#bookweeding

My last word on bookweeding, I promise. But talking about downsizing a book collection seems to have struck a chord with quite a few bloggers, so as I go on to tackle my journal and magazine hoard I was struck by a parable that fellow book blogger Sari recounts that I thought would help firm my resolve. Who knows, it may help anybody else involved in the same painful process of decimation.

In her

Still bookweeding http://wp.me/s2oNj1-library

The cartoonist and illustrator Tom Gauld is well known for his Guardian cartoons, especially in the Saturday review pages. One of his more popular items appeared on the 9th June this year; entitled ‘My Library’, the books displayed are colour-coded and categorised under the following headings, to which I’ve here added my own commentary as it applies to my shelves.

Read True, I’ve read many of my…

I confess: I am a book hoarder.

I have an emotional attachment to books that manifests itself by acquiring books, searching out bookshops, carrying at least one book with me wherever I go, having a pile of books by the side of the bed, storing books on shelves all over the house. I instinctively believe in the adage “there is no such thing as too many books; there is only not enough shelves”.

Bu…