So when talking about books it often comes up whether a person likes to keep their books or not. I have a mother in law who loves to read paperbacks, and so does my father in law, but they don’t keep books-exchange them, sell them, they don’t care. They don’t re-read books so there really is no point in keeping them. Others don’t buy books- they are strictly library or e-reader peoples. I am none of these. In the past if I read a book it meant I had already bought it. I am getting better on this front. I buy it if I KNOW I am going to love it. If I question it, I get it from the library first. If I love it THEN I buy it. Either way, my books have become my newest collection. I used to have close to 400, which really isn’t many considering this situation. However, they take up a lot of space and they are a pain to move. And so far my husband and I seem to have moved every 2-3 years. So we made a deal. I have 4 5 shelves book cases. Once they are full I am not allowed anymore. We have had this deal for most of the 7 years we’ve been together. So I had to dwindle the collection down to just over 300, which was sad but easy to do once I got rid of university text books from classes I loathed.
As a result of this collection limitation I have found a couple of tricks for getting new books and I realized just how near and dear some of my books are. First trick, put two rows of books on each shelf (shhhhhh…I think this is somehow breaking the rules. Tee hee). Second, find a store like Regina’s Buy the Book which will buy your books off of you and give you cash, or double your value in store credit. Whoop! New books! And of course there are used book sales and garage sales. This is, of course, if you need to own books. Otherwise the library is the biggest collection you need! But I need to own books, and due to my boredom of being on maternity leave but inability to buy new books due to funds shortages of not working I have spent a lot of time at Buy the Book. And now I am realizing there are likely close to 50, if not more, books on my shelves I have not read. And what is the point of owning a book you haven’t read? There isn’t one! So this has led me to my summer challenge. Or 2011 challenge. No more new-to-me books until I have read every book on my shelves at least one.
This will accomplish a couple of things. One- reading. Two- figuring out which books can be sold in exchange for new books and three- gives me stuff to write on here!
I have two rules: Rule #1: If I have already read it, I don’t have to read it again. There are two exceptions. First is Mein Kampf. I do not own this book to ever read it. I have heard it is an awful read, research has told me I have the worst translation. So why do I own it? It is a 1942 copy that used to belong to a man in Winnipeg according to the book plate on the inside. I love the historical significance of that. To look at this book makes me think of the time and place of Canada and the world when that edition was published. Why would this Winnipeg man want to own a copy- know thy enemy? Sympathizer? My overactive fiction loving mind creates whole stories about who the owner could have been and what happened to him. Did he fight in the war? Did he come home? Was in an intelligence officer? Either way looking at this book forces me to consider the time and place and activities and sacrifices of World War II more than any Remembrance Day service ever has. So I keep it.
Second, I don't have to read all of my editions of Little Women. I have 10. I have read this book many more times than that but there are editions I have barely even opened.
Rule 2- I don’t have to review everything I read. While I definitely want to use my books to inspire reads for you I also know the few that read my blog don’t read many non fiction books. And I read a lot of non fiction, particularly political non fiction. And since I don’t want to turn my blog into a political soap box I likely won’t review many of them- unless it's that good. Also, I just don't have the time to review all of it!
So I am excited to start this challenge. In fact, in a way, I already have. Look Me In The Eyes was the first book of this challenge. And if anyone out there who does read this actually wants to do something similar I would love to know what you are reading. I like to get book suggestions too!
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