In preparation for a someday move, I’ve been parting with my books. Hundreds of them over the past three years. Most have been collecting dust for decades (I bought my house in 1989), while others are recent additions. Some are quick reads I started and finished while drinking a cup of coffee, while others took me more than a year to make my way through.
Many are still on my “to read” list while others have been read and reread, by me and by the family and friends I’ve shared them with. Some were gifts, though most were bought by me at local bookstores or while traveling.
One reason I have so many books is because the upstairs of my house, which once belonged to the owners of a local used bookstore, is a 45- by 15-foot half-story lined with—no surprise—bookshelves, 150 linear feet of them, plus three standalone bookcases.
Although I’ve loved owning my books, some of which date back to my years as a college English major, now that I’m on Medicare and beginning to think of moving, it’s time to let them go.
But parting isn’t easy, in large part because I still treasure the stories they told, the memories they hold and the lessons they taught. There are books about saints that I read while in Catholic grade school, and books about the sea I read while in Florida on family vacations. There are books I used to motivate myself, and others I turned to for solace after the deaths of my parents.
There’s a shelf of books that include autographs from people I admire and heartfelt messages from people who love me. There’s even one shelf dedicated to books written by people I know, and whom you may know as well: Marly Cornell, Kate DiCamillo and Cathy Madison to name a few. Plus, books by Natalie Goldberg, Mary Carroll Moore and others from whom I’ve taken a Loft class or gotten to know because of a writing workshop.
Just seeing the books brings back a flood of memories of the books themselves—the characters, the settings, the twists and turns of their plots—as well as where I was when I read them: while packed in the car with my parents and four younger sisters on our way to Florida for a family vacation, while taking college English classes, while flying to China, while spending a month on a Panama beach, while sitting bedside during my father’s final hours.
Others such as How to Forgive When You Don’t Know How and Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference home in on my desire to be a better person and to advocate for causes I care about.
And, no surprise to anyone who knows me, there are also dozens of self-help books, many of which inspired me to write my own book, What Do You Really Want? How to Set a Goal and Go for It, A Guide for Teens.
While I’ve treasured all my books, I’ve recently begun sending them back out into the world. I’ve donated hundreds to Rain Taxi, a local non-profit that sponsors the annual Twin Cities Book Festival, which includes a book sale. I’ve also put dozens in the Little Free Library down the street.
Still others I’ve passed on to family and friends whom I hope will enjoy them—or learn as much from them—as I have. They range from true crime to travel guides, from books by (and about) artists to how-to books on everything from fishing and stargazing to tying knots and learning Spanish.
And because I now do most of my reading on my phone thanks to the Kindle and audiobooks I borrow from the Hennepin County Library, my shelves are becoming empty.
Thankfully I have one thing that will keep my book memories alive: the annual “books I’ve read” lists. I truly treasure these lists and the many fond memories they prompt of the nearly 2,000 books I’ve read since I started keeping track back in 1982.
As author Italo Calvino has written, “Your house, being the place in which you read, can tell us the position books occupy in your life.” And although there are now far fewer books in my house than there were in the past, I hope you will always be able to see the important place they hold in my life.
One month ago, Jody and I flew to Texas for a weeklong RV Fundamentals course. We don’t own an RV. Our goal was to learn the intricacies of RVs and how to maintain a motorhome before buying. Our chance of success would increase, and we’d have much less frustration.
We didn’t sign up for the test. We hid in the back of the class.
At week’s end, Jody and I received an RV Fundamentals Training certificate. In addition, Jody studied for and passed the RV Service Technician exam and became certified.
While we were on a roll, we researched becoming 
6 responses to “Saying Goodbye to My Books”
I have a friendly used bookstore owner in WI who has accepted most of the books I need to release. Unfortunately he gives me store credits. And of course that means purchasing more books. A nice story, Bev.
I totally understand! I only keep books that I’m willing to read more than once, and yet I still have five bookshelves full of them. I know that someday I’ll have to weed them out, and I also know that will be painful. Books to speak to us, of the different things we lived through, of all our experiences, and the stories in them are friends. You expressed this so well!! And good for you for passing some of them on to people you think they’d help….that takes time, but it’s worth it!
Downsizing books isn’t always easy, but being very heavy, they are a bear to move! Needs must. 😉
Loved this! Especially after just delivering a cumbersome armful to the Litt
I love the way books hold a person, make a person, and give so much back. You made me feel each shelf as you emptied and moved along with the books as you carefully placed them in significant spots for others. Thank you Bev!
I so appreciate your kind words. Thanks for taking the time.