Day 8: Books. Will I reread this?
Will I use that? Where did all
these tchotchkes come from?
And dust. Did I
mention dust?
So I culled the cookbooks one more time…that’s the bookcase
on the right. I got one more box of
cookbooks for the BIG cookbook sale in May.
Then I started in on the Science Fiction shelves scrubbing the shelves as I went. The big house had saturated insulation in the
attic. Everything dripped, and
everything had mold. Most of our Sci-Fi
was bought in the 1980’s when we lived at the big house.
I was ruthless. If I
just couldn’t part with a moldy or stained book, I bagged it. Otherwise, I boxed it to go to the Saint
Vincent de Paul stores…Father Joe. Four
boxes of Sci-Fi went to Father Joe. One
box of books was good enough to be sold.
Not even a full box.
Then I went upstairs.
When mother was young and broke, she built a two-piece bookcase. The smaller of the two pieces has been filled
with my collectible books and used as a headboard. We want to use both bookcases in the newly
redesigned office space. The Geezer
brought those collectible books downstairs yesterday, and they nicely filled
the newly scrubbed and emptied shelves in the bigger Sci-Fi bookcase.
The bottom two rows in the big downstairs bookcase are art and architecture
books. No, I haven’t scrubbed those
shelves yet. Maybe tomorrow. Today I sort books at the Discovery
shop. I know the universe is laughing at
me.
Parting with books is the hardest thing for me but next to you I am an amateur! Take care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteIt's good you don't mind sorting books. I hate that. I can't imagine volunteering to do it and then coming home to more of it. The world definitely needs people like you to keep reading matter in circulation. Sort on.
ReplyDeleteI need to take lessons from you!
ReplyDeleteMy dad had a book plate his Mom gave him that read, "A friend of books is never without a friend." Hard to part with old books, er friends.
ReplyDeleteI've recycled many but ordered two used books yesterday, slap, spap.
Dianne
I save a few non-fiction, but my collection that is growing the most is poetry. I have a small collection of art books.
ReplyDeleteI hate to part with books especially if I haven't read them yet.....I always believe there is a blizzard just waiting out there for me to be snowed in without any reading material!
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Your mother was very talented. Those are beautiful bookcases. Art would have gone nuts over your science fiction books even though he's got a ton waiting for him in his Fire. :-)
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ReplyDeleteI envy your book shelves. There are piles of books everywhere here and not enough shelves.
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