One Done

I got started on the library spring cleaning with the big bookcase in my home office. This is where I keep the books I've written for work (the blurred out sections of the pic) as well as books I haven't yet read, excess copies of my bylined books, the reference books I most often use, signed editions, paperback collections of my two of my all-time favorite authors, and miscellaneous books that somehow migrated there, too.

I will be the first to admit that the bookcase is still mostly a big mess, but my first task is to weed out the books I'm willing to part with, donate them to get them out of the house, and then reorganize everything I decide to keep.

It's very hard for me to do this. I'd rather give up clothing and shoes than books. But a lot of that comes from having been a poor kid who couldn't afford to buy books. Having them now gives me a sense of security, like everyone else gets from those blankets in childhood. If I didn't watch myself I'd become a book hoarder.

I was able to purge these thirty books while sorting through the shelves, so I think that's a decent start. I have three more shelves to go through in the office, two big bookcases like this one out in the sewing room, and one more in the guest bedroom, plus all the boxes of books I've stored in the closets, which is probably ten to fifteen big bins.

This is going to be the book version of what I did with my fabric stash last year, but it feels good to get going on the project.