Book Backlogs: The Never Ending Story

Old Post from Laptop last January,

I admit that I’m starting at a pretty slow pace in bringing my book logs down this January. I’m not entirely panicking that this is happening though since my 2014 jumpstarted in quite a positive note at work coming from a 3-week Christmas vacation. What did I expect? Work came in like a non-stopping train full of goal setting, expectations and dealing with pretty deluded people to achieve greatness this year.  Mostly the first few weeks of January were spent in resting and setting things back to a decent normalcy. That would probably be the reason why I don’t have enough leisure time to fully enjoy a high-speed reading experience not like last December. But I’m still pretty optimistic. It’s still January and I still have a full year to bring the book logs down. I'm not in a race, but one of my goals this year is to read as much, hopefully devise a worthy personal library scheme and bring the book logs down.

Reading as much is not a problem. I am addicted to books. I read almost anything. I have a good supply of unread books at home and resources on hand to get me to read. I have time (mostly) and I can easily swap my social life to a couple of hours of reading.

Devising a worthy library is still ongoing. I thought I would be able to nail this last December, but well at least I started. I purchased a newly improved log book and I’m searching for free library software I can get my hands into. If not, there’s always Microsoft Access or Excel.  This will be a long and ongoing process. I need to find shelves and space, but I’m getting there.

Bringing my book backlog down…well that is a never ending story. And probably the only never ending story that bibliophiles and bookworms can relate to.

Roughly speaking, just by looking at my tower of books, a couple of paper bags underneath my desk full of books, two bedside drawers full of books and some stash of books secretly and subtly placed in my brother’s shelves….I roughly have a 200 book backlog. Okay, maybe around 300-400 if you count the neatly placed books at my shelf that were bought 5 years ago. And I’m afraid I’m not exaggerating. My room had become a storage room with a bed. You wouldn’t even think someone (a girl) sleeps in there. My parents haven’t seen my room lately and I would know if they did because they will freak out.

Friends and family would say that I have enough books to read in a lifetime. That is very true. I won’t contest that, but to say NOT to buy books is an ongoing challenge. The truth is, bibliophiles and book lovers would always have a reason to buy good books whether they need to or not. Any normal person would see it as an addiction and irrational behavior, but we all have our own quirks. This is ours.

I buy books because I would want to read them someday and that someday may come any day so I need to have them. That’s always a mental security of mine. There’s always this nagging feeling in me that I need to have a good collection and supply of books because I’ll never know when the mood and the need will arise. I know this sounds pretty neurotic but I need endless options and extensive supply of books within my reach. If one day I wake up and decide to jump into a good fantasy novel, I have a couple of Patrick Rothfuss, Terry Pratchett and R. Heinlein to buzz me up. (Yes, I haven’t read any of their works yet, but I have some of their works already). Or if I’m feeling Sci-Fi, even if it’s rare, I do have George Orwell or Aldous Huxley. If I’m feeling historical fiction, contemporary or romance (Yes, I do have my own humble collection of Deveraux, Litton, Coulter) or probably I can always delve into classics, horrors and mainstream formula best sellers. I encouraged my brother to read so I can share with him the young adult fiction that’s become so popular and comforting. The point is, I need to have the right books within my grasp. Call it hoarding. I call it collecting.

But unfortunately I’m already lacking space and I’m struggling enough as it is in fixing my library without additional books coming in. It already comes a point that I’m too overwhelmed or I really can’t distinctly remember the books that I’ve bought. There’s a great need to organize my life and my book shelf. And one way of doing that is by putting control in my book expenditures. There should be a constant effort on my part to NOT buy so much books until I get my book backlogs to at least a manageable level (Like a hundred probably). It’s time to explore my library more than ravage bookstores. If every week I tend to buy 10 books or if by every pay day I get to splurge, probably I can only limit to at least 2 books per pay day.  Control against book splurging is an ongoing process.

So this post is a testament that I recognize the need to organize my shelf, read more (better pace) and to consciously control myself in purchasing books on an impulse. This is not to say that I won’t buy books, that’s a serious unnecessary withdrawal, but I’m just saying that I won’t need to buy 10 books per week or not every trip to the bookstore constitutes buying something. I need to practice control and backlog management. This officially starts now.