More books than you can possibly read in a lifetime

Paul and I were sitting around one night, talking about moving the furniture around, which always brings up the topics of The Books. Paul tried to get me to admit that I have more books than I can possibly read in my lifetime. This is not something you ever want to hear, right, because it's a naggy little reminder about how short your life really is. Plus, you know you've built up this library because you are constantly coming across new recommendations and offshoots and influences of the things that you have read and what about all those books you won't get to read in addition to the books that are already in your house that you haven't read. (This is where I have to breathe.)

So, I'm starting the MBTYCPRIAL (mab-tic-prial?) project. I came up with a dorky die rolling system to choose the next book. Whatever book I end up with, I have to deal with it. I can read (or re-read, as the case may be, although this seems at odds with my goal... what is my goal?). I can also choose to sell the book. Or give it away. If you see a book on my MB-PRIAL list that you really want, give me a shout.

My hope is that I can get through everything in less than five years (I have a little over 1,000 books and have read about 400 of them start to finish, so that leaves 600 or 120 a year). My first roll: 3-1-4-5. The Bostonians by Henry James. I bought this book in 2004 after reading Colm Toibin's The Master and was prepping for my Henry James phase, which was interrupted, most likely, by my Martha Gellhorn phase.

As a kickoff celebration, I found this Italian DVD cover for James Ivory's film version. Enjoy. Henry and I are off to a dinner party with someone named Olive.