conuly

I'd been putting it off because I couldn't work out the logistics of where to put the "keep" pile. I finally decided that there's a simple, if somewhat annoying solution: Just toss them on the floor, I can put them away later!

So walking through my living room is still a hazard. At any moment you might slip on a book, fall, and break your back. But at least you won't pull down all the other books in a twisted reenactment of the Collier brothers. And hey, you'll have something to read!

My keep list so far includes: The Martine books
The few BSC/SVT/Goosebumps books we still have (I gave most of them to the school in the 8th grade, which is how I met Lizziey, actually)
Most of the murder mysteries if I've seen anybody read anything else in the series lately
Any classics that aren't currently in the public domain
The Tortall books (OMG!)
Most of the YA and kidlit, in fact
My concise edition of Norse and Greek/Roman mythology I got for my birthday when I was eight or so (which is why my father is buried with an obol under his tongue, fun fact!)

My toss list?

Three copies of Roget's Thesaurus (and counting!)
2 English-Hebrew dictionaries
1 copy of the 3rd year of Latin for Americans (and no, I didn't steal that from Stuy, we already had a copy, I have no idea why)
Every Gor book (uh....)
Our Bible (I'm not sure I shouldn't actually throw it out, it's in somewhat embarrassing condition)
The Concise OED (somebody ELSE can get a magnifying glass on that thing! It's in like 1 point font!)
Our Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia
4 dictionaries
1 Spanish verb book
2 French verb books
1 Latin-English dictionary
1 Dutch-English dictionary
2 Greek-English dictionaries
1 first year German textbook
1 Cajun French textbook
Half a dozen random cookbooks
Various Star Wars Novels (Jenn, you want, you help!)
Various vintage Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drews and Wonder Boys books

I'm debating the merits of keeping a few of the reference books. Mostly I'm operating on the assumption that if we ever need it, we can buy another copy... but some of these were expensive enough the first time around. Sure, you only need that one Art History textbook once in your life, when you take Art History... but that's a required course, isn't it? Odds are both nieces will need it in just a dozen years or so.

Oh, listen. We have a wide variety of books. If there's something you want, go ahead and comment about it. I'll keep an eye out while I sort.