Book Thread: 05/10/2026 [MP4]

Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. As it’s May, it’s Goodwood Races time in England and women are encouraged to wear their finest:

So ask the barman for a Pimm’s, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!

Here on the Book Thread, we talk a lot about our To Be Read (TBR) lists and, sometimes, about our To Be Read Again (TBRA) lists. I can look around my house and find lots of books I have yet to read (some of them in my hands for years) as well as the more familiar ones I’ll pick up when I’m at a loose end. On the TBR list I’ve got, for example, Shelley Puhak’s bio of Ersebeth Batory, The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal and the Making of a Monster. I also have William Mann’s Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood, which I’ve only managed to get a quarter of a way through.

In the latter category, I have my comic strip collections, a plethora of true-crime works, 20-odd books on English and Victorian history and shelves of volumes on a variety of topics. These are the books I’ll pull down when I’m sitting to relax, or as entertainment over a meal or just because I’ve enjoyed them so much, re-reading is a pleasure.

“What about ‘what’s the point?” I hear you say. That was a thought that occurred to me the other night as I was finishing off a TBR book. I glanced up at my packed shelves and wondered – why do I keep these books which I’ve read and will likely never read again? For instance, Barbara Mertz’s Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt: I’ve read it, taken in its knowledge and shelved it. I doubt I will ever page through it again. So why do I keep it when I could trade or sell it and make room for other books?
I don’t know. Part of me knows I’ve got dozens of ‘finished’ books which are gathering dust, but another, stronger part of me recoils at the very idea of getting rid of any book for any reason. I know that when I die, everything I have except for my Hollywood and Jack the Ripper collections (which will sell for a pretty penny) will end up in the dumpster, so why not anticipate the reaping now?

What about you? What books are begging to be read and which ones are the old friends you turn to at a leisure moment? And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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