01 May 2010

Discarding books

Books are the dream of those who stay in one place and the nightmare of those who move. I love books! And I have done as long as I can remember. And with that love it’s so easy to accumulate them. But if you move house they’re the worst.

In Norway I made a book cupboard that fit most of my modestly sized books. The big ones live in the robust cupboard I had since I was a child. And I decided that that book cupboard should be it. Every time I buy or get a new book, therefore, and old one has to go. And I can’t resist buying books. I keep on buying climate-related books, like the one I blogged about recently (and I have another one! I may get to that one soon, and then I’ll write a review). I also get books. And in Norway I bought a few books in Norwegian, as that’s not so easy here in England.


It was quite a step to start this. Many of my books are useless to the community around me. Hardly anyone here can read the Ducth and Norwegian specimens, so many of them just end up as waste. And throwing a book away is not easy. But I got the hang of it! And I am getting better...

I had already dealt with some of the more conspicuous targets, but that wasn’t enough. And then I fell ill. Not ill enough to sleep all day but too ill to work. Which as unpleasant and boring, but the only upside of it is that basically the only thing you can then still do is read books. Novels, preferably, as tougher stuff can’t be digested by my cottonwooly, slimy head. So I’m making progress! Only after having read a book I can decide if it’s worth to keep. So maybe this throat infection will let me catch up with myself, with my bookshelf!

6 comments:

Sunshine and Shadows said...

I too have a book addiction. I love them all.

Unknown said...

Beterschap!

Groeten, Lourens

Maaike said...

Oef, ja, boeken wegdoen is altijd naar. Ook als je (relatieve) zeeen van ruimte hebt groeit op den duur je huis dicht met boeken, weet ik uit bittere ervaring. Misschien heb je hier iets aan: www.bookcrossing.com en www.bookcrossing.nl. Alleen nog geen www.bookcrossing.no.

Margot said...

Let me guess, Sunshine and Shadows; you have a space issue too?

Dank Lourens!

En Maaike, ja zo gaat het inderdaad... maar ik ben voortvarend bezig! Ik kom er wel! En, hmm het klinkt als een gaaf idee, maar volgens mij werkt het alleen met boeken in een taal die veel mensen in het land waar je je boek achterlaat ook spreken... dus ik ben bang dat het 1 en ander aan Nederlandstaligs toch in de oud papier bak verdwijnt. En de Engelse bende gaat naar een charity shop; daarvan zijn er hier eindeloos veel!

De TV-psycholoog said...

Mik je dat boek over die hyena nou nou eindelijk weg?

Margot said...

Nah zeg. Maar, eh ja die gaat er waarschijnlijk inderdaad wel uit binnenkort, al heeft hij deze ronde overleefd.

En het was een hyenahond.