So - just to reiterate the purpose of this blog in the new year - this is a blog I created to participate in the "Off the Shelf" reading challenge.  The challenge is: read as many as possible of those old books you've had on the shelf for years, and prevent them from gathering anymore dust.  :)

I named this blog Servants of the Map after a short story written by Andrea Barrett that I read in high school.  The story relates the work and life of a British surveyor, Max Vigne, who is tasked by the Great Trigonometrical Survey to make a map of the Himalayan Mountains.  Besides the fact that I really enjoyed reading the short story, I named the blog after it because it's about an effort to make sense of chaos, and of the unknown that does not give up its secrets easily.  Max finds this in both his professional and personal life and struggles to contend with it.  Finally, this story is also about how that journey into the unknown doesn't always proceed as planned or according to one's hopes.  This reflects what I feel in reading these old books.  It is a journey, sometimes through an idea or hope that I had which I don't see present in my life now, sometimes just through a story I thought would be interesting, and sometimes the book was just a gift someone gave me.   

I found this picture of a map of India produced by the real Great Trigonometric Survey (courtesy of Wikipedia) which I thought would be cool to include.

 

 
A map is intended to help us find our way.  Maybe these books will help me find my way. 
 
While I will probably be happy to make it to 15 of these this year, as you can see there are many possibilities.  Let the trek begin...