Monday, March 8, 2010

Goalsetting

Spring is coming -- actually, it's off and on already here -- and with it, I feel the need to clear some space. To de-clutter. To (gasp!) get rid of some books.

Here's the thing: I am completely incapable of selling, or otherwise ridding myself of, my books.

But I have a plan, and with it a resolution of sorts. Sitting on my desk, which doubles as a one-level bookshelf along the back, is a whole heap of books which I have not read, but are also not mine. I'm going to read all of those books -- not necessarily consecutively, seeing as I have plenty of books I DO own that will be interspersed -- before I allow myself to purchase or check out a single volume more.

I don't know if I can do it.

I'm a'gonna try, though. I'm reading John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River right now (an owned book, not a loaned one), but as soon as I finish it -- not long, now that I'm past his substantial exposition -- it's on to the loaners.

Wish me luck.

2 comments:

  1. This is one habit I've been able to kick recently. Living less than 1000 feet away from a library had really helped. I haven't bought a book for a LONG time.

    I don't see a need to keep a book when I can easily retrieve it from the library (or the internet). If the library doesn't have it, I can transfer from any other library in the system. I also rarely read a book more than once. Right now I'm down to ~20 books, most of which are autographed.

    ReplyDelete