I’m starting to believe the unthinkable has happened. Either I am being invaded by bookshelf gremlins, or I have lost an important piece of my personal library.
In the last month, I have gone hunting for four separate books, each I would consider absolutely vital to my collection, and each time I have been completely unable to find said book.
You might, perchance, suggest oh-so-innocently that I’m simply overlooking these books in the voluminous bookshelves lining the walls of our guest bedroom, living room, and office … but you’d be wrong. Despite appearances, there is a very methodical order to where books are kept in this household (though no doubt the secret to unlocking this method is known only to one of its inhabitants, namely *me*), and each of these four books is not in its intended place. What’s more, the fact that the four books represent three distinct categories of books seems to suggest I’m not merely dealing with a case of misfiling. Rather, that these four books should reasonably be found in areas nearly entirely representative of the whole of my personal library suggests there are grounds for reporting lost property.
I know that sounds crazy, but consider:
- Missing Book No. 1: A Certain Chemistry, which faithful readers of this blog will recall inspired these un-Liz-like words nearly two years ago.
- Missing Book No. 2: Jemima J, the first Jane Green book I read and still my favorite. (Probably no surprise to those who’ve read the book and know me at all.) (Just noticed, I’m also missing another JG novel, Mr. Maybe. {sigh})
- Missing Book No. 3: Florence of Arabia, a YAP book club book chosen by yours truly and one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud political satires I’ve ever read.
- Missing Book No. 4: A Guide to Econometrics, probably the most dreadful book title most of you have ever encountered, but a genuine staple for any political scientist (or economist, even)’s library, particularly when we need an easy-to-understand English translation of some unfamiliar research methodology. I desperately needed this book about a month ago, and had to resort to reading a several-editions-old version on eBooks through the library’s Web site. I am still contemplating whether to give up looking for this one and plunk down ANOTHER $40ish to buy a replacement copy.
All of these books are ones I’ll replace if I can’t find… and God knows what other books are missing along with them.
I now seriously believe a box of my favorite books didn’t make it here in the move, a truly, truly dreadful possibility that’s nevertheless entirely plausible, particularly given the slats to our queen sized bed didn’t make it, either. If the movers could lose three large pieces of wood, what’s to say they couldn’t also misplace a meager office-storage box of books?