Extreme Clean-Out, Part One: Books! Day Two ~ The Journey Continues

To bring you up to date, I've embarked on a journey this summer, of the soul and spirit as much as a material journey. My goal: To purge my home of all the surplus stuff accumulated over the 35 years or so of my (supposed) adulthood.

The book hallway

I decided to tackle what at first seemed to be the easiest thing; my enormous collection of books. It seemed easy because although there are too many of them, they were fairly organized and accessible, in bookcases or stacked along walls.

Can't get rid of these . . . 

But in reality it has turned out to be harder than I thought to get rid of these volumes. See, I reread my books over and over. The ones I've kept all these years, some dating to childhood, are really old friends.
I simply can't part with many of them.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is safe. Jane Austen as well. Anne McAffrey stays. I'm keeping Nora Roberts, too. And then there are the books I used to read to my kids. King Bidgood's in the Bathtub; Rainbow Fish; Slobcat; No No Nikki; Tom and Pippo; Moo, Baa, La la la; and so many others.
Likewise, I can't part with the books of my own childhood, such as Winnie the Pooh; Now we are Six, also by A.A. Milne; my collection of Anne of Green Gables, and others.
I have to keep all the books on Bonsai, even though I kill Bonsai; on growing orchids, because I have one now! And my books on salt water aquariums, because I intend to have one someday.
It adds up, you know?
But I've made good progress. I have a growing stack of around 200 books ready to sell and donate.
And still have my book hall to explore tomorrow.
Today's chore was the big bookcase in my bedroom.

It's hard not to get distracted while visiting with old friends

A new toilet is an exciting thing!

I got a little distracted from time to time, between being sucked into a book now and then, and my brother and son installing a shiny, new toilet (one that actually flushes when you push the handle -- a n
ovelty here, where we are used to standing over the toilet, plunger in hand, ready for the worst when we flush.)
But at the end of the day, I have a stack of keepers I really, really want (or at least want to reread before passing them on) and have added to the stack with which I can part.
Tomorrow I'll go after the big collection in the book hall . . . or maybe the pile behind the armchair in the living room. Almost forgot about that!

The Giveaway/Sell Pile is Growing!