Saturday, July 08, 2006

The Black Whole...

That's what I'm calling my home office for now. It's a big black whole.

Hubby brought home a new bookcase from his office the other day. We have a sloping ceiling at one end of the room and I have these cute little 1/2 bookcases lined against the wall... Full of books, of course. They are BOOKcases after all.

Well hubby thinks I should be able to fit all the books onto the big case, so we can get rid of the 4 smaller ones. I wasn't a math major, but let's see... 4 - 1/2 size cases does not = 1 full size case. Nope, not gonna work. As a result, we have a new full size book case crammed full of books and two 1/2 size cases partially full and a whole bunch of crap strewed across the floor.

So hubby came up with a really bright idea... "Can't you get rid of some of these?" After I recovered from the apocalyptic shock, I shook my head at him and asked if he'd been taken over by an alien from outer space, because my hubby who has known me since I was 10 or so would NEVER ask me that. He rolled his eyes, hoping to say without speaking, that I was being a drama queen. And I was. But, hello! I do share with friends. We'll trade or give to each other. After all, if I want to read it again, they're only a mile away ;-) But to say goodbye permanently to a good book. That's hard.

In the end I promised to at least look through the books. And what do you know, I found some that can go! Of course, they're his... :-)

What do you do with the books you read? Do you keep them all? Do you give them away? Do you do a once a year clean out?

April

9 comments:

MJFredrick said...

I pretty much dispense with them as soon as I read them. I have over 100 books in my TBR, so it has to be a pretty special book to stay on my keeper shelf. I use paperbackswap.com to trade them for credits so I can get more books, see? All you pay is postage. It's great.

Julie S said...

I have one bookshelf where I keep my books, including my TBR. Once the bookshelf runs out of space, I try to get rid of a few. I do like to share and trade with others, which helps, but the once-a-year garage sale is the best technique. It's hard, but I've gotten used to it!

Anonymous said...

I give away many books, to be honest. But I also have keepers that stay with me - often, those are signed to me, and almost anything by Lisa Gardner. Her books are amazing!

Cole Reising said...

I've really just started 'buying' books. Over the years I have bought some, but only a few that were really keepers. Now that I'm getting into this 'author-buying' I'm in trouble. Because if I'm buying it brand new... I don't want to give it up. My hubby doesn't like bookcases. Thinks they look messy and should be only kept behind closed doors. :-( Sooo I'm not sure what I'm going to do. He hasn't 'made' me get rid of them yet. 'wheew!' But I know its only a matter of time. I've been trying to give some away to family and friends. But like I said - if I actually bought it I find it hard to part with it.

Cole

Karen Erickson said...

I have bags of books I need to get rid of, a hidden stash of TBR ones and keepers out in the living room bookshelf. I have books coming out of my ears, and I really need to get rid of some. Sigh...

Shelli Stevens said...

I never keep books. Because I never reread books. I keep ones that were written by friends and chapter mates. But other than that, yup, donated.

April said...

Some of you just aren't helping... :-) Hubby thinks maybe I can learn something here. Who knows, maybe I will!

Susan Rix said...

Hi April, I'm a keeper. Problem is we are fast running out of space for bookcases because hubby and dd are keepers too! We do have sort outs every now and then and donate to charity shops etc., but the problem is we seem to buy as many as we donate, LOL!
P.S. I love the new word flirts blog - I've got loads of catching up to do!

Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

I found some that can go! Of course, they're his...

ROFL! That man 'ain't right', is he? - lol. Well, I'm a writer, son is a writer, and I live with him now (long story), so getting rid of books isn't an option, but we do store some in the garage in water-proof, rodent-proof plastic bins from time to time. After they've sat unappreciated for a certain number of months we sometimes donate them to local hospitals or stick them in garage sales. *grin*