Books, books, and more books

I have been told by he who says he loves me, "Pare down your books, all of them.. get rid of the ones you'll never read again, this looks crazy!!"

Getting rid of one's books is a tough thing to do. I mean, each of them tells a story of where they came from, why I bought them, and how much I enjoyed reading them. It's a shame really; surely no one will value them as much as I do were I to give them away. Lord knows I won't throw them in the trash (that just has to be a sin).

So.. I am looking at my bookcases here at home and am wondering, "Where do I start?"

I have been able to make the case for keeping my reference books on liberation theology, the Idiot's Guides to everything (which also includes a few cookbooks), cultural anthropology, teaching methods, and Biblical exegesis. I am left with about 3 shelves that I could honestly discard in their entirety (and probably a fourth shelf, the shelf on cultural anthropology deals with cultures around the globe as they deal with lgbt identities, this is probably a bit dated.)

To make this challenge easier, I have decided what I am going to do with the books first. For starters, I am going to donate by books on a queer identity and other relevant cultural discussions, to the Gay Center here in New York City. Then, I am going to go through the bookshelves and actually trash the old papers, binders, and reports I have stuffed in-between the books.

Finally, I found a bookstore yesterday that will give me a $1 store credit for any fiction book I bring in that they need. The rest will be donated, through them, to other book-related charities. I am pretty psyched that I have a plan. The next hurdle though, is taking down the books and packing them up. I need to get myself motivated and do it all very quickly- I have to "not think, just do" it. But, I'll need to wait until the movitation takes hold of me.. it won't be too long, I've been given a deadline.

Also, I will need to do the same thing at work. While he who loves me understands that my books at work are my responsibility, it only makes sense for me to do a bookshelf cleaning there too. That'll be tougher though.. my best and most favorite books are at work.

Still, as I think about this age of technology I am living in, I realize that most of my important reference books have now been digitalized and that keeping all my hardcover books are now more about sentimentality than actual, "I just know I'll need to reference something in that book someday soon." I am amazed at how seductive sentimentality really is.. and how powerful it is too. I guess I just need a big dose of 'mean as hell cantankorism' to begin and finish this task. Pray for me kind folk, its going to be a tough week of paring down.