Jarred had 1 3/5 as many books as Luther. When Luther gave 1/2 of his books to Jarred, he then had 35 fewer books than he had. How many books did Luther have at first?
Let say Luther has x books.
=> Jarred had 1 3/5x = 8/5x books.
Luther gives x/2 books to Jarred and he had 35 fewer book
=> x/2 = x - 35
=> x/2 - x = -35
=> x/2 = 35
=> x = 70
70 books