Stack status

2026 seems to be very much like 2025 and several years preceding. All stacked up and nowhere to shelve.

This is what we're dealing with. Vertical arrangements to maximise space. Titles that have been here in excess of multiple years. Four of these arrived as Christmas presents in the last week. 

And it's not even all the unread books in the house. Bedside cabinet, shelves in the lounge... The bibliophilia is real and enduring, but I'm getting uneasy about it.

It isn't the first time this has happened. The Great Cull of 2018 saw 14 boxes of books moved on with love, a radical overhaul of a lifetime holding them close, building walls, a fortress deep and mighty. Howl's castle had to move.

The problem, book aficionados will recognise, is that all of these volumes made their way here for some reason. One doesn't simply bring books in on a whim. 

         Well okay yeah one does, but mainly they're all validated and subject to, er, strict critical scrutiny processes. And fairness! Why trust one passing fancy and not another?

 Anyway, yeah, the piling up is generating unease. A more concise reading programme is required. Strategy-wise, this will mean a blend of:

Dave's Project Rule

 If the books were procured to aid some Future Project and this Project is, realistically, unlikely to begin within six months - move them on. (Thanks Dave)

The 30 Page Rule

If it's not happening after 30 pages, move on (variant on various writers' 20—50 page rules).

And, well, reading, reading, reading. Last year it was about 36 books, which should see most of this pile reduced in 12 months, unless anything, y'know, whimsical happens.

Right, that's the terrain. Now, back to the freshly-returned Apology podcast, where Henry Rollins has been on 12 minutes and I've already noted down five must-get titles.