Friday 13 October 2017

Parting company with old friends


Today I started a job that has been on my "To Do" list for ages - but that I've been putting off and off. We have books in every room in the house (yes, every room!); if we come to downsize in the not too distant future, that library has got to be rationalised somehow. But where to start? How to choose what stays and what goes? This is not going to be achieved in a hurry ...

As I scanned the bookcases I found my whole life encapsulated there - the hardback classics I'd read in childhood, books that had belonged to my parents, all the Tolkien and C. S. Lewis stories I'd read with my children. Books I'd had as prizes at school, books given to me as presents over the years, books written and signed by friends - all there and reminding me so much of people and places important to me over the years. There were books I'd read and reread, ones that had made me laugh and ones that had seen me through difficult times - and so many that I couldn't possibly part with!

But on the first cull I have ended up with three large bags to contribute to our local Red Cross bookshop. Good to think that a worthwhile charity can benefit from them - and if I can feel that the people who buy them will get half as much enjoyment out of them as I have, I shalln't regret it.




No comments:

Post a Comment