The Growing Library

 

Newsflash! I love books.

Okay, maybe that isn't newsworthy. But I do love reading, and I've been accumulating books in recent years.

Here's the back story.

I once had a home in Pittsburgh that had bookshelves everywhere. In the family room, in the living room, in the craft room. It was wonderful. And those shelves were filled, easily.

And then we moved to a house in the Chicago burbs that had, maybe, one teeny shelf. And I got brutal with the book collection. I gave away hundreds...to the local library, to little free libraries. Gone.

And honestly, I didn't really miss them. If I'd read them, I felt they needed to go. And if I hadn't read them, there must've been a reason. If the kids had outgrown them, then why was I hanging on to them?

I do love my local libraries and use them often. But sometimes, owning a book is preferable. Cookbooks are one example.

And old, out of print, hard to find books are another example.

I've been transforming what was formerly Sam's bedroom into a guest room library, and this week I found another shelving unit from Target that perfectly matched the others.

So now my books have room the breathe, and I'm organizing by category. Here are my mystery shelves.

This summer, I've been enjoying Agatha Christie novels. I will read one and then see if Britbox has a movie adaptation after I finish. Sometimes, they are spot on. And other times, they change the story to insert some totally unnecessary modern take/storyline of a character. 

I'm happy to report that of the twenty books I read for the summer program, fifteen were from my own shelves.

I'm going to add a chair and a nice, cozy reading corner to this room soon.

The next big warehouse book sale is in September. Oh boy! I better get my updated list ready. Who knows what treasures will await me there?