What are you NOT reading?

[Retinend]

Which books are on your shelves that you are about to read, when you find the time? If you're anything like me, you've got loads, and always have loads:

This is my favourite author, Somerset Maugham: I have already read volumes 1 and 4, so it was a no-brainer to get 2 and 3 and, in the process, to complete this pretty collection:



I'll read the remainder really quickly if volumes 1 and 4 are anything to go by. He's the best.

I also know I will read this next one quickly when I get the time: it's George Martin's memoirs of the Beatles:



Ever read Roberto Bolaño's magnus opus 2666? This author is the inspiration for the character of Benno von Archimboldi. When I learned this, I went to read "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", which is now one of my favourites. This one has a very cool name: "the Death-Ship" (Ghost ship?).



What is the point of the phrase "Ex Libris", exactly?

Anyway, I have always loved Voltaire and the Enlightenment, and I read this slimline classic as a teenager, so it's a wonderful privilege to be able to read it now in the original French:




French paperbooks are the most lovely objects, just as lovely as the English Penguin Classics editions, or the little yellow Reklam paperbacks in Germany.

Speaking of Germany, this is a really cool book all about the city I now live in.  It's called "Berlin in the time of Bismarck and Bebel". Who's Bebel? But who cares; look at just how many illustrations it has (laid flat). And what a great black cover that is. I look forward to reading this one a lot, especially because I had never previously lived in a city that was important enough to merit reading a book about it.





These next two are really interesting to me: they tell the story of the de Védrines, who are a noble but .... gullible family who are, as a collective, taken in hook line and sinker by the con artist Thierry Tilly (bottom right) who convinces them that they are the victims of an illuminati plot and systematically strips them of their assets and sense of security.




This is my favourite kind of book for leaning languages: bilingual texts. What's more, this book comes with a CD with audio, so the possibilities are virtually endless with what you can do with a book like this in terms of language learning potential. That's a whole other topic.




If you couldn't tell by now, I am quite obsessively nerdy about languages, and in fact my second favourite kind of book for learning languages is this kind: a reference book of those curious cultural artefacts known as "sayings", "dictons", "Sprichwörter" and so on. In Spanish, "refranes" and the Spanish language has such a powerful natural meter that there is a sense of "found" poetry to any given page. The problem is that it is difficult to know how to read this type of book. Keeping it in the toilet is what I would like to do but I have no floorspace for books in there.



https://imgur.com/a/bczU09S

Please share your own piles of unread books

and do stay motivated enough to read them eventually!

Have you ever held on to a book for an absurd amount of time without reading it?

Are you guilty of having books that look good on a shelf but you know you will probably never actually read?

[Twit 2]

Yes, to both those last questions. Some of the books on my shelf I haven't read since buying them up to 15 years ago.

[bgmnts]

90% of my books actually.

[Retinend]

pictures!

[Blinder Data]

A while ago I thought I wanted to learn more about the Middle East so I got two books out of the library:





According to the stamps, I borrowed them in October 2018! Naturally since then I've barely looked at them, even though I've been renewing them every three weeks via the app to make sure I don't incur fees. I'll probably get another ticking off from the librarian if/when I ever bring them back.

That's not my best record though - I think I've managed to borrow a book for 3+ years without incurring late fees. God bless libraries, especially the kind-hearted staff who give me another round of renewals whenever I've exhausted my limit.

[Retinend]

I read this by the same author and this is its cover:



mine is the first edition and the following editions look like this:



https://imgur.com/a/sD9TrLY

[Ambient Sheep]

Loads, but the one that most comes to mind is House of Leaves.

[Famous Mortimer]

Loads, but the one that most comes to mind is House of Leaves.

It's dead good! If you have one of the versions with the coloured lettering inside, even better.