I have 987 books, a small library by bibliophilic standards. I used to have a lot more, almost double this amount. But I decided I did not want to become a bibliomaniac, someone who has books just to possess them. I didn’t want books around me that I didn’t love regardless of our past history. I have developed as a reader, and I feel my library should reflect that rather than the indiscriminate hoarding of a collector. It has taken nearly a dozen “clean-outs” over several years to get to this point, but it is a good place. Every book I now have is one I want to have. (Unfortunately, this doesn’t address the ones I have on my to-buy list, but I hope I have weeded that out too—before I spend the money. More on that later.)

The books are divided into 35 categories: Anthology (23); Art (49); Astronomy (37); Audio (26); Biography (52); Books About Books (69);  Cats (28); Chronology (5); Collections (22); Culinaria (82); Drama (9); Essays (63); Fiction (11); Film (3); Health (4); History & Culture, American (64); History, World (29); Home & Garden (12); Humor (11); Letters (7); Lexicography (8); Linguistics (14); Literary Criticism (7); Literature (96); Memoir (13); Miscellanea (9); Photography (70); Poetry (11); Politics (4); Reference (32); Science (22); Sports (10); Travel (24); Women (14); Writing (2).

Their bindings break down (not literally) as follows: 803 hardcovers, 147 trade paperbacks, four mass market paperbacks, four “prints” (books of paintings whose pages are meant to be removed and framed), nine cassettes, 17 CDs, one spiral and one suede  and one “unique.” The one with unique binding is a book entitled Modern Japanese Art of Flower Arrangements. It was published in 1950, and has an unusual fabric-over-cardboard cover that is tied together at the spine with two burgundy ribbons. The title is a rectangle of Japanese paper that has been attached, probably by glue. Inside are gorgeous hand-drawn and colored images of exquisite flower arrangements, one to a page preceded by a page of rice paper with explanations of the reasons for the choices, the idea behind the work and directions.

Out of those 987 books, 83 are signed or inscribed. I’ve gotten most of these signatures when I met the author either personally or at an event. I prefer to have the books signed rather than inscribed because “For Lauren, Best wishes, [signature]” is meaningless when we don’t know each other.

Then again, I have several wonderful inscriptions that do have meaning to me even though I am not friends with the author. When Simon Winchester (The Madman and the Professor; Krakatoa; The Map That Changed the World; A Crack in the Edge of the World) came to Santa Barbara, I was there with four of his books. He did something I had never seen before when he signed them: put a slash through his printed  name on the title page and signed underneath it. Nicholas Basbanes loves to inscribe his books personally even if he doesn’t know you. He graciously allowed me to send my copies to his home, and they came back, each one with thoughts specially written for it. His second book—Patience and Fortitude—had one of my Post-Reading Reviews in it. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about it (I say unfortunately because the review was not the best), but he loved it anyway, writing, “For Lauren Roberts. What a delight for me to read a “post reading review” of this book!  A first. Keep ‘em coming.”

As to where they came from, that is all over the place: 13 have come from the reviews I have done for BiblioBuffet; five from Booklist magazine when I reviewed for them; 37 came from my column as book editor for my local paper; and 28 are a result of my position as a design judge for the Benjamin Franklin Awards. Bookstores do well by me because 18 have come from a rather famous used bookstore in the nearby town of Ojai named Bart’s; 169 from our local independent stores, Chaucer’s and the now-defunct Earthling; 52 from a local used bookstore called the Book Den; 31 from Powell’s; and seven from the Tattered Cover. Only two came from a chain bookstore. An astounding 231 came from Edward R. Hamilton, my favorite remainder dealer, and 174 from library and nonprofit book sales.

Eighty-two came from various exhibitors at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books over the years, and five from the industry trade show, BookExpo America, when they were in Los Angeles three years ago. Five came from live auctions, one from eBay and 16 from various online dealers. Thirty-two came to me when I was co-producing a radio show about books, a surprisingly small number given how many books passed through my hands. One, published in 1955 by the Carnation Company—Fun To Cook—came from my childhood. Only 43 were gifts. I think that might be because people consider me hard to buy for; my tastes are pretty well known, but unless you know what I have, well, I might already have it. And 52 are listed as “unknown”; that is, I can’t remember where they came from.  

The smallest book is Cat Lovers: Quotations for Fans of Our Feline Friends at a mere 2x2 inches. The largest is the spectacular Invisible Universe at 14x16 inches. It’s nearly a three-way tie for the heaviest: double-volume sets of Alfred Stieglitz (19.32 lbs.), The Complete Far Side (19.82 lbs.)and The State Hermitage (21.70 lbs.) not including the slipcases.

Of the 987 books in my library, I have read 613. I rate them on my list with stars ranging from one to five and adding comments. No book I currently have has gotten under two stars. As of today, 226 have five stars, 187 have four stars, 133 possess three stars and 67 have two stars. Comments include:

• A fascinating look into a specialized and lost book career. (Book Traveler; five stars)
• An enthralling read; could use a bit less of the author. (The Devil’s Teeth; four stars)
• Interesting premise, well argued, but dull in parts. (The End of Victory Culture; three stars)
• Fascinating subject unfortunately dragged down by excessive details. (Sweets: A History of Candy; two stars)

 I like dust jackets, and as a design judge am acutely conscious of each aspect of a book's design. I believe but am not sure that books published before 1920 did not come with them so it makes sense that of my 803 hardcovers, only 596 have dust jackets.

My oldest book is a six-volume set of Lord Byron, dated 1821. It is in beautiful condition, and yes, I have read it. My newest purchase is Chasing Hubble’s Shadows, published in 2006. I am reading that now.

 As far as my to-buy list goes, it is rather alarming. Even having weeded out the I-thought-I-wanted-these-but-now-don’t-think-so, there are still 133 books on it. (My god, this staggers even me; I had no idea there were that many. I’ll have to weed through it again.) One thing about it has particularly attracted my attention: my need for a new category. Approximately—because I didn’t count—15 of my American or world history books could easily be classified as Adventure. I didn’t do that, but in looking over this list I realize I might have to. At least 40 from this list would fit into that category.

Why on earth would anyone keep stats like this? I don’t really know. It has no bearing on my reading. Yet, a thrill runs through me to know these things. It’s probably the same reason I want to know these about others’ libraries. Who are they? Really? Only their book stats know for sure.
 
Up next week: A look at public libraries, their history, their appeal and their importance.

Almost since her childhood days of Mother Goose, Lauren has been giving her opinion on books to anyone who will listen. That “talent” eventually took her out of magazine writing and into book reviewing in 2000 for an online review site where she cut her teeth (as well as a few authors). Stints as book editor for her local newspaper and contributing editor to Booklist and Bookmarks magazines have reinforced her belief that she has interesting things to say about books. Lauren shares her home with several significant others including three cats, 700 bookmarks and nearly 1,000 books that, whether previously read or not, constitute her to-be-read stack. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it