Friday, January 05, 2007

I Will Not Walk That Path To Hell

Colleen's comment on a previous post got me thinking. (Yeah, bad, bad thing!)

When it comes to books, I'm wicked. Wicked, I tell you! I'm a total packrat. I can't help it!

It doesn't even matter what kind of book it is.

For some strange reason, I consider it a sin, yes, an honest to goodness sin to throw a book away. I refuse to walk that particular path to hell. I imagine my guardian angel peering over my shoulder and wagging a finger in contempt if I so much as think about trashing a book.

I absolutely covet books. And garden books? Oh my! They are the holy grail of all books on earth!

But I don't buy them, except through library sales, or garage sales. I do pass them on to people I know might enjoy them, so my stash has dwindled a tad. But then I worry if the person I've passed it on to will eventually throw it in the trash! Especially if it was a plant or garden book. It's like I'll fail misearbly if I don't entice them to grow something and then they choose to rid themselves of the information altogether.

I need a shrink.

Admit it - you have gardening books up the wazoo.

How many of them have you actually read all the way through? How many do you keep just for reference sake? How many do you know you should part with, but don't? How many did you buy last year? How many do you plan on buying this year? Is there one you simply couldn't do without or give up? And...how many do you have sitting on your shelves that someone recommended were just grand, but you loath? Or had very bad (or wrong) gardening information? You know...those eye-roll, "Yeah, like that'll work in my zone!" books.

Go browse those shelves and count those books. How many? I'll bet you find some you haven't thought about in years, or completely forgotten you even had. Oh, and don't forget to check under the bed.
;)

StumbleUpon.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Count? You want me to count them?!?! lol. This might take a while... I'll be back tomorrow. ;)

Carol Michel said...

I've actually cataloged -just- my gardening books on LibraryThing.com. I think I found them all. I have... two hundred and thirty, and two more on order.

That doesn't include non-gardening books.

I need a 12-step program... my name is Carol and I love books. Oh, and have you joined us in the Garden Bloggers Book Club?

Tina said...

Kim,
yeah, I want you to count :) Just how long is this going to take you? lol.

Carol,
You've left me speechless! That's an amaing amount...where the heck do you keep them all?
Don't do the book club for the simple reason that I don't really have access to the books.

Carol Michel said...

I try to come up with ways for people to participate in the book club (I assume you mean Garden Bloggers' Book Club) without the actual book. This month, read and comment on anything related to soil or compost and you are in!

I put most of the books on shelves, though I have a few stacks as well. I am hoping some weekend soon to go through all my books and get rid of those I am sure I won't read again. I'll take them to Half Price Books or Goodwill... never throw them away!