We have too many books. There are book shelves everywhere and too often they are overloaded -- books stacked in front of books. There are books in closets, under beds, stacked on stairs, and beside chairs. Every now and then I make an attempt to go through the books, decide which ones I will never re-read, and pack them up to go to the library booksale.
There's a start -- I enjoyed these Elmore Leonard books (passed on to me by a friend who was also de-accessioning) but I'm pretty sure I won't be wanting to re-read them.It's painful, making these decisions but it has to be done -- maybe another day I'll feel more ruthless.
So then I went to the library to meet a friend and return to her a book she'd lent me.
While I was waiting, I found myself perusing the book sale -- always a bargain at $1 per hardback and 50 cents for paperbacks, Today, however, everything was half price.
I brought home seven books for $3.50 -- let me explain.
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman -- I have most of Hillerman's books and reread them every few years. I didn't have this one. Now I do.
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. I loved this when I listened to it on my Kindle. I know I'll enjoy reading it and getting even more of the story that way. Things that I read 'stick' much better than things that I hear.
Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler -- I've never yet been disappointed by Anne Tyler. I look forward to reading this one.
Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope - this was the one I began at once. A British comedy of manners -- perhaps a bit predictable but well drawn characters and family intrigue always grab me. I enjoyed it -- but will I reread it? Hmmm. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe -- I already have this in a recording and as the fourth book in a one volume trilogy (yes, I know, but this is Douglas Adams - ordinary rules don't apply.)
A Traveler's Companion - a collection from Harper's Magazine -- this is a real treat! Essays from the late 1800s with titles like 'The Lords of the Sahara,' 'East and West Ends of London,' 'Domestic and Court Customs of Persia,' 'In the Garden of China,' 'Wild Mountain Tribes of Borneo,' 'Characteristic Parisian Cafes' ... and great illustrations...
This is back when travel was really adventure -- and not for the faint-hearted or poorly funded.
Where will I go first? 'In Folkestone Out of Season,' 'The Slave Market at Marrakesh,' or "Campaigning with the Cossacks?'
Or maybe to Shangri-La . . . I was delighted to find this lovely illustrated edition of Hilton's classic Lost Horizons. My paperback copy is almost fifty years old. 
Aha! Another book for the de-accessioning box. I feel so proud.
