I was talking to a friend last night (checking if he wanted some old reference books I am moving on) when he said “I expect you’ll be finding books you bought twice as you go through tidying.”
“Ho, ho.” I thought. “I’m not that stupid.”
It seems I am. In fact more than one once. I brought a pile of books downstairs this morning, went through them and thought it was odd that I had a copy of Ruth Padel’s 52 Ways of looking at a Poem in the pile when I was sure i’d . . .
. . . and yes, there was a second copy in the bookshelf next to me, within arm’s reach. I’d looked at it within the last month, which was why I remembered seeing it.
Meanwhile, a few days ago I found a book case i didn’t know I had. Under the wall-mounted shelves that fill the top half of an alcove in the living room, hidden by the TV table and a cabinet of CDs, I noticed a bookshelf last week as i moved things round. It has books on it. So far I haven’t looked at them, or moved any furniture to get to them, as I have enough trouble with the books I already have available.
I’m pretty sure this is a sign that the hoarding is getting out of hand.
Somehow, I’m going to have to work the term tsundoku into this post. It’s a word that I have used before but, due to old age and an excess of books, had forgotten.
Meanwhile, looking for links, I find that I don’t just duplicate books, I duplicate the titles of posts.
The alarming thing, apart from the memory issues, is that I still have a lot of books that are used in the photos, and am still, years later, debating whether I should give them away . . .
Books, books and more books . . .
Finding an entire bookcase loaded with books is no small feat! I agree with Derrick, I do not envy you., Simon.
It’s a sad comment on my housekeeping standards . . . 🙂
A task I do not envy you
You’re not on your own there. My daughter came around the other day and decided to alphabetise my novels. Three copies of Hemingway – The old Man and the Sea. Double copies of various Thomas Hardy, James Joyce and John Steinbeck.
There are a lot more duplicators than I thought. I am now feeling better about myself. 🙂
So glad I could help.
🙂
We have had a few duplicates too.
🙂
I have done the same thing! So irritating.
Glad it’s not just me. 🙂