Some of the Books Gotta Go

Buying books makes me feel good, and owning books makes me feel good. Every new book brings the hope of new information to be learned, new worlds to be discovered, new characters to fall in love with, and new authors to stan. Every old book is like an old friend. Books are wonderful that way, and they are hard to resist.

They are also hard to store, though, which was why I started the GLP (Great Library Purge) all those years ago. And it’s why I began to grade the books that I read, so that I’d have a means of determining which books to keep and which ones to donate. The problem is, of course, that over time, even the A-grade books begin to take up too much space. I once again have way more books than I have room.

During the early part of the pandemic, buying books was the only way for us to get new reading material. Livia was particularly in need of new reading material, and I was particularly in need of hope. Between the two of us, I had plenty of justification for buying box after box of new books.

Now the library is back to business as usual, and I have started to borrow books again more regularly. In fact, I’m reading a library book right now. That is good, and it is necessary. There are times when buying books is reasonable, but borrowing is usually better. So I’m going to try to switch back to that mentality. I’m also going to try to give away more books. Though an A-grade book is arguably worth keeping, that doesn’t mean there’s any point to keeping it. I should consider how likely it is that I or my family will read the book in the future. If the odds are low, the book’s gotta go.

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