Library Liberation

If you enjoyed the reading lists that evolved over the years then you may be interested in those reading habits, and what happens next.

As we get closer to the scary days, to the final move, I need to crank up the efforts to downsize the library.  We realised from the outset that the Peelhill Library far exceeded the Portknockie Space.  Some of the bookcases themselves will not fit in, lower ceilings.  The cull has been underway for some time.  It is not unlike having your pet cat euthanised in old age; burying your pony.  Not quite as bad as the aftermath of the fox gaining entry to the hen house.  Emotional turmoil.

Over the years it became more than reading for pleasure.  It became collecting.  Authors and series.  Volumes read in paperback became a quest for the first edition hardback; for the collection.  Those paperbacks were the first go.  In the cull.  Those hardbacks the first to make the move.  To be kept.

There has been a gleaning.  Many, many volumes have filled bags and boxes; been given to reading friends, friends of friends; handed to charity outlets, typically those that maintain a local book exchange rather than for financial gain.  There has been a consistent presence on eBay, slow though that is and a time-consuming pain in the proverbial to have them hosted in the first place far less issues with packaging and getting to the post.  There are occasional book fairs, when space is available at The Botanics.  That too can be turgidly slow, sales covering table hire and rarely making up for the effort of pricing and packing, travelling.

Reading habits have had to change.  I finally succumbed to the e-reader.  Since then my reading habits have changed.  The current volume is read number 159 of 2026.  Fiction now far exceeds non-fiction, in  numerical terms.  I rattle through crime.  And with Kobo (avoiding anything to do with that other online outlet) I get twice as many books for my money.

Too much time, especially having retired from business.  Much though is down to too little sleep; those hours of wakefulness.  And that's another area where the Kobo comes into its own - no need for a light that disturbs the bedfellow.  More reading time.

It was only relatively recently that crime fiction became a bit of an addiction - you will see the changes through the years scrolling through those lists.  That followed my viewing habits.  Walter Presents, Friday nights; on Saturdays BBC4, following The Killing and The Bridge.  Now it's all catch-up, on 4 and on Prime (yes I know, but it's not my subscription).  Scandi noir, subtitles; and French and Belgian, Dutch and German; Canadian and Icelandic.  

On the bookshelves it was Lars Kepler, then Hakan Nesser and Jussi Adler-Olssen.  From Iceland Ragnar and Yrsa, Eva Bjorg and Lilja.  Page turners.  Eventually I succumbed to Scottish crime, widened the net.  Ken Lussey took me to many familiar places; as did Douglas Skelton, and not forgetting Allan Martin.  Hania Allen joined the fray, some added culture.  Mari Hannah took me to the Northumbria coast, hard hitting police procedurals. 

I was late to the Peter May phenomenon, sadly recently deceased and with a final volume due out in February.  St Kilda; a must read.  I have read all of his output, covering the Hebrides and France, and now enjoying his China series. 

The e-reader took over the crime reading.  But for the beautiful writing, for travel, which I used to read extensively; and nature, which is now my prime interest, and even increasing amounts of poetry - well that reading is done in hard copy, preferably hardback.  Beautiful books, to keep, to treasure.  To collect.  Those are the ones that will make the trip to the north east.  That need shelf space to be found.

Having read through those two posts with reading lists from old blogs the changes to my reading preferences over the years are there for all to see.  The annual lists cover 2010 through to 2026.  As travel diminishes, or becomes more selective as I might put it, so nature features more often.  And fiction enters the fray, typically crime.  I'll keep those lists going, probably continuing the page at LBM.  If I'm still here another decade or so from now we might see reading habits evolve further.

As to the move, from Peelhill to Portknockie, then we're getting there.  Shelving is taking shape, filling up.  The ones that definitely move with us have moved.  The ones that definitely won't have been donated, a few sold.  Now we have to be selective.  And I need to consider the collections of others, for I am by no means the only reader in the household.  It will get tense.  And time is running.  Quickly.

Culling books.  Unclean.  Unworthy.  Never fun.