Book Purge Five — July 10th 2016
Week five of the purge already. In material terms that means I have now selected 35 books to leave home. I am caught between two temptations at the moment: to stop the purge completely or to pick up the pace. There was an article in this weekend’s International New York Times about Marie Kondo. Her claims for successfully ‘tidying’ — purging — appeal greatly but the sceptic in me and the clinging addict wants to keep hold of what I have. It all starts again tomorrow.
Here are this week’s rejects to be discarded with love:
1. Sidetracked — Henning Mankell
I bought this when I thought I would be reading my way through the Wallander series. That hasn’t happened and is unlikely to happen. This sits rather sadly on the shelves, therefore, feeling neglected. It needs a new home.
2. The Da Vinci Code — Dan Brown
I bought this because it was used as the ‘test case’ in a book I was reading about plot structure. Until then I had resisted buying it, partly because I had read a previous Brown — Digital Fortress — and found it a bizarre combination of ridiculous story, unchecked facts, and poor writing. This book saw me zoom through it but it hasn’t inspired me to look out any more books by Brown and it is safe to say I won’t be reading it again. This copy can return to a charity shop and join a host of its brethren on the shelves there.
3. Essentialism — Greg McKeown
I had a spate of business/self-help buying at the tail end of 2014. I know I have read this but I can’t honestly remember what its core message was. Focus, I suppose. Making the right choices. I’m not inspired to revisit the lessons of the book. Perhaps someone else will have better luck. I believe that we need to hear the same lessons many times until one is stated in just the right way to match our needs. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t the one for me.
4. Now Is Gone — Geoff Livingston
This was one of the first books I bought — and I think one of the first to appear — on the subject of social media in business. I had recently started a company that was helping small businesses find the potential in social media — and the web in general, in some cases — for competitive advantage. And all that bollocks. I have a fondness for this book but I won’t be looking at it again.
5. Opera Guide — Gerhart von Westerman
I bought this for my mother in one of those deadly teenage phases when I was trying to educate her. Enough said. The book contains synopses of all major operas. My mother never opened it and it found its way onto my shelves a long time ago. I have referred to it probably twice in the last 30 years — and not because I know the stories of all the operas. An embarrassment and it has to go.
6. The Runner’s Handbook — Bob Glover
In the 20 years or so I have owned this book I have probably gone for a run less than a dozen times. Maybe someone else — someone with a passion for running — will derive some benefit if they discover this on a charity shop shelf. I feel it is too late for me.
7. Country Of The Blind — Christopher Brookmyre
This was the second of the Jack Parlabane books — of which the first, Quite Ugly One Morning, I will be keeping — and it follows the other Brookmyres I have been discarding in the last weeks. It’s too late to stop now and the alternative is to buy back the ones I have given away. That is not an option. Seriously. Even if I have considered it.
