Too Many Books?! Crazy!!

Last week Mike asked me if we needed a book shelf. His query came after he saw the ever growing pile of books behind our bedroom door. Today he suggested that we might want to invest in a Kindle. I think he thinks I have too many books. Can you believe it?! He thinks there is such a thing as too many books. There is no better way to describe his implied accusation, other than CRAZY TALK!! Does he not realize the deep rooted relationship that I have with these wonderfully inanimate objects? I’m not sure that I can really even call them inanimate; they are living breathing creatures that infuse themselves into my very being. His words were almost as hurtful as if he had said we had too many children. The horror!!

So, to prove my point, I have taken inventory of my life with books. Too many books?! Not possible.

Number of:

Books behind bedroom door: 25

Books behind door that will go to back to bookshelf at school: 23

Educational magazines behind door: 7

Educational books needing to be read before end of summer: 4

Books in my red daily reading bag: 8 + 3 journals

Days the books in this bag has saved me from the dark side: 412

Number of books on my nightstand: 5 +1 journal

Books I need to return to lenders: 5

Magazines on nightstand: 10

Magazines already read, but can’t quite part with yet: 9

Books packed away in storage because there isn’t enough room in our home: 275

Books saved from storage that live safely in my armoire: 31

Journals in armoire: 5 filled journals  + 1 travel journal begging to be written in

Books in bathroom: 1

Magazines in bathroom: (prior to sorting & recycling) 21 (after sort) 7

Books and magazines transferred to bathroom, from other areas of house, after inventory: 2

Hours spent in story time at the Litchfield Public Library: 108

Days spent curled up on my bed reading Anne of Green Gables books: 92

Days, in first grade, learning to read with Sun Up books: 120

Authors of educational books that have brought me to tears: 3

                Penny Kittle (Write Beside Them)

                Georgia Heard (Awakening the Heart)

                Ralph Fletcher (What a Writer Needs)

Times I have walked into a bookstore and inhaled the lovely book aroma: 393

Times I have cheered, like a crazed fan, for the librarians in the Arvada parade: 1

Hours I shelved books at the Arvada Public Library: 832

Times I have been bummed that I borrowed a book, rather than purchased it myself: 5

Times I have gone and purchased the said borrowed book, after reading it: 3

Books that are actually in storage: 400ish

I should have thought this little “too many books?” project through before starting it. Alright. Maybe, just maybe, I need to convert to a Kindle. Maybe if they added a book smell to it I would be more likely to embrace this fancy new technology. Maybe I should consider a Kindle for the sake of the planet, for the sake of our home. I would hate to show up on an episode of Hoarders, as the woman who lined her home with books. The woman who made her children sleep on stacks of books, instead of comfy beds. I am definitely not ready to say there is such a thing as too many books. Someday, you may see me curled up reading from my Kindle. But, for tonight, I am off to snuggle into my bed, to smell that intoxicating smell, and to read the old fashion way. With a book.