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And the library keeps growing

One of the things that Jason was kind enough to leave behind when he moved was an entire wall of empty bookshelves. These are short shelves that are attached the wall, and they've served as a way of keeping track of which books I have yet to read. (If I put all of my read and unread books together, I'd lose track of the unread ones.)

The deal is, my ongoing love of collecting (and reading) Stephen King hardbacks has ballooned into a full shelf and soon, two full shelves.

But how many of those books have I actually read? Well, I'm actually in the middle of reading A.J. Jacobs' fantastic The Year of Living Biblically after reading a number of short stories from King's Skeleton Crew collection. I want to pace myself here: read something by King, then read something by somebody else. I don't want any burnout here. And I want to read all of these books in a reasonable timeframe.

My new year resolution is still intact: I am reading more pages everyday compared to last year. Thankfully I'm reading something right now that I really enjoy and look forward to finishing (hopefully) this week.

What's funny about the growing number of unread King books is mainly due to my experience in hunting for rare books and CDs. If you see a copy of something you've never seen anywhere else and you want it, definitely get it then and there because there is very little guarantee that it's going to be there the next time you come to the store. So the fact that these King hardbacks are more than half price off and I'm not losing my proverbial shirt in the process, I figure it's a no-brainer.

What's even funnier is how easily tempting it is to pick up a King book found in a clearance shelf at a Borders, Barnes & Noble, or Half Price Books. I choose to pick up the books that I find interesting rather than go totally based on other people's opinions about what to read and what avoid. When stacks of From a Buick 8 are in good condition for one dollar a pop, I can't say no.

That said, I have taken some advice on books to read and which ones to avoid. Frankly, as much as I appreciate the advice on what to avoid, I enjoy picking up and reading books that sound enticing so I can form my own opinion. Maybe I should start a separate blog on this whole quest.

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