Which books to keep.
(Okay, 4Horses, you asked for it... Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say "No" to Drugs.)
I don't think I'm alone here when I say I have a lot of books. I think there are two types of book owners: people like me (and probably most people who read this blog), and people like the husb. I am a book hoarder. While I'm by no means the most hard-core book hoarder, I still have enough shelves-ful to baffle non-readers who come into my house.
The husb owns, I think, ten books. A few film books, a few poker books, one Tom Clancy, the first Harry Potter, and a Calvin and Hobbes treasury.
But in keeping with my new "less is more" philsophy, I've realized two things. (1) The library rules. Especially the LA Public Library. You can go to their website, find any book anywhere in the system, have it held at any of the eight billion (grillion, if you read Christy's blog) branches, and then return it to any of those branches. And the best part is, if you hate a book, you don't have to keep it just because you're a book hoarder. In fact, keeping library books is highly discouraged.
Also, I have realized that (2) stacking books in front of shelved books is a sign that you need either bigger bookshelves or fewer books. And getting bigger shelves is not very "less is more". It's kind of "more is more". Which is great for those Texans with 6,500 square foot masterplanned houses, but will not do for the rest of us.
So how does one decide which books to keep?
I've sort of thought about it, and ideally I would only books that meet one or more of the following conditions:
* I love it
* The husb loves it (the poker books)
* It's a reference book that we might conceivably refer to at some point
* It's a book I would read again
* It's a book I might want my far-off someday children to read
* It's a book a guest might grab off the shelves to read while visiting (and I wouldn't be ashamed if they thought it was a book I really liked)
* I haven't read it yet
Of course, the problem with keeping the ones I haven't read yet is that many of them I will possibly NEVER get to and never read.
But I gave five books to the library the other day, so that's a start, right?
I feel a list coming on.
5 Books I Own That I Probably Should Have Read By Now:
1. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
2. The World According to Garp by John Irving
3. Paradise by Toni Morrison
4. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
5. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
As you can see, I am lagging behind the rest of the literary world in this regard.
Now a special list, brought to you by Winston.
Book Winston Hates With a Burning Passion:
1. The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough
Winston singled this book out as a pup and has never stopped hating it. He wants to destroy it desperately. It's the only book he has ever put his teeth on. And as you can see, he did a bang-up job (and continues to work on it, every chance he gets).
I don't think I'm alone here when I say I have a lot of books. I think there are two types of book owners: people like me (and probably most people who read this blog), and people like the husb. I am a book hoarder. While I'm by no means the most hard-core book hoarder, I still have enough shelves-ful to baffle non-readers who come into my house.
The husb owns, I think, ten books. A few film books, a few poker books, one Tom Clancy, the first Harry Potter, and a Calvin and Hobbes treasury.
But in keeping with my new "less is more" philsophy, I've realized two things. (1) The library rules. Especially the LA Public Library. You can go to their website, find any book anywhere in the system, have it held at any of the eight billion (grillion, if you read Christy's blog) branches, and then return it to any of those branches. And the best part is, if you hate a book, you don't have to keep it just because you're a book hoarder. In fact, keeping library books is highly discouraged.
Also, I have realized that (2) stacking books in front of shelved books is a sign that you need either bigger bookshelves or fewer books. And getting bigger shelves is not very "less is more". It's kind of "more is more". Which is great for those Texans with 6,500 square foot masterplanned houses, but will not do for the rest of us.
So how does one decide which books to keep?
I've sort of thought about it, and ideally I would only books that meet one or more of the following conditions:
* I love it
* The husb loves it (the poker books)
* It's a reference book that we might conceivably refer to at some point
* It's a book I would read again
* It's a book I might want my far-off someday children to read
* It's a book a guest might grab off the shelves to read while visiting (and I wouldn't be ashamed if they thought it was a book I really liked)
* I haven't read it yet
Of course, the problem with keeping the ones I haven't read yet is that many of them I will possibly NEVER get to and never read.
But I gave five books to the library the other day, so that's a start, right?
I feel a list coming on.
5 Books I Own That I Probably Should Have Read By Now:
1. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
2. The World According to Garp by John Irving
3. Paradise by Toni Morrison
4. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
5. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
As you can see, I am lagging behind the rest of the literary world in this regard.
Now a special list, brought to you by Winston.
Book Winston Hates With a Burning Passion:
1. The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough
Winston singled this book out as a pup and has never stopped hating it. He wants to destroy it desperately. It's the only book he has ever put his teeth on. And as you can see, he did a bang-up job (and continues to work on it, every chance he gets).
Labels: books, less is more, list, the library rules
posted by Katie Alender at
6:55 AM
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8 Comments:
I am a reader who owns 10 books. Well, maybe a few more than 10, but definitely a limited number. I have one shelf and when the books outgrow the shelf, I make some hard decisions. It's interesting to think about what's on that shelf now, what was on it 5 years ago, and 5 years before that. The Hobbit has made the cut each time, as well as a book of short stories by Shirley Jackson (swoon) and The Creation of Patriarchy. In the meantime, veritable hordes of books have filtered through. Many from the library, scores borrowed from friends, and countless more bought and then passed on to my mother in law. She loves the clutter so she can have it!
Unsolicited advice: Read the Irving next and put Angela's Ashes in the book graveyard.
* Not a single -illion in my post. I'm holding true to my promise!
I am a book hoarder. I like the library only to decide if I like a book enough to then go and buy it. I MUST have all books that my favorite writers EVER wrote. I have shelves stacked 2 deep, I have wall unit cabinets stacked 4 deep. I have books hidden everywhere. I will, on occasion, rotate my books and start reading them over again. I have gotten rid of, in the last 20 years or longer, about 30 books - one entire collection (maybe 20?) of a particular author, because after I purchased all his books, I decided I really didn't like his work at all (unless it was a callaborative effort with Stephen King). The other books I have gotten rid of were duplicates, that I either bought because I forgot I already had it, it came in a "lot" of books from eBay, or was received as a gift.
I do not see anything wrong with hoarding books. :) I love books!
and ps. Yes, I do have some I wouldn't want a guest to grab off the shelves to read while visiting (and think it was a book I really like)
and pps. I have at least two boxes of books that were mine when I was a child, just waiting for my children to reach the proper age to read them.
Christy, I'm in awe. If I tried for a grillion, gazillion years, I could never be THAT minimalist.
4Horses, I'm surprised that this surprises me! I hope you don't rush out and buy a copy of Latawnya the Naughty Horse. At some point we should compare notes and make sure I'm not giving away books you want to hoard. Because then I could help both of us and just ship them to you.
I am indebted for that link to the naughty horse. Dear God, if that really got published, my MG/YA stands a damned good chance of making the grade. The picture of the horse with a wine bottle in its mouth is absolutely priceless, and if only it were so easy to get kids not to turn to alcohol and drugs! Well, Nancy Reagan thought it was...
At first, I was ready to snort when I started reading your husband's book list. Then I got to the bit about Calvin and Hobbes and all I can say is that if he's got a Calvin & Hobbes Treasury it's fine with me that he doesn't have any others. My husband reads all the time, but every so often he gets out our C & H Treasury and reads it again. And laughs until he cries.
Thank God there are other book hoarders out there! I'm in awe of Christy's self-control too. If I read something I really love, I have to read it again in a year or two. I've read my Amy Tans three or four times; I've read Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There four times; I've read Barbara Kingsolver's books three or four times, and all the O'Brien nautical novels a good three times each. I do try to pass books on, but I'm ashamed to say that when I've done this, I've always missed the book afterwards.
Although I liked Angela's Ashes (though I found it sad), I would not read it again. Nor would I read Midwives again -- it's also very sad, and it's about a terribly disturbing subject, the kind of moral dilemma everyone hopes they'll never find themselves in.
I meant to add that I enjoyed the Thornbirds -- naughty dog! And I loved Surprised By Joy.
Oh, yes, I also have about 5 Calvin & Hobbes collections.
Re. the shipping of books to me.... all I can say is Wooo-Hooo! (I'll have to clear out a hidey-hole somewhere!) It has benefits, being a book hoarder, because I never feel guilty about buying books, I simply stick them away, and my husband has no idea if I've had them forever or just a day. :) (like the three I bought yesterday)
This could be the best arrangement ever. I don't even have to feel guilty about getting rid of books... I just send them to you and they're loved and cared for forever. In their little foxholes around your house.
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