Today I went through the outlying bookshelves – the ones in the bedroom and bathrooms – and purged them. Then I did some final rearrangements of the books and shelved the new books. I now have the equivalent of about two and half shelves of open space and shelves that were packed 2 deep are now single packed for the most part, allowing for some grouping issues (I have all the Agatha Christies piled on top of one another on one shelf for instance and all the books relating to Tudor England are crammed into another shelf as well).
I’m now going through the LibraryThing booklist & matching up books. I now see I should shelve things in an alphabetical rather than an aesthetically pleasing manner. It makes tracking them easier
These are the final purge totals. (I found a stash of books from the last purge on the bottom shelf of a bookcase blocked by my sewing machine cart)
| History | 59 |
| Esoteric | 38 |
| Fantasy | 6 |
| Science Fiction | 35 |
| Mystery | 42 |
| Romance | 32 |
| Humor | 10 |
| General fiction | 18 |
| Random non fiction | 12 |
| Grand total | 252 |
About half of them are being donated to various places and the other half will soon be listed on ebay, half.com or bookmooch.com. If they are still in my house come the autumn equinox they will be donated as well
I feel good. I feel lighter. I feel….
empty…
those shelves look so empty…
unfilled…
vacant…
I…I…need more books!
I have a burning desire to go buy books to fill those bare spots in.
Look at the lovely open spaces, just waiting for more books. They want more books. What are bookshelves for if not to be stuffed to overflowing with books?
Must resist call of empty shelves….
