Photograph your bookshelves. Then, make a list of every book that’s on the shelves, putting a check mark next to the books that you’ve actually read. Next, make a list of all the books that aren’t on the shelves that you’ve read over the years. Some you’ll have no problem remembering, others you won’t be able to recall. And then make still another list, this one noting all the books you want to read but haven’t — yet. Update frequently, and keep the lists and photographs tucked away in your favorite book.
I love my bookshelves, so much so that a place doesn't quite feel like home without them or the books that fill them. The funny thing is that I haven't read the majority of the books that take up residence here; I've known that for a long time and it hasn't really bothered me until recently. I love reading. Always have. But I also love books for their beauty. (Am I crazy that I think books are beautiful?) As such, I have many books that I love simply for the aesthetic value they add to my living room; I'm sure the contents are incredible as well (most are classics, you know), but I wouldn't be the one to tell you that for sure.
But, last December, finding my appetite for reading was suddenly voracious, I determined that now was as good a time as any to start reading these books. As many as I could, as quickly as I could. (In other words, I resolved to start one and finish it without letting weeks slip by without picking it up.) And, as I began, I realized I had several books that I just didn't care about. I had picked them up once upon a time because I had wanted to read them, but as the years passed, I lost interest and forgot about them. With space at a premium in our apartment, I started sorting through the books and making piles of those that I was willing to let go of. I did this before I realized that one of the 52 Projects dealt with books on one's bookshelf. Nice timing, eh?
Here is one of my bookshelves; this is in the living room. There's one more shelf that's not pictured here; it's covered up by storage boxes behind our couch, and the camera couldn't catch it. (Told you space was at a premium - who wants storage boxes in their living room?) Anyway, we keep classics, books on faith and spirituality, and fiction on this shelf.
This is the other shelf in the living room; it houses classics, literary anthologies, and art and history books. Oh, and Addie's books and toys are on the bottom two shelves. Didn't catch that in this picture, but I promise you I've read all the books on her shelf. Many times.
And here is the much more functional bookshelf in my bedroom. The books on this shelf are the spillover from when I cleared out two shelves on the living room shelves for Addie's stuff. And yet, somehow, adding books to my bedroom made it finally feel like my own room.
And this is the final bookshelf to show. This is in Addie's room; she has another one with strictly her books, but I included this one because the majority of books on it are actually mine. Books from childhood, high school, college. Books I held on to because they seemed to special to get rid of (my mom's Nancy Drew book from when she was a young girl); books I held on to because I thought perhaps one day my own daughter might love them (Anne of Green Gables); books I held on to because I still read them over and over again (Harry Potter).
So. The point of all this was to write a list of the books on these shelves, right? Well, I wish I could tell you that I had my list complete. I don't. I've had a clingy, moody toddler on my hands this week who has made it fairly impossible to do much else during her waking hours than read books with her, play hide and go seek with her Little People, or watch Sesame Street for the 47th time in a row. But I can tell you that the list is started, at least. I'll add pictures here when I get it finished. Promise.
What books do you love? Why do you hold on to the books you do? How do you decide what stays and what goes?
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