The Books We Keep

As any good author or author illustrator does - I have accumulated way too many books. And getting rid of them is much more difficult than seems rational. Even books I don’t have an extremely strong attachment to can be difficult to part with for small reasons. Like where I bought it, when I bought it, why does it stick with me? We don’t get to pick the art that stays with us do we?

It picks us.

These are all older books I’ve held on to, some from when I was a child. Others I’ve picked up because they are so foreign and at the same time so interesting, even if not appealing (Rupert I’m looking at you and your human hands!)

I may be one of the last generation who is attached to these dead tree innovations that have been coming out since the 1500’s. It feels like habit to have too many books. What were luxury items in this country in the 1700’s are now tossed into recycling. But I still picture a grey bearded wizard in a somber library, filled with mysterious tomes that together expose the meaning of life.

And maybe that’s another role books play. Spiritual guide. And not just because of what’s in them, but what we hope is in them.

As for kid’s books it’s fascinating to the see the changes in the materials. The obvious changes - word count, artistic styles - but also the sense of what was important enough to share with children.

It makes for great browsing on a rainy afternoon. But I am also at the age when I start to feel encumbered by all these books. And I instituted a new rule: for every new book I bring into my life, I will get rid of (that sounds so horrible), I will move along, 8 books.

It’s severe but it’s also what I need to do. I’d like to see some negative space on my bookshelves again.