I have come to the conclusion that I have some kind of book hoarder personality disorder. I have spent the last few days trying to clean and clear out some of my overflowing bookshelves and I can barely scrape together one measly little box of books to donate. When I think about it in theory, I have lots of books that I really don't read or need and probably never will. And yet, I just can't bring myself to part with them....
When I am trying to decide whether to donate a book or not, I have several reasons for holding on to books. First, there are the books that I really love, that have had a profound effect on my life. Those I could never part with. Then, there are the books I haven't actually read yet. I feel like I can't get rid of those because what if I want to read them one day. What a waste to have had a book and never read it. Third, are the books that have been given to me as gifts. Most of these books also fall into the "haven't read" category, but they are extra special because someone has thought of me and purchased them. Of course most of these books will probably remain unread since the people who generally buy me books know nothing about what I actually like to read ;) Still, I can't bear to part with them because, like I said, they were gifts. Fourth are my novels from my days of studying English lit. Some of those books I hate. Some I love, and some are neither here nor there. But alas, I can't part with those either; they have some kind of nostalgic mystical hold on me. Today I picked up my Shakespeare plays. I think I have pretty close to all of them since I was required to take a 6 credit Shakespeare course for my degree. I know I will never read them again. But, could I manage to put them into the donation box? Nope. I was, however, after much consideration, able to part with Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I hated that book, all THREE times that I had to study it. I am so NOT a fan of Charles Dickens. Yay, I was able to put it in the donation box. But just to put things in perspective, I have had that book for 18 years, so I guess its about time!
