Book Purge One — June 12th 2016
Today marks the end of the first week of my — so far — less than traumatic purge of my bookshelves. I have been lucky in that I have found, that by looking at the clutter of books most obviously in view, I have been able to select books to pass on to the charity shops with little pain.
There are 8 books in the pile I shall take to the charity shop tomorrow rather than 7 because the paperback of Neal Stephenson’s ‘Seveneves’ arrived on Friday and, under the new self-imposed one book in and one book out rule, that meant I had to add another book to the purge pile.
Here are the books going this week:
1. Peter James — Dead Man’s Time
A book I gave my dad as a present and he passed on to me after he read it. He does that with all the books I give him. I won’t get round to reading this.
2. Teach Yourself Small Business Accounting
I think I bought this when I thought I could be bothered to take accounts seriously. In the end, it made more sense to hire an accountant. This is taking up space.
3. Blanchard et al — The One Minute Entrepreneur
I remembered reading the original One Minute Manager. I picked this up some years later in a charity shop (oh, the irony) and read it. I won’t read it again. I don’t remember what it said and I no longer care.
4. Spielman and D’Antonio — Mosquito
This is about, wait for it, the mosquito and how it os one of humanity’s deadliest foes. It was an enjoyable read in the same way that The Hot Zone or something similar was an enjoyable read. But I’ve read it and I distrust mosquitoes. Reading it again won’t change that.
5. The Observers Series — Wild Flowers
Where this came from I don’t know. I have a good book already about wild flowers and one book is more than enough in this family. We can’t tell a wild flower from a weed. Out it goes.
6. Steve Biddulph — The secret of happy children
If only. I went through a phase of buying Biddulph’s books as I struggled to be a good dad. I struggled to read the books (I have a few different ones) and it is now a little late, sadly, to be the parent to growing children that I aspired to be. Maybe I’ll be better with grandchildren.
7. Joseph Kanon — Istanbul Passage
Another gift to my dad. I started reading this one because I am always interested in Istanbul. But it disappointed and I couldn’t find the energy to finish it. Out it goes.
8. Formichelli and Burrell — The Renegade Writer
I went through a phase of buying ‘how to’ books about running a freelance writing business. I’ve had this book on my shelves for a dozen years and done no more than skim it. Apologies to the talented Linda and Diana but I think you deserve a more dedicated audience.
It all starts again tomorrow. As the weeks pass, I’m sure there will be tougher decisions to make. At the moment, my wife can hardly believe that even seven books are leaving the house willingly.
