ON KEEPING BOOKS

I have a Kindle, and I enjoy the convenience of instantly purchasing a novel and being able to easily toss an entire library into my bag. Even so, there are still small piles of books stacked in favorite reading corners, and the bookcase Joseph made for my birthday four years ago still brims with novels, read to the point that their spines split to reveal discolored pages.

Routinely I browse through the shelves to eliminate impostors - a poorly written science fiction novel or a lifestyle book with terrible advice. Most I donate, but I'm not above tossing out a book so terrible that nobody should ever read it. If our library is going to overflow, it will only be with books we love and plan to read again... and again.

I've accepted that our library will never be truly minimal, and one day I hope we can devote an entire room to housing books. There is intellectual and imaginative gain when fingers engage to turn a page, and asking an avid reader to part with a well worn paperback is like asking them to give up an old friend.