Books, Books and More Books!

I have loved books all of my life—reading them, re-reading them, buying them, smelling them, looking at them. Give me fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, plays—I love them all. Curling up with a pile of “must reads” stacked beside me is high on my list of the joys of living.  Wherever I’m off to, you’re likely to find more books in my bags than clothes.  I’d rather browse through a Barnes and Noble that dine in a fancy restaurant.  I know—it’s crazy, but I really, really adore books.

So you can appreciate how difficult it is for me to part with them.  But part with them I must in this next phase of simplifying my life.  There are hundreds that must go—most bought, some inherited, many read and re-read, still others carefully skimmed and studied.  History, classics, modern fiction, poetry, dictionaries, plays, leather-bound, hard backs, paperbacks, collections, old, new, even a couple with gold-dipped edges.

But what to do with them?  Libraries no longer accept books.  And twenty-five or more stuffed plastic bagfuls are just too much for nursing homes, thrift stores or schools to accept.  I have until tomorrow to figure this out….

“Lord! when you sell a man a book you don’t sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.  –Christopher Morley

Visit an old friend today—re-read a favorite book.

Enjoy your day!