The Great Migration

I have turned a small bedroom on the top floor of the house into another library – an annex to the main library downstairs. I still don’t have all the bookcases that I need but things are more ordered and look better organized. Yet I miss the clutter of stacked books on the floor and every conceivable flat service – there is comfort and familiarity there. But given my acquisition habits, it won’t be long until I’m back sidestepping the book piles on the floor again.

Ongoing, I want to be able to provide news from the bookshelves; good books that I have read and recommend as well as discussion on the various awards that occur throughout the year – Nobel, Pulitzer, Mann Booker and Giller. I will keep a log of all the books that I’ve approached, those that exceeded expectations and those that failed. I’ll also give my very personal view on current literary trends and themes to be freely challenged and thoroughly debated.

I currently have some 4000 volumes and was quite pleased until I read that Umberto Eco had 50,000. I will continue to build my library until I pass and trust that at least one of my heirs inherits my passion.