Something I could never do, as evidenced by the total lack of outside light within my pitch-black-at-noon apartment. My solution has always been to simply buy more bookshelves and now even the windows are completely covered. You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! P.S.: For those books that are being turned into dust collectors merely because of reluctance to part with the cover art, the solution is simple. Get yourself a flatbed scanner and digitize the art then sell it with the block of paper it's wrapped around. Win-win. 👍

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

That's a good idea. Some of them would make great posters. You could try getting rid of one book at a time then maybe alter the bookcases to expose the windows. You need light to read by afterall 🤠

I couldn't eliminate any book without at least giving it a shot.

Pirx - linked stories about the main character from various stages of his life; solid hard SF stories with Clarke/Asimov flavour (sort of), clever (as always with Lem), if (deliberately) "down-to-Earth" in nature; probably not so impactful as his novels (Solaris, Fiasco, Eden, Return from the Stars, His Master's Voice...) or his wild and over-the-top humoristic stuff (Cyberiad, The Star Diaries...). But honestly: read everything by Lem (definitely from Eden onward, incl.), he's one of the greatest.

I'm so glad you kept Adrian Tchaikovsky. I haven't read Doors of Eden yet. His Final Architecture series is one of my favorite space opera series. Elder Race was a really great novella. And Children of Time was just brilliant. Adrian is definitely one of my favorite authors right now.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Children of Ruin was great as well, but Children of Time skewed my expectations. Glad I kept it too

I've read several Murakami books and they all have a similar distinctive style. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a decent read I think, but it does suffer from pacing issues and drags on more than his other books. It also has one of the most shockingly violent scenes I have ever read. 1Q84, on the other hand, is even longer (over 900 pages), but it was a joy to read and I never got bored with it.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I've heard a lot of people say that about IQ84. Daunting for sure but I wouldn't mind gazing upon it's girth on my TBR for awhile

Hello from Norway :) I found your Chanel as I am looking to get in to Sci-fi. I have noticed in some of your videos that you talk about how different. Books have effected you. You could totaly make a video talking about what stories/authors/characters have ben part in creating you, your personality, way of thinking, character, values?? I would love to see that. Bye bye :)

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! That's a great idea for a video--top 10 most influential books, or something. Perfect as I was just brainstorming about that. Glad you're enjoying and if you haven't read Ender's Game, that's what I always recommend for new sci-fi readers :)

It is so hard. Yes! Player Piano is awesome, my favourite Kurt Vonnegut. Not quite about automation though it figures into the main theme of the story. This story was relevant to an event in my life where I learned that standing alone and putting yourself out there while trying to help people mostly winds up with you standing alone holding the bag. Dandelion Wine is a good story which is more than the usual whimsical coming of age story. Have read Stranger in a Strange Land several times as well as The Cat Who Walked Through Walls, keeping on my shelf. Thank You For Smoking is an excellent movie. I could not get into Candide though I persevered to the end, my friend found it so humourous but I did not laugh much. Always good to keep vintage SF, with of course Bradbury. Your bookshelves are so put together, mine is a mish-mash of finds, recycling, thrift shops and new collected over years. Maybe I should make colour coordinated book covers?

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Make sure not to drown when trying to rescue others. A good lesson and even more interested to read Player Piano now. I've thought about color coordinating just to see how it feels. Maybe I'll try and collect all the books featuring that certain shade of purple I like

The Doors of Eden: jumbo-mumbo. No loss if you pass on that. Roadside Picnic: Everyone is mad at everyone else. NothingBurger "SCIENCE". Stranger in a Strange Land: abysmal. Murakami: They are all "like that". 1Q84 is magnificent . Burroughs: Beyond the Farthest Star. Perfect book for a walk on the trail where your wife rescues you.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I need you here for the next time I trim down my shelves 😅

That is the cutest, most under-control TBR shelf I have ever seen (before you started. After you finished... what even is that...?). Mine is three shelves and it's own bookshelf. I only start worrying when it is significantly over 100.... Ohhhh I see why it is so cute - you move the books you have not read elsewhere... Also. The Graveyard book is only technically a children's book and well worth reading.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I do have other shelves that are thinly disguised secondary TBRs 😅 Another commenter suggested a TBO (to be ogled) which I will definitely be starting

@OmnivorousReader

11 ай бұрын

@@bookjack ha! Well done... they do leak out onto other shelves to be sure.

Nice! Frankenstein is a TBR keeper

Book of Skulls may be the best Silverberg, at least of the five I have read

A de-haul. I've decided to take the pressure off by choosing 6 or 7 books (from the hundreds that sit accusingly on my shelves) to read each month. I make a little pile. Doable. Choosing which 6 or 7 to be elevated to each month's TBR is trickier....

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Seems like a good system. I'm sure people can have 100s of books on a TBR and not be overwhelmed. But not me

@SciFiScavenger

11 ай бұрын

@@bookjack I have tricked myself into not thinking of them as TBR. They are simply stock, if you like, to be called forth into a month's worth of TBR. That said, I still have 5 books left on my July TBR, so I haven't got time to chit chat, got books to read!!😀

That's the great thing about vintage SF, it's usually pretty short. Similarly, you could probably read The Graveyard Book in one sitting. I know I did. Gaiman is a big Cabell fan, by the by, so dumping them together would most likely make him happy. That Simak novel had a great cover. What happened to book covers? Are there even more artists starving out there?

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I've heard that book covers need to look good as thumbnails these days so the whole design perspective has changed. I do love Gaiman. Need to find one for my TBR... Already filling it back up 😅

Please do a video of your Penguin Black Spine Editions! I absolutely loved Dandelion Wine!

@ritaparker478

11 ай бұрын

Me too! It had that wonderful quality where I am drawn into the story so completely that I feel like I am in it. It is a book that makes me feel like I'm laying in a hammock on a warm summer day sipping lemonade and listening to muted sounds of nature and the neighbourhood.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I will! Was going to use a sharpie to clean them up and maybe sift through them at the same time

@suzannebousquet2710

11 ай бұрын

@@ritaparker478 It reminds me of my childhood!

The More Tales of Pirx the Pilot is a fairly goid short story collection by Lem however I prefer the first collection of stories. Mote in God's Eye is the best from The Niven, Pournelle collaboration. The Stars My Destination if excellent and the Weapon Shops of Ishtar is one of Van Vogts best works but he's not for everyone, however both are quick reads.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Glad I got a good lineup waiting for me. Thanks :)

homie is rippin his TBR from Bookpilled's recommendation video 😂

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Isn't that the point of a recommendation video...?

I'm somewhat confused why you have to get rid of books?? Are you only keeping penguin classics?? Either way, I do hope you read foundation trilogy at some point despite getting rid of your copy. I LOVED that trilogy. I'm also THRILLED you kept Dawn and Roadside Picnic-- Matt (from Bookpilled) and I had some incredible conversations about those novels and I think you will likely appreciate them. Sadly the rest of Dawn series wasn't quite as good as that first book (don't let me influence you over that). Otherwise some good picks. Blood Music was awesome!

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I usually have a copy of Foundation kicking around somewhere so if I get the urge to read it I'll be able to. I do keep all the Penguin Classics I find so I try and limit my accumulation otherwise. Self-imposed and maybe unfounded, but it feels good to declutter. Good to hear that about Dawn and Roadside Picnic. Hoping to feel the same :)

Don’t give up the foundation trilogy . Jesus guy do t do that . Wind up bird chronicle is fabulous it was my first Murakami and I couldn’t put it down . Childhoods end is great .

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I'm not giving up. I seem to always have at least one copy of Foundation floating around so if the inkling strikes me I'll be ready

What happened to "War and Peace"? I'll tell you, having read it, and I feel the same way about "Foundation Trilogy". Overall they are good reads, but they have a lot of dry spots. "Frankenstein", too stylistic, to dated. I only got about halfway through. "Roadside Picnic", well, if you're into prose, fine. But, to me, an unsatisfying story, too many loose ends. I myself, when I get through my rather large list of books to read, want to read some of the sci-fi that you showed at the end, particularly "Blood Music", and "The Mote in God's Eye".

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I did get that feeling about Roadside Picnic. Might require wading through thick stuff, but I'm excited to give it a try. War and Peace is on my eBay shelves 😅 It's a daunting stack of paper

@suzannebousquet2710

11 ай бұрын

My eyes couldn't focus on anything beyond your Penguin Black Spines! Please do a video about them!!!!

@ritaparker478

11 ай бұрын

War and Peace, glad I read it, will re-read but this time with a name map. Russians have so many names for one person it is hard to keep up on who is who. It's a keeper for me. Russian authors have so much insight into human psychology/motivations/spirituality.

@phaedrus2633

11 ай бұрын

@@ritaparker478 I mention it because BookJack said in a previous video that he was dedicated to reading it this year. I read it as well, and I had the same issue you had with it. After finally finishing it, I thought to myself, tongue-in-cheek, that the main point of the book is that Piotr, and, I probably got the main character's name wrong, finally gets his girl. LOL! And, yes. I have started reading "Crime and Punishment" again. But, I didn't remember what a depressing book it is. I read it when I was in a very struggling point in my life, so, at the time, it made me appreciate my life.

@ritaparker478

11 ай бұрын

@@phaedrus2633 I found Crime and Punishment both depressing and uplifting. It so perfectly depicts the struggles most humans have with their Conscience. A bad thing is done, then how to justify the act? Peace can't be found because something in us can't reconcile our deed within ourselves. Or else it is a case of to do it or not do it, and try to find a reason to do it even though it does not feel right. I like how he found freedom from himself. I want to re-read War and Peace for meaning this time. It has been recommended to read a book twice, first time for content, the second for meaning. Perhaps a long winter activity lol.

I have an idea: you can consider adding a new list to your TBR, your "TBO" list (To Be Ogled). That way you can keep all the books with covers you like but have no earthly interest in reading...LOL.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Lol I love this idea. Thanks :)

"For Whom the Bells Toll", I read it as well, being a Hispanophile, being I lived there for two and a half years. But, I just could not read it a second time. I really don't like Hemmingway's style of writing.

@ritaparker478

11 ай бұрын

Me too! I find Hemingway hard, not in feeling but in his style. There is something about his writing that doesn't seem to allow me in. I'm more of an observer rather than a participant.

@phaedrus2633

11 ай бұрын

@@ritaparker478 Maybe that's it. He wants the reader, a little too much, to see things from his point of view. He really was egotistical, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but not endearing either. When he could no longer sustain his self-created mythology, he ended his own life. Very sad.

@phaedrus2633

11 ай бұрын

@@ritaparker478 Now, Faulkner, a horrible, difficult style, but very charming.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I liked his style a lot in Old Man and the Sea. Definitely felt like an observer like you said but it worked for that. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long time to spend as an observer, but the dialogue did pull me in occasionally

@phaedrus2633

11 ай бұрын

@@bookjack You're right. The dialog was good. I liked how he used a more literal translation of Spanish to English, so that you get a feel for the cultural difference between the two which is both subtle and sublime. And, some of the subplots like, ah! The name comes to me, I have good access to my subconscious, "El Sordo's last stand", that was a magnificent story. I read it back, in the early 1990's.

Unfortunately, Psychoshop is the worst Bester book. It was an unfinished novel that Zelazny completed. The Stars My Destination, The Demolished Man, and his short stories, are much better.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I was hoping to hear something like this (unfortunately) Appreciate it :)

Why have you commited yourself to reading a book a week? Just take your time. I can take a couple of weeks or more to read a book. Ive commited to not buy any more books until I've finished my tbr shelf.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

I started a challenge at the beginning of the year to read 52 books. Since then I've realized that it doesn't leave room for longer books so I'll be altering it next year. Yours is a difficult challenge as well. Good luck!

Take a pass on the Windup Bird Chronicle. You’ll thank me for this! But replace it with 1Q84. I think it’s the best of his works. It’s got a great sci-fi element to it.

@bookjack

11 ай бұрын

Appreciate that