So many Google Books so little time

I have an ever growing list of Google Books that I want to read. They are mostly from the 19th and the early 20th centuries. But if I attempted to read them all, I wouldn't be doing much of anything else.

I don't even bother to print most of the books anymore; I read them on my monitor. In fact, I often practice what is called skimming or skim reading.

Here are some of the Google Books I have recently read, am currently reading and planning to read in the near future. I am not putting up links to them. They all are available on Google Books. If you want them, just search for them.


The Dispersal of Shells by H. W. Kew, 1893. I have read most of this book. Despite its age, it was quite informative. What Kew meant by "shells" was, of course, live mollusks.


Letters from Constantinople by Georgina Max Müller, 1897. I have also read this one recently. Georgina Max Müller was the philologist Friedrich Max Müller's wife. In 1893, she and her husband spent some time in Istanbul visiting their son who was a diplomat at the British Embassy there. This book is a compilation of the letters they wrote back home. They had engaging accounts of their sightseeing trips, the formal friendship they had with the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamit and the Turkish customs of that period.


Travels in Lycia, Milyas, and the Cibyratis by T. A. B. Spratt and E. Forbes, 2 volumes, 1847. Spratt was a lieutenant in the British Navy and Forbes was a naturalist associated with King's College in London. This is a detailed account of their travels in western and southwestern Anatolia in 1842. I am reading it currently and preparing an Excel file of all the place names they mention and the wildlife they encountered. It is an ideal book for skim reading.


European Animals: Their Geological History and Geographical Distribution by R. F. Scharff, 1907. This one is next on the list. I don't think I will read the entire book, but only the parts that look interesting. There are several entries on terrestrial gastropods.


A Naturalist in Mexico: Being a Visit to Cuba, Northern Yucatan and Mexico by Frank Collins Baker, 1895. This too is on the list. Baker was a malacologist specializing in freshwater and terrestrial species. When I scrolled thru the pages, I did notice pictures of some snail shells. I may print this one out so that I can read it on the train.

I don't know if I'll ever have time tocatch up with the 20th century and then, the 21st century literature.

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