Today I decided to take a *photograph of all the books I own, but have not yet **read (click to enlarge). Yikes! Turned out to be a much bigger pile than I’d expected and after I’d taken the photo and put all the books back in their spots, I discovered at least three I’d forgotten to include, but by then I was too lazy to start over from the beginning, so we’ll pretend this is really it.

I’ve bought more books in these past few months than I ever did before, which surely contributes to the size of the pile (some sixty books at least. Probably closer to eighty or ninety if you count the e-books in my virtual TBR pile and the books currently on their way to my mailbox). I graduated from university in the summer and got a job right away, so that meant more money than I was used to as a student. At first, this didn’t really change anything, but in October I moved into my own ***flat and ever since there has been an radical change in my book buying habits. And I’m loving it!

Now February is fast approaching and at the end of the month it’s time for the giant, nation-wide book sale that takes place in Sweden every year. I can hardly wait!

Today I also fiddled a bit with my book lists. They’re not all done yet, but the lists for 2002, 2003 and 2008 now have tiny little flag images by each book title, showing the nationality of the author. I thought it a nice touch to be able to see at a glance where they’re from. I can tell already that I should try to branch out and read more books that aren’t written by Americans, Brits or Swedes.

In other book news, I received my Christmas presents from my ex the other day. Two of the gifts were books and one of them was one I already own. It was a good read, but I don’t really need two copies of it, so I’m going to give one away if anyone’s at all interested.

Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton
by Diane Wood Middlebrook
English, 352 pages (paperback, read once)
read about it on Amazon.co.uk

Billy Tipton was a jazz performer who played in clubs throughout the Midwest of the US for nearly 50 years. Tipton never made the big time as a musician and ended up working as a booking agent in Spokane, Washington. Only with Tipton’s death in 1989 was it revealed that the five-times-married father of three boys was biologically female.

I’ll send the book to anywhere in the world, so don’t let geography stop you if you’re interested. If you are, comment here and depending on how many people are, I’ll either give it out straight away (if it’s just the one person), or pick someone by random draw (if it’s more than one). You have, let’s say, ten days, so you have until 1st of February to comment here and then I’ll inform whoever gets it on the second. Please make sure to leave a functioning e-mail address so I can reach you if you win.

*It’s blurry, I know. It’s due to poor lighting at this time of year. By the time I discovered it was as blurry as it is, it was too dark to even make a second attempt, and today’s the only day this week that I’m at home when there is decent light, so I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with this photo.

**Some of them I’ve read in translation before, so while I have read them before, they still belong in the TBR pile. Examples of this type of book are Ibbotson’s A Countess Below Stairs, Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and Chambers’s Postcards from No Man’s Land.

***When I moved, I bought two new bookcases, which was one more than I’d had previously (I had two, one wide and one not-so-wide, that were overflowing) and I’m already running out of space. As soon as I can get to Ikea, I want to get one more of the wide type I currently have, plus a lower one, and redecorate my living room. Once it’s done, expect photos!