Marie Kondo says we should take a merciless axe to our bookshelves. "If you’ve already read it, you already have that information," she claims. "If you haven’t yet read it, you probably won’t, so get rid of it. If you really want it further down the road, you can always buy it again." Books give us much more than information.
Since a very young child, reading has been an escape and delight. Reading teaches us about different people, families, cultures and countries. Reading expands my awareness, makes me smarter and feeds my hungry mind.
How many teen girls do you know who read Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy? For my fifteenth birthday, my parents gave me "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare." I was thrilled.
As a teen, I did what I called literature surveys. I read great Russian authors, followed by South American, Black, Native American, British, Irish and gay writers. And kept going.
"Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite books. I reread it every year. Jhumpa Lahiri is a beloved author. Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Namesake" in 2000. My personal library gives me great joy.
During the pandemic when the library was closed, they still mailed books for free. Yay! Book reviews and awards give ideas of books to order from the library. Personal rule: don't add more bookshelves. When I buy a book, I donate one. One in/one out.
Your thoughts?
Well I have to admit that books are my heroin, I have many and I have many on Kindle and Audible and eBooks. Now all I have to do is learn to read.
I agree with you and see that you are indeed a literate hiker.
Thank you.
@LiterateHiker No need to thank me. I wish I could get around to reading much more than I do. As such I admire people such as yourself.
Sounds like a capitalist approach, she should read Marx.
I collect rpg books. My grandfather bought me d&d box set in 1975 for my birthday.
What are rpg books? What is a d&d box set?
I tend to make use of libraries myself. It saves accumulating books and findign space for them all.
When I find books I really really like, then I'll buy a copy for th econvenience of later rereading it.
Me, too.
I think that is one of the reasons that you write so well and simple, yet profound and deep. I do appreciate that al lot . Thank you !
@vegan
Thank you. What a lovely thing to say.
I gave up owning printed books when I started to move by myself. Previous moves we always had movers hired for us. When it is DIY, that is too much weight. I schleped loads of books to Half Price Books and sold them. Now most of my books are on Kindle if I keep them, or from the library.
I have about 800 books on my shelves. Most I've read, some I haven't or didn't finish, but only rarely do I part ways with any of my books. I've enjoyed reading almost since I could read and I like having books. I like the aesthetic of shelves filled with books. I plan to keep getting more books for as long as I have room for them.
In general I agree with her, strongly for me. But I was a minimalist since well before it became a pop-culture thing.
Having said that, if things-books or whatever-give you pleasure to keep, then they aren't clutter. So good for you.
I/we strongly agree. The only overtly stated rule we made when we got married was ' No one will ever be criticized for buying a book '.
And when my mother closed her craft/book store years later we inherited all her book display shelves. For a very long time our apartment looked much more like a library than a living space. (Voice of experience: That's only a good thing up to a point -- Ha, ha.)
Now I have to admit we've become lazy. We've replaced most of the books we read for enjoyment with electronic Kindle editions and the only hardcopy books We've kept out for ourselves are as much keepsakes as they are for reading. Ha, ha, again.
My wife even likes to go to sleep with audio books. 128GB memory cards can be wonderful things.
And the Kindle lights up in the dark and weighs a lot less than umpteen volumes.
Books only age from abuse so there's no reason to 'take a merciless ax' to them. That sounds like the thinking of a city dweller with too limited space to me.
You are spot on! I have books that I've read a half dozen times. Each time I find a bit that I missed before. Books... No, a wall of books is better than any painting masterpiece. There is a world waiting behind each spine.
Thank you, dear.
Love how you wrote, "There is a world waiting behind each spine."