It is amazing to me to reflect upon the large numbers of books that we go through in our household. As a child, we had the scriptures, a set of World Book Encyclopedia, and a collection of Andersen fairy tales and the Brothers Grimm. I distinctly remember the year I was eleven or twelve, and I received a book for Christmas. Books were at school. Books were in the library. Books were not on our shelves.
The traveling library came every other Friday. During the school year it came to the school. In the summer time, it came to the gas station on the corner of White Oak and Chatsworth. Alice and I took the wagon - we could each check out 12 books - by the time the two weeks was up, Alice and I had each read all 24 books and were eager for more.I'm not sure when I started acquiring books. Of course in college I had textbooks, and as an English major, I had lots of other books to buy too. Soon I was buying books that weren't required. After Harry and I were married, nearly every gift we gave each other was some kind of book.
And it has mushroomed from there. Now there are just too many books. Some of my books are like old friends - I just like to check in with them every now and then!!
So we are purging - and this box is destined for the Friends of the Library. But I keep buying them too - that's a habit I need to break. Maybe once I retire.
That can be my goal!!
If you know a book I own and you'd like to have it, just ask!! I'll even mail it to you!!
3 comments:
We are purging too. We've been going through closets and our garage. It is hard to give away "old friends"- things we've acquired through the years. Everything has a memory. Some things we've put in the DI bin and others were tossed in the garbage. It's easy to accumulate paraphernalia when you've lived in the same place 28 years.
I purge but it seems to just collect stuff from somewhere else - maybe I need to close my eyes and toss - and not look a second time!!
I got rid of many books when packing, but I seem to be accumulating them right back! I also use the library alot. I just love having books around and I don't see myself replacing them with kindle. It has its place,I guess.
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