The Thing!

 

 I have just finished entering all my Ancient History books into Library Thing. The total for one small bookshelf is 146. These are my working books for my Crowhook History through Literature Project. It is amazing how rejuvenating a deep dive into my shelves can be. Half-formed projects step up and demand to be finished. Books you loved and thought would be crucial to the project are haughty with their feelings of abandonment. “Oh, book do not fear I will get to you someday.” Roughly a third of my ancient history books are on my “To Read” list. I was surprised by that I try to keep things within a certain tolerance and not to buy books I won’t, can’t get to, but Crowhook is a broad project. I’ve been through ancients the most, so plans change and resources are discovered and dropped. I also shop second-hand. Yes, on Amazon, but more effectively at the library store, yard sales, thrift stores, and anywhere else you can pick up books for a buck. I know what I’m shopping for, but the “weeds” that pop up at these sales are sometimes more of what I need than items I’ve carefully researched and bought online. I am prone to duplicates. I was so relieved that I could get through Plato by using The Death of Socrates that I absent-mindedly bought three copies. I will find them good homes do not worry.

I will say I am loving Library Thing. If you like to organize your books and keep track of what you’ve accrued, you will enjoy this tidy but intense organizer. It looks like and functions like the professional card catalog at my local library. It carries a significant amount of information for each entry and two systems for organizing by your preferences. My favorite bit has been that you get the exact cover of the edition you have, so you can say “Oh, there it is” whether looking through the shelf or the app. This is a grown up tool, and I’m the bookish amateur to make good use of it.