They say it's good for the soul. I love books. Yeah, I know big shock.
I've just returned from The Romantic Times Conference. One of the perks is that you get a lot of free books. My husband looked at me like I was nuts when I got home because I came in with more stuff than I left with. Between the kids' books and mine, we don't have room for any more book cases. Or so my husband says.
We were looking at my crowded shelves the other day and he said, "Those hardbacks? Are you ever going to read them again? Why don't we get rid of those?"
That was my turn to look at him like he's sprouted horns. Those are STEPHEN KING hardbacks. Uh huh, ain't no way those are going.
There are so many books I have memories of reading or they are just so darned good, I'm not about to get rid of them. *cough* even when more come in, like now when I'm truly wondering where I'm going to put what I brought home.
When we moved 9 years ago, my brother in law and hubby's cousin helped us. They groused that I had "way too many books." Let's just say....I have a lot more now LOL.
My computer has tons of ebooks, too. Ones I need to read but it's hard when I sit down here at the keyboard not to be working. Yet, I keep buying more.
I see books, whether they be print or ebook and think, "Shiny."
For those of you who love books, how do you decide what to keep and what to give away? Maybe I need a system.
Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
www.mechelearmstrong.com
www.melanylogen.com
Apr 24, 2008
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7 comments:
For someone who bought 14 print books this week (count em I said FOURTEEN -- 8 from a cheapy shop and another 6 ordered) there's no point asking me.
I'm not normal. Where my girlfriends are cooing over dresses and lipsticks I'm in the book shop.
Someone stop me, please!
LOL
:o)
LOL and here I am envious that you have 14 new books.
Sounds like you and I are a lot alike.
Ok, I have to say, my hubby is the one who drags home dozens of books at a time, altho he usually buys them at the resale store. Of the seven bookcases we have, only one is mine and it's a short one.
And did I give him a look when I brought home a ton of books from last years RWA? Yeah.
But, guess what? Just last week, I brought about a dozen of them to the resale book store. I took them because they were 'shiny', knowing in my heart of heart they were never going to be read.
Ruthless. You have to be ruthless.
Yeah, ruthless is the word. At my old house, my office was 12X10, so one of the 10' walls and one of the 12' walls had floor to ceiling bookshelves, which pretty much stayed full all the time. Once a year, I'd go through and throw away/donate half of them, then fill them up again. When we built this house 3 years ago, I pared the collection down to 6 bookcases full, now I'm at 3 bookcases, and they aren't totally full.
After 30 years of having way more books than I need, I've finally got a rhythm going - if it's not good enough for me to pull back out and read over and over again, I don't keep it. If it's one I kept but didn't ever pull back out again, after 2 years I toss it. If after 3 years I've read it a couple more times and still love it, I buy the hardback copy and toss the paperback version. So I've gotten very picky over what I keep and what I toss because having so many makes me feel tired, all that dusting to keep up with.
Now, ebooks I buy and keep, sometimes without reading because I work and work, and buy anyway even when I know I don't have time to read them - every month to six weeks or so I gift myself with one day of nothing but reading, no working allowed, and I play catch up. I think I have something like 2,000 of them, but since they all fit on a CD, I can dust that easily. :-)
I'm wailing because I can't be ruthless, Lynn. LOL. I looked at my shelves yesterday and my hubby just shook his head.
Georgia, that does sound like a good rythm. Ebooks are definitely easier on dusting and storage. I need to use them more as rewards. *G* I already have a reward picked when I finish Bitter Love.
Ruthless is easy. Just think...I have to dust them...I have to dust them...by the 3rd or 4th chant, you'll be heading for the bag to put them in.
Tell yourself its for a good cause and donate them.
Of course, my hubby hasnt' given up a single book ever. And l know better than to try to sneak any out of the house.
I think he counts them at night when I'm asleep. Rubbing his hands and chortling.
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