Membrelestermay

Too many books for a London flat - what to do when one runs out of bookshelf space?

As at 6 Aug 2023, my records on LibraryThing showed that I had read 604 books, just 16.7% of my library. At the start of 2023, it was a coincidence that the 572 books I'd then read were made up of 286 books read in the last century (from 1971), and 286 books read in this century.

Of course, my record of books read in the early years of my life are very much inaccurate, especially as the first year for which I have a record is 1971, when I was twenty years old - no record of books read at school, for example, and I can't remember the title of one book we had to read at grammar school (I did not enjoy English Literature at school and failed the O-Level examination). The first books that I can definitely say I owned are from 1965 and 1966 (my mid-teens) and that from 1966, Collision Course by Alvin Moscow, a school prize, is still in my library. A clue as to the books I first owned is that I covered the dust-jacket with sticky-back fablon, one such being The Mary by Neil Potter and Jack Frost.

Not only did I not enjoy English Literature at school - our master for that subject was no inspiration to me - but we were not taught properly how to read poetry, either. A love of poetry was discovered in 1972 when a Cadet at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth (Devon, England) - I was 21 years of age.

By 31 Oct 2023, I had read 615 books in my 72 years plus on the planet, in 2023 some 39 books so far. From age 14 in 1965 - exactly 700 months on 18 Aug 2023 - that's an average of nearly 14 books a year over those 58+ years. At this rate, with some 3,000 books 'unread' in my library - many of them reference books, of course - I need to live for another 215 years! My 'read rate' is a little better this century, and considerably better since 'retirement' at 65 – I have read an average of 23 books in each of the seven years from 2017-2023 (to 31 Oct 2023) > perhaps I need to live for only 115 or so more years!

Retired naval officer and plc director living in Camden Town, north London, since 1983; in the manner of the TV adverts, I was Born in north London but Made in the Royal Navy. Now a writer, historian and campaigner on naval and maritime affairs and local affairs.

Interests include naval and maritime history, local history and family history and the history of London.

Researching for various projects: Naval and Maritime Chronology, Index of British Admirals and Royal Marines Generals, History of HMS Wager (1944), A Guide to the Royal Navy Service Certificate, History of the RN Supply Officer and Supply (Logistics) Branch and related articles for The Naval Review and Wikipedia, a Chronology of Camden and an Anthology of Camden Town.

Letters to the Editor published widely in the UK national, regional and local press.