17. The Bookshelf Project

So, for this blog I am starting a new project I like to call "The Bookshelf Project." I am "weeding" my bookshelf. I have too many books. Yes, I said it. TOO MANY. My books overflow my bookshelves onto mountainous piles on my floor and other parts of my home.

Call me a simpleton, but I don't plan on ever living in a space much bigger than the one I'm living in now. Maybe slightly, but not much. What I have now, will be what I have then, if that makes any sense. I don't NEED a space bigger than this. The size of my current living situation is highly satisfying. A spacious one-bedroom apartment (Proabaly between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet of space). This place is LUXURIOUS in comparison to other places I've lived and also in comparison to spaces that most people around the world occupy. I refuse to rent or buy a larger living space to satisfactorily store all of my accumulated "stuff." So, the "stuff" has got to go.

My library is one place I could definitely downgrade. Holding a random book in my hand I ask myself: Could I find this book easily at a library? Yes? Then, it's got to go. Donate it to a library, to a school, to Goodwill--wherever! It has to go nonetheless.

I have a large amount of books in my library that I haven't read or haven't read all the way through. So, "The Bookshelf Project" involves reading and rereading the books in my library. I plan to only keep books that are hard to find (i.e. can't be found at a public library), and books that I love and will read over and over again.

So far from my collection I have read:
"Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko
"Emma" by Jane Austen

"Ceremony" was a keeper; "Emma" had to go. I sent it off to Goodwill. I'm sure some poor teenager/college student is going to be required to read that and will be happy to purchase it for $.25 at Goodwill rather than $20 at the bookstore.

So, if you notice, on my reviews I have added a section under the rating that indicates whether the book was a "keep" or a "donate". I will continue this process until I've made it through every book on my shelf...and floor, and desk, and coffee table. Yep, I've got a lot of reading to do!