An Update

So the official count of books to read is...*drum roll*...almost exactly 300!!! It might be a few more or less than that, but it's the most precise count I can get at the moment. Luckily awhile ago I started a computerized library catalog for my books in Microsoft Excel, complete with a color-coding system. I haven't finished it completely, but most of it is done. First, I cataloged my books using the following columns: author's last name, author's first/middle name(s), book title, publication date, category, subcategory 1, subcategory 2, subcategory 3. The final column lists where/when I came into possession of the book, if I remember (what store and in what city, who I was with, what other books I got there, etc. Yes, I'm strange). Then, I color-coded each book:

Green = books I read
Pink = books I haven't read
Purple = books I read part of (for instance, I had to read a few short stories from James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son for a class this winter, but I didn't read the entire book. So it's classified as purple.)
Yellow = books that "don't count" toward the read/unread lists (these are mostly textbooks and reference books)

This system is really useful to me, because I can see at a glance exactly where each book stands. I can also sort the books into genre and sub-genre with a few clicks of the mouse, so that's helpful too. I just have to remember to keep updating the colors as I finish books.

I probably sound like a crazy person, but books are one of my major hobbies, and I LOVE organizing things, so making my library electronic was honestly really fun for me. Knowing that I have this resource at my disposal quiets my brain, somehow. It's like iTunes. I have to have my iTunes library organized perfectly all the time-- I'm talking title/artist/album all typed correctly and with capital letters (because sometimes when I download them they turn up crazy-looking), and everything has to have album artwork and a genre. Otherwise I feel like it's a big mess.

When did I get so OCD?!

So in other news...last week while I was interning at ABC, I realized that--GASP--I had forgotten to bring a book to read during my lunch break! Yes, I succumbed and purchased a book to read during lunch. Yes, I felt so guilty afterward that I subsequently returned the book in shame and mortification. So I don't know if that counts as breaking my vow not to buy books, but I'm definitely learning to quell my book-purchasing tendencies. It's a lot easier this summer because I'm not actually making any money (not even from babysitting, since I'm living in PA), and it's hard for me to even fill up my gas tank (and that's pathetic because I get freaking 40 mpg and my car only holds 11 gallons), so it's not like I have money for extra stuff right now anyway, haha. Which is good. I've got to save up for next year and independence.

I have, however, acquired a few books for free. I'm currently doing a second internship at a tutoring center at a college in Pennsylvania, and every single classroom building has all these bookshelves full of free books. I can't help but take advantage of this, AND I've put a few of my books on the shelves for others to take, so it's more acceptable. Yesterday I found a brand new hardcover copy of David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, along with Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, a book by my darling John Fowles, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (also brand new, and the big version, not the mass market paperback), a Shakespeare biography, and a Norton reader. In exchange, I put a few books on the shelf that I'll never ever read but somehow acquired: The Firm by John Grisham, a few things by James Patterson, Prague by Arthur Phillips, etc.

So that's where I am now. I'm currently halfway through Jane Austen's Emma, which is pretty good considering that I only read for an hour per day (my lunch break) Monday-Thursday, and I just started it Monday. I should have more time to read it Friday, since that's my day off. For now, evenings are dedicated to snuggling with Jon and the puppies, watching Everybody Loves Raymond, and knitting a baby blanket for Angela (and I have quite a few more squares to finish!).