How Many Books on Your Shelf Have You Not Started?

[Pierre Menard]

I was looking at my shelf today and realized due to my inability to NOT buy a book when in a bookstore, I now have about 25 books on my shelf that I haven't started yet, not including some poetry and short story collections that are currently unfinished. The negative being I feel the need to rush through books to read them all, so I've had to make a concerted effort to slow down.

How many books on your shelf are not started?

[togre]

Well...In my bedroom are 2 pre-fab 5-shelve bookcases. So I have 10 shelves of books. About 3.5 to 4 shelves are books I have read (and intend to keep), 1 shelf is "these are the next books I need to read" and the remaining 5 shelves contain around 2 shelves worth of books I realistically will never read (reference books, slightly out-dated professional material, one massive historical set) but which I still desire to possess.

Because I am a book acquirer, I always have a tension once I've finished a book--do I keep it or do I discard it so I have more room? Usually I keep books that I either intend to reread at some point, that I would like to be able to lend to someone else or that I view as "classics" or at least improve the overall quality of my book trove.

[mal4mac]

Buy cheap paperbacks is the solution! Read them once and then give them away rather than lending, give them to charity if there are no takers amongst your friends.

[victorianfan]

Oh, too many.

[PoeticPassions]

Not that many.. but I have quite a few that I have started and not finished. Either because I just could not get through them, got distracted, or haven't had time.

[Emil Miller]

I seldom buy more than one book at a time and all of the books that I own have been read at least once with the exception of couple that were not as readable as they might have been and remain half finished. I don't see the point in buying a book and not reading it at all.

[B. Laumness]

I seldom buy more than one book at a time and all of the books that I own have been read at least once with the exception of couple that were not as readable as they might have been and remain half finished. I don't see the point in buying a book and not reading it at all.

Same for me, except it happens I buy three or four books in one time when I order them on Amazon (free delivery over 20 €). Over 1 500 books of my library, I think I have read entirely 90 or 95 % of them, the rest being unfinished generally because I did not like the first half.

[mal4mac]

Same for me, except it happens I buy three or four books in one time when I order them on Amazon (free delivery over 20 €). Over 1 500 books of my library, I think I have read entirely 90 or 95 % of them, the rest being unfinished generally because I did not like the first half.

Check out bookdepository.co.uk, they are often cheaper than amazon and offer free worldwide delivery even if you just buy one book - may change as amazon just bought them out!

[JBI]

I purchased early a very wide Chinese library, hundreds of books - the modern ones I can more or less get through with occasional use of a dictionary, but the classical Chinese ones vary from difficult to extremely difficult, so I only read them in short bursts, maybe one or two poems at a time, or one or two sections at a time.

[togre]

I don't see the point in buying a book and not reading it at all.

I don't see a point in it, but it happens. To be fair, most of my unread books I label as "unread yet" even while admitting that may not be entirely accurate.

Most of my unread books come from over-eager shopping. Bookstore, particularly used bookstores, are meant to be roamed. If the prices are good or the selection poor a person is apt to purchase a book on the edge of one's zone of interest.

Between the over acquisition and the finite nature of time, I would be saddened if I had no unread books. But that's me :)

[Dark Muse]

I am a bit of an addict when it comes to both buying and reading books so I cannot stop myself from buying more books than I can possibly read, though it is still with the intent to read them. I plan on reading as many of them as possible within my lifetime.

At present I own just over 300 (I do not know the exact number) books which I have not yet read.

[Stewed]

About 200. My eyes are bigger than my stomach when it comes to nonfiction.

[ladderandbucket]

Seems like a dangerous habit. If I started buying every book which took my fancy I would soon run out of space and money. Would be nice though. If I ever become rich I will have a huge library full of books I have not read.

[Stewed]

I'm bad with money and pretty poor. The book buying habit has helped dig my hole but it's also been a source of money when I've run out. But this probably proves your point, as I'm out of space and money.

[Desolation]

16.

I've gotten better in my book buying habits, and I try to keep it down to things that I will actually read in the near future. I'm poor as poor can be, but I still spend a lot of whatever money I do get on books. This habit has, on the one hand, taken a toll on my funds for food and such, but it has also kept me from going insane over my poverty. Seems worth it to me.

[Stewed]

I'm trying to use the library more. It's funny, though; it's the books I read right away that keep me from going crazy. The books I lined up for erudition, when I finally do read them, maybe improve me somehow but never provide any emotional stimulus.

[Desolation]

It's not so much lining up my shelf with books that I'm not reading that has kept me from going crazy, it's more the knowledge that I'm not so poor that I can't afford the simple comfort of buying books every once in a while. You know what I mean?

I think that if I really hit rock bottom and couldn't so much as afford a $10 book, I'd start to feel completely hopeless.

[stlukesguild]

I now have about 25 books on my shelf that I haven't started yet...

:rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5:

I must have 25 books I haven't started on my computer table alone... we won't even talk about on the shelves.

[Vonny]

It's not so much lining up my shelf with books that I'm not reading that has kept me from going crazy, it's more the knowledge that I'm not so poor that I can't afford the simple comfort of buying books every once in a while. You know what I mean?

I think that if I really hit rock bottom and couldn't so much as afford a $10 book, I'd start to feel completely hopeless.

I can relate. Absolutely!

Why does this post, and this "Desolation" name, make me laugh my head off??!!

I have soo many books I've not read! Books are the one thing that swamps me. I have no idea how many.

Whether I read them or not, (and most of them I haven't yet) they're my security blanket.

"Always Trying", hehe! That's me!

[Pierre Menard]

16.

I've gotten better in my book buying habits, and I try to keep it down to things that I will actually read in the near future. I'm poor as poor can be, but I still spend a lot of whatever money I do get on books. This habit has, on the one hand, taken a toll on my funds for food and such, but it has also kept me from going insane over my poverty. Seems worth it to me.


Reading > Food


I now have about 25 books on my shelf that I haven't started yet...

:rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5: :rofl: :smilielol5:

I must have 25 books I haven't started on my computer table alone... we won't even talk about on the shelves.

Haha, in fairness, I've only just started building my collection over the last year and a half. :p

[Jassy Melson]

I have no books on my shelves that I haven't read, due mainly to the fact that I can find most any book I want to read on the 'net. I had read about a hundred books that I have on my shelves, then the internet came along. I stopped buying books and began reading what I was interested in on the 'net.

[Bill 42]

I have 113 unread books that I plan on reading, and another that I've started.

What does the winner win? The complete works of Anthony Trollope? Agatha Christie?

[mal4mac]

I'm trying to use the library more. It's funny, though; it's the books I read right away that keep me from going crazy. The books I lined up for erudition, when I finally do read them, maybe improve me somehow but never provide any emotional stimulus.

I just got rid of a lot of "books lined up for erudition". These included some Bibles, Hume's Treatise, other 'hard' philosophy books, some Physics textbooks. I felt a great relief! Now I can look at my bookshelf, without *too much* trepidation (that Martin Amis novel might be a turkey...)

What do you mean by "emotional stimulus"? Do you mean they are a "good read", as opposed to being "as boring/harrowing as a taxman disecting your finances"?

Have you tried reading Montaigne (Screech Translation, Penguin) or Seneca's Essays (Oxford Classics)? I'd give them top marks for erudition, readability, and stop-you-going-crazyness.



I think that if I really hit rock bottom and couldn't so much as afford a $10 book, I'd start to feel completely hopeless.

Borrow Montaigne and Seneca from the library...

[kiki1982]

Not too many fiction... About ten? Small pile.

Non-fiction however... We just buy to have, not to read. Or some of them I try to read, but they never get finished. I get bored with non-fiction...

[marcolfo]

just 1

my mom put it there, it's called 'the bible' or something like that

[Scheherazade]

Don't forget to visit this thread, ye sinners!

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44663

[country doctor]

the doc's got numerous books that he hasn't got to yet...he just keeps buying them at the various used book sales and doesn't worry about when he's gonna get to them...at his two residences, he's got enough to read for at least six months before it would be re-read time...

and though he's got two or three books going at all times, right now many of those books are checked out at the library...

can't imagine ever having the shelves close to having all been read...ever...

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=mal4mac;1081548] Now I can look at my bookshelf, without *too much* trepidation (that Martin Amis novel might be a turkey...) QUOTE]


Might ????

[tinybore]

I've got 9. And I feel very guilty because of that. But at least I got options :)

[TheFifthElement]

Last time I counted I had 93 but that was before I bought a load of new books. So probably something in the hundreds now. I get around to them (eventually).

[OrphanPip]

Maybe a couple, I'm not really a buy and not read sort of person. I've got the most recent John Irving novel I never got around to, and maybe a few more I bought on a whim and never had the will to tackle.

That's not counting my science and math text books that are left over from university, I never read those from cover to cover, but I do still occasionally find uses for them to check some facts.

[stlukesguild]

There is a line in Verlaine I shall not recall again,
There is a street close by forbidden to my feet,
There's a mirror that's seen me for the very last time,
There's a door that I have locked 'til the end of the world.
Among the books in my library (I have them before me)
There are some that I shall never open now.
This summer I complete my fiftieth year;
Death is gnawing at me ceaselessly.

Julio Platero Haedo: Inscripciones (Montevideo, 1923)

-Jorge Luis Borges, Dreamtigers (The University of Texas, 1964)

So many books, so little time. Borges knew that Mallarme's declaration, La chair est triste, hélas! et j'ai lu tous les livres, was little more than hyperbole.

[Emil Miller]

So many books, so little time. Borges knew that Mallarme's declaration, La chair est triste, hélas! et j'ai lu tous les livres, was little more than hyperbole.


He probably meant all the books that he wanted or needed to.

[mal4mac]

[QUOTE=mal4mac;1081548] Now I can look at my bookshelf, without *too much* trepidation (that Martin Amis novel might be a turkey...) [QUOTE]
Might ????

I haven't read Amis for many years, didn't reckon much to "London Fields". But I just tried to read "The Pregnant Widow" - now that's the definition of Turkey. "Time's Arrow" is quite short though - I'll give the guy another chance ... da*n that Borders sell off...

[Stewed]

I love Montaigne! I wish I still had the essays around; I gave them away because I wanted someone else to read them.

Hume definitely falls into the dreadful erudition category, although he's still sitting on the shelf. I almost feel I'd be more willing to finish the damned thing if I could sell it, and buy it again when I want to read it. (Which I never will, unless I'm given a new attention span.) I remember getting about a third of the way through the King James bible; I think the idea was that I'd then be an expert reader of William Blake, and a lot else. Exodus seemed to go on forever. All that sacrificial minutia, oh my god!

I like Martin Amis.

About affording a ten dollar book. Yeah, it is pretty depressing when you can't afford that. Buying second hand books seems to be one of the main ways I express a good mood.

[Helga]

I only have about 400 books and of the novels I have to admit there are like 20 I haven't read...

[varnish7]

I have somewhere between 30-35 regular books that I haven't read yet. Added to that are what have to be hundreds of books that I have downloaded on my e-reader. My problem is that I have wide variety of subjects that sound interesting to me--both fiction and nonfiction. Also, I'm very indecisive when it comes to what I want to read next. I just keep thinking that I want to read everything by a certain author or belonging to a particular genre, and changing my mind every five minutes. Sometimes, I do start actually reading a book, and if I like it I'll try to get every book I can that remotely resembles it in some way. Of course, by the time I finish the book; I'm ready to move onto another kind of book. This starts the whole process over again. I've just started a new method for deciding what to read involving a random number generator, which I hope will at least eliminate some of the anxiety of not being able to decide what to read next.

[TheChilly]

Lost... count...

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

A rough estimate would put it at 200 +/-.
The majority of our library is composed of books inherited from the passing of parents and grandparents. Several books were claimed by siblings, but I ended up with the bulk of the libraries. I have been chipping away at the bound provenance one book at a time, but it is a slow process due to competition with reading new books I purchase.

.

[stlukesguild]

So many books, so little time. Borges knew that Mallarme's declaration, "La chair est triste, hélas! et j'ai lu tous les livres", was little more than hyperbole.

He probably meant all the books that he wanted or needed to.

No... this was from the beginning of a poem in which Mallarme was establishing the same sort of Modern ennui or boredom that we find in many of Baudelaire's poems or Delacroix's (and Byron's) Sardanapalus.

[Can]

I've 4 books. One of them is by Jules Verne. I have read of his books except the Meteor Hunting.

[blondiemcfi]

I have so many books unread on my shelf it's quite embarassing.
I have an obsessive book buying problem (I also have it for DVDs) which means that regardless of the fact I have more than I can count still to read I can't help but buy more in a panic that I'm going to run out one day! I tried being brave and giving some that I really don't read anymore away to charity to make some space but that just increased my need to buy more! And now I have literally no spare space on any shelves. I am now forced to putting books in my drawers.. Plus I usually borrow the full amount on my library card as well. I have a problem. :rolleyes5:

[CarpeNixta]

That I need to read just 2, one of Lope de Vega and another one of my sisters gave me (haven't even see the name)
I don't keep all the books I read, just the classics and my favourites, the rest I put them in a box and every time my nephews need a book for their school libraries I give those to them.

[gruntingslime]

Quite a lot, my bookshelf has sort of become my lending library. It mostly stems from a desire to read much more than I am capable of reading in a realistic time period. Although I could and perhaps should be reading now. I'm off to the library, toodles.

[Vladimir777]

Way too many to even begin counting. My current bookshelf at my apartment is currently filled with books that I haven't read yet. The ones I have read I tend to keep back at my parent's house, because I can't fit everything in this cramped apartment.

I need to get on reading all this stuff, but because I'm trying to read the cornerstones of Western lit. lately (the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Homer, etc.), it can be kinda slow going, and I've neglected a lot of the other non-classic-literature books on my shelf. Oh well, I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right now for a book club, and God, it's definitely not slow reading.

[JuniperWoolf]

Zero, I can't afford to buy books that I don't really, really want to read. Also I move around a lot, and carting a bunch of books with me would be a huge hassle.

[Drkshadow03]

Easily over 300. Some of the books are my wife's, though, and she has read them so it's not like they're just sitting there unread. I counted anything on our bookshelves that I haven't read.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Seventeen. I keep all my unread books separate from my read books. I'm also like what others have said, in that I don't buy books that will not eventually get read. I buy my books in bulks though. My last order was about 40 books from Amazon, and 17 of those are left. My cart right now is about 20 books full. And that's not counting the ebooks I read.

[chrisvia]

I keep all my unread books separate from my read books.

I do the same thing! To answer the OP's question directly: I have 39 unread books. There are 3 books that I have started and abandoned over and over: Catch-22, The Naked and the Dead, and The Sot-Weed Factor. One day, they will move shelves!

[Climacus]

A handful for me . . . maybe four or five.

[Fafnir]

A lot. It's quite embarrassing...
I have a pretty packed reading schedule on my university course, but I still get the urge to buy books thinking there'll be time to fit them in. There isn't, of course, so they stack up pretty quickly.

[j.hart]

Probably between 5-10! I just can't seem to get to them though... I end up reading 2 or 3 at a time (other books)... =)

[ClaesGefvenberg]

How many books on your shelf are not started?Usually just one or two: I try to build a cache to avoid that I have nothing to read panic, but I keep depleting it, so I fail miserably most of the time. Right now, however, Christmas arrived early. A work mate was about to throw away a couple of bags worth of books, and gave me the opportunity to have a look at them first....

You guessed it? Yes, of course I hogged the lot, which contained quite a few gems. Thus, for once I have a stash. :hurray: Not for long though: I have already made a dent in the heap.

/Claes