Bookshelf Zero

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A Sting in the Tale, Dave Goulson

June 16, 2017 - 87 out of 241 pages

To be completely honest, I started reading this book about a week before I devised this challenge. So as of today I am already about half-way through the book.

A Sting in the Tale is a nonfiction work in which author Dave Goulson tells us all his charming knowledge about bumblebees. Dave Goulson is the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a UK organization whose goals are to monitor and conserve bumblebees and their natural habitats.

Goulson packs a huge punch of bumblebee information into this tiny volume. The knowledge is weaved throughout his marvelous stories of bumblebee observation from childhood through professional research. He is as enamored with his travels as he is with his bumblebees. He rambles fluidly, making this book easy to pick up frequently, to be read in either a long or short sitting.

Overall impression: I truly adore this book, and would recommend it to anyone who is charmed by facts about bees.

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Bookshelf Zero reading list, 2017

June 16, 2017

Here are the books I currently own that I am challenging myself to finish (in no particular order) by December 31, 2017.

1. Catch-22, Joseph Heller (443 pages)

2. Against Equality, Ryan Conrad (245 pages)

3. The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King (266 pages)

4. White Teeth, Zadie Smith (448 pages)

5. Neuromancer, William Gibson (271 pages)

6. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison (206 pages)

7. Will Write For Food, Dianna Jacob (311 pages)

8. Missoula, Jon Krakauer (360 pages)

9. Homeland, Cory Doctorow (440 pages)

10. Almanac of the Dead, Leslie Marmon Silko (763 pages)

11. Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales, Barnes & Noble Collectible Edition (730 pages)

12. Black Panther Vol 3, Ta-Nehisi Coates (144 pages)

13. Mouse Guard Vol 1, David Petersen (144 pages)

14. Mouse Guard Roleplaying Guide (313 pages)

15. Beauty Is A Verb: The New Poetry of Disability, Sheila Black and Jennifer Bartlett (365 pages)

16. The Collected Stories, Isaac Bashevis Singer (610 pages)

17. A Sting In The Tale, Dave Goulson (241 pages)

18. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides (529 pages)

These 17 books come out to 6,829 pages. I’d better get started.

[bookshelfzero]

Starting Bookshelf Zero

June 16, 2017

This is the beginning of my new project, Bookshelf Zero. 

Similar to the concept of “inbox zero” I aim to have every book currently on my bookshelf read or accounted for by the end of 2017. Here are my rules:

1. Every book currently unread on my bookshelf must be read or donated by the end of 2017.

2. Every new book I acquire must also be read or donated by the end of 2017.

3. I must read at least one-quarter of the way through each book before deciding to donate it. I don’t believe in finishing books I don’t like. There are too many good books to waste time on uninspiring ones.

I’m not sure what I will do yet about books I receive for as birthday (October) or Christmas gifts, but I will update as soon as I decide on a fair rule.

I was inspired to start this project because of my love for the KonMari method. Marie Kondo believes that keeping unused (or unread) items can cause guilt and stress, and inhibit you from truly loving and appreciating the items (and life) that you have. The truth is, if there’s a book on my shelf that I don’t want to read right now, I’m not going to want to read it a week, a month, or a year from now.

Today is June 16th, 2017. I have almost exactly six months to complete this goal. I’ll see you at the end.