January 3, 2012
My wife is big on getting books from the library. Me, not so much. I'll get audiobooks there from time to time but the truth is I began my career early as a book buyer and I've yet to kick the habit.
Before I was ten years old I was ordering the weekly installment of Roy of the Rovers comic books that came from England to our corner newsagent. In high school and into university, I was a regular browser and buyer at Smith's Bookshop in Wellington. When life drew me to the US in 1987, I hated having to sell and give away hundreds of books. I vowed never to downsize like that again.
Well, so much for that youthful vow.
Ever since the movers left with our stuff from Harford County four months ago, we have been preparing for the reality of moving into a much smaller home. We made multiple trips with clothing and furniture to Goodwill. We held a garage sale. We gave stuff away. And we simply left some things behind. And still we had too much.
We moved into our new place, a townhouse in Silver Spring, three weeks ago. When all the boxes were emptied, it became clear that the downsizing was not yet done and some hard decisions about my beloved books had to be made. I have kept the niches I love – poetry, horse racing, humor, Antarctic exploration, birds, and literary fiction. I now have six 7ft. and two 4ft. bookcases sitting empty in the garage and needing a new home.
As for the books that had to go, I learned a hard lesson when I took four boxes into to a Rockville second-hand bookstore and I walked out with three. All those years of reading came down to $7.50 in cash or $30 in store credit for the ones they wanted, and zippo for the three boxes that attracted no interest.
I think I am finally coming to understand that it's time to be much more selective about the books I keep. I can't imagine a life without buying books, but I'd better be sure I love them; my most treasured appear to have little value for anyone else. The Good Counsel angle for all of this (you knew there would be one) is in the stark reminder of the Xaverian virtue of choosing a lifestyle of greater simplicity in the form of fewer things. When you've been turning the pages in books for more than 50 years and owning them for at least 45, the path to that virtue is not an easy one.
Meanwhile, having given up on the library angle, my wife has seized the downsizing moment. Her push is to go digital. No shelf space required, highly portable, typically cheaper. Since I insist on supporting the writing/reading industry by buying, she now has a new mantra: "Get a Kindle!"