Booking Up My Ideas

Pottering through a well-known bookshop not too long ago, I had to stop and look at a book called Vanished Kingdoms which tells the histories of such forgotten duchies, kingdoms, empires and republics such as Rosenau, Sabaudia, Rusyn and Alt Clud.  Somehow I managed to avoid picking it up and introducing it to the swirling pool of books that I own and must read and it has instead joined the bottomless pit of my ‘wish list’.

Rather than find all my bits of paper, which I like to compile as it is seen as quaint by people into all of today’s technology, I decided to look at my Amazon wish list, last updated on Christmas Eve.  Exactly how I found the time on such a busy day I do not know as I remember the day clearly,  still there needs to be some mystery in the world I suppose.

Having culled 200 odd books off of said list sometime last year, the result now stands at 26 pages and 633 books still standing, that I  desire to read at some point (soon) in my life.  The list stretches back to 2005 and has, as you would expect of me, some diverse reading matter such as Lord Dufferin, John Wyndham, Dava Sobel, Flaubert and Kierkegaard to name some of the more well-known. Lets not  forget The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore or the many books have been recommended by you fine bloggers over the years, of which there have been many.

Rather than just taking a trip down memory lane, which is usually a nice thing, it has brought up the annoying thoughts that I will never be able to read all the books I wish too.  Even if I had a life of leisure, I couldn’t fit them all in, just saying I did though, this mortality would prevent me from rereading all of my favourite books again, it leaves me somewhat perplexed as to how to approach the whole situation.

Is it better to just live in ignorance and have pleasant surprises or to have reams of books that I stare at hoping one day to read them all whilst safe in the knowledge that I am buying books I do want.  Perhaps I am over thinking the whole situation and really I should just go wherever in my reading adventure as it will be as unique as yours.  It’s like the biggest Choose You Own Adventure book ever and nobody ever wins.

This little reflection has made me more determined than ever to read an excessive amount books, which is always a good thing as well as to get on with reviewing, some as well which it is high time I did.   A brief stop for today’s stage of the Tour de France and then I will be right back onto reading and also giving you the same conundrum as myself by stimulating your book buying urges.  it seems I am part of the problem after all, it is good to have choice though, that’s my argument and I’m sticking into it…so there.  Now excuse my whilst I try out this new fangled music things called Spotify that I promised to look at a year or so ago.