Utentelestermay

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

As at 4 Jan 2023, my records on LibraryThing showed that I had read 572 books, just 16% of my library. At the start of 2023, it's a coincidence that the 572 books I'd then read are 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. 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.

By Easter 2023, I had read 590 books in my nearly 72 years on the planet, in 2023 some 15 books by 9 Apr 2023 - from age 14 in 1965, that's an average of 10 books a year over 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 300 years! My 'read rate' is a little better this century, and considerably better since 'retirement' at 65 – I have read an average of 21 books in each of the six years from 2017-2022 > perhaps I need to live for only 143 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, related articles for 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.