I made it about four chapters in before I got distracted. Not long after, I decided to attempt it again and again got distracted about four chapters in. If I could only make it to the ship I'm sure I'd stick with this one to the end.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I just received this book for my birthday six months ago. It is entirely reasonable that I haven't gotten to it yet. It'll probably happen soon.
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft. Boyfriend's mom got me this for Christmas. I'll probably be picking at it for years. But it's also totally reasonable to have not read a book I've only owned for a week. Especially since I haven't been home for that week and this book is a beast. Not as beastly as The Complete Works of Shakespeare, but still difficult to cart across the country
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. This was a Christmas gift ages ago. Maybe a decade ago? Either way, I think I made it halfway through and then got distracted. That happens sometimes.
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I received this around the time the movies were coming out. But it was toward the end of my interest in Middle Earth which peaked during my junior year of high school. I don't think I've seen Return of the King since I saw it in theaters. However, that interest has recently been reawakened. I am currently re-reading Fellowship of the Ring and intend to come back to The Silmarillion once I finish Lord of the Rings
The Town That Forgot How the Breathe by Kenneth J Harvey. My friend bought this for me for All Hallow's Read and I've been having a difficult time getting into it. I'll read a few pages, get bored, and move on to something else. Then a week or so later I'll find myself wondering about the characters or plot. So I'll pick it back up and read a bit before getting bored again. I think this points to the book being a poor execution of an interesting idea.
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