Wednesday, February 24, 2010

my library

in the spirit of "2010, the year of retrying old things" i've decided to start collecting books again. i can't remember when i stopped this, and honestly i dont regret it because it helped me clear out a lot of literature i wasn't really that into or wasn't reading often enough to justify holding onto them. i'm guessing around 3 years ago i decided to give away everything but the books i loved the most, those that had sentimental value, were too wrecked up to give away in good conscience, etc. i thought it would hurt more to part with so much of my library but surprise, surprise it felt great. most of it was donated to the library or directly to friends who had a particular love or interest i shared. today, i began a book chain mail, wherein i give/send one book to a person and make 6 copies of a letter/ask 6 people to send a book to the person i got the letter from. luckily when i turned my letter over it was chelsea kay, a friend i see up to 4 days a week between church and preschool encounters, so i was able to just hand it to her today. it was mildly stressing thinking about giving a book away to a stranger. (though i secretly had schemed ahead of time to see if they were on goodreads had it been someone i didnt know.) i ended up giving chelsea love and living by thomas merton. she said i could borrow it back whenever i needed. my friend tassie asked me what books i held onto after the great purge of 2007 (?) and sitting here at my kitchen table in front of my bookshelf, in no particular order other than how they are arranged on the shelf before me, here is what i can see that i kept



pink think: becoming a woman in many uneasy lessons*
fit to be tied: making marriage last a lifetime
the sign of jonas
out of africa
invisible man
the blue day book
steal this book
6 tolkein books
how to raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor
night*
the case for christ
more than you & me
letters to a young poet*
empowered evangelicals
calm my anxious heart
50 poems
romancing your childs heart
a 8 volume reference collection (dictionary, medical terminology, etc)
the great gatsby
tender is the night
the curious case of benjamin button
a very large anthology of major american literature from college
3 bibles
dollar bill animals in oragami
roots, boots, buckets, and shoots
wit and wisdom
the ladies room reader
the irresistible revolution*
the tao of piglet, the te of pooh
the catcher in the rye*
brave new world*
the giver*
the love every woman needs
post secret bok
etc (poems by ee cummins)
mandalas of the world
toy camera
the official nintendo players guide
schwin sting ray
jack the ripper casebook*
ring of fire: johnny cash biography
king me
the art of happiness*
jesus for president*
the successful child
the discipline book
you grow girl*
apples for jam
choke
animal, vegetable, miracle
the complete works of agatha christie*
the classic mysteries of sherlock holmes*
johnny got his gun*
the virgin suicides*
the five love languages*
braided lives
why a daughter needs a dad
chess openings
on the pulse of morning

*personal favorites, books i've gotten a lot out of, reread a lot




it is my intention to own every book that i love, that has ever kept me awake reading it. a good book is the hardest drug to kick. so for every major holiday/gift giving observation i'm pretty much only asking for books. so my question is: what books can't you live without? i've got a short list going right now of ones i *need* but like i said, it's short. help a girl out.

9 comments:

K said...

I love this book I got called "A slice of organic life"
its really neat with a bunch of unique tips and tricks.

As far as stories go... my favorite book I will always own is East by Edith Pattou.

Love.

Eva said...

I love The Giver! One book I've never been able to get rid of is a really old copy of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Eva said...

P.S- I hope it's ok I put a "button" on my blog linking to your blog. If you don't prefer the link then I can remove it right away.
Yours is the first blog I really started to read, it made me want to start my own blog. :)

Sparrow said...

I *need* Women Who Run With the Wolves. I know there are others, but I'm very focused on it right now, so it's all that comes to mind ATM. plus I have spent so much time highligting in it that I never ever want anything to happen to my copy...

Greg said...

So glad you kept my book. I hope it speaks to you as it speaks to me.

Greg Lang

Mandy said...

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanaulken
David Copperfield and Great Expectations by Dickens
Les Miserables Victor Hugo
The Day I Became an Autodidact
Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey
Opening the Bible by hmmmmmm is it Merton???
Can't wait to check out some from your list. :)

MamaFeelgood said...

Another Roadside attraction-Tom Robbins
Jitterbug Perfume-Tom Robbins
Anger-Thich Nhat Hanh
Miracle of Mindfulness-Thich Nhat Hanh
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-Jonathan Foer
Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood-Karen Maezen Miller
The Barn at the End of the world-Mary Rose O'Reilley
Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert
The Princess Bride-William Goldman
Little Women-Louisa May Alcott
The Collector-John Fowles
Anything by Mark Dunn
Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac
Great Expectations-Charles Dickens
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind-Shunry Suzuki
Living Buddha, Living Christ-Thich Nhat Hanh
A Fine Balance-Rohinton Mistry
The Color Purple-Alice Walker
Me Talk Pretty One Day-David Sedaris
I know this much is true-Wally Lamb
I love Amy Tan's books
Memoirs of a Geisha-Arthur Golden

Anonymous said...

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.

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