A Geek's Holiday, or Toil and Truth
This weekend, I was thinking that I'd like to read "Things Past" by Michael Sadlier, and I was considering buying it from a used book store. Then, I had a glimmer of an idea that I had already bought it. But I couldn't be sure, and I didn't feel like looking through all my books to find out.
That state of confusion led me to take on a new project -- to create an excel spreadsheet listing all of my books. At first, I thought it was going to be a chore that I would take up shelf-by-shelf as time permitted, but I was amazed at how I became so enveloped in the project, spending twelve hours over Saturday and Sunday to complete it. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and I could spend hours immersing myself in some complex but meaningless project like drawing maps or creating a fake corporation (similar to one of Scott's remembrances over on the Baseball Stand.)
And the good thing is now I know, at the touch of a button, every book I own. Here are some statistics:
Number of books: 482
Number of books owned & read: 262 (54%)
Oldest book: Table Talk by Hazlitt, 1845
Most recently published book: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, 2004
Book I've owned the longest, but haven't read: The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (bought in 1984)
Most common authors: Rhoda Broughton (35), Anthony Trollope (29), George Moore (19), Hamlin Garland (15), Sir Walter Scott (14)
Most common publishers: Macmillan (34), Harper & Bros. (25), Penguin (25), Bernhard Tauchnitz (21), Knopf (16), Univerisity of Chicago (15), D. Appleton & Co. (15), Oxford (15)
Favorite Title: Seed-Time and Harvest; or During My Apprenticeship, by Fritz Reuter
That state of confusion led me to take on a new project -- to create an excel spreadsheet listing all of my books. At first, I thought it was going to be a chore that I would take up shelf-by-shelf as time permitted, but I was amazed at how I became so enveloped in the project, spending twelve hours over Saturday and Sunday to complete it. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and I could spend hours immersing myself in some complex but meaningless project like drawing maps or creating a fake corporation (similar to one of Scott's remembrances over on the Baseball Stand.)
And the good thing is now I know, at the touch of a button, every book I own. Here are some statistics:
Number of books: 482
Number of books owned & read: 262 (54%)
Oldest book: Table Talk by Hazlitt, 1845
Most recently published book: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, 2004
Book I've owned the longest, but haven't read: The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (bought in 1984)
Most common authors: Rhoda Broughton (35), Anthony Trollope (29), George Moore (19), Hamlin Garland (15), Sir Walter Scott (14)
Most common publishers: Macmillan (34), Harper & Bros. (25), Penguin (25), Bernhard Tauchnitz (21), Knopf (16), Univerisity of Chicago (15), D. Appleton & Co. (15), Oxford (15)
Favorite Title: Seed-Time and Harvest; or During My Apprenticeship, by Fritz Reuter
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