{"id":6938,"date":"2016-07-27T07:53:44","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T02:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6938"},"modified":"2016-07-27T07:53:44","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T02:23:44","slug":"the-struggle-of-letting-go-of-your-book-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6938","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye, Old Friends: The Struggle of Letting Go of Your Book Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\nM<\/span>y collection of books is my pride and joy. Every time I\u2019d walk into my bedroom, where the book-case stood in a sun-lit corner, I would look at that beautifully bound Wordsworth, my snow-white copy of Dickens\u2019 Christmas Stories<\/em>, my Austen collection, or any of the other books that I have read and reread over the years and experience a jolt of joy. Opening the trunks that hold moth-eaten Famous Fives<\/em>, St Clare\u2019s<\/em>, and Hardy Boys<\/em> \u2013 the books of my childhood \u2013 takes me back to my summer holidays, snug in a hammock, reading my heart out. It was only when we were moving houses that I really saw the number of books I have accumulated over the years.\n\nThat\u2019s when I came face-to-face with every bibliophile\u2019s worst nightmare: Reducing the size of my book collection.\n\nFor those of us living in Mumbai, where a square inch of space is dearer than uranium, books \u2013 especially those that we do not plan to read in the near future \u2013 have become something of a white elephant. Unfortunately for me, our new house has no space for my extensive collection of books. So the husband took it upon himself to Marie Kondo his way through my books.\n\n\u201cWhen did you last read a real book?\u201d he asked.\n\nAnd I had to admit if you leave out Peppa Pig<\/em> and other choice reading material for my kid, I haven\u2019t gotten my hands on a single hardcopy book in the last few years.\n\n\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019ll never read them again,\u201d I pointed out.\n\nIt made me ponder: Does it make sense to hoard so many books, some out of sentimental value, some because they have been gifted by loved ones, and others because people call them classics? After all, when I get the urge to read Pride and Prejudice<\/em>, I hardly ever read the leather-bound edition I own. Instead, I read the free Amazon Classics version on my Kindle. I know I have gone over to the dark side. I am a Kindle Girl through and through.\n\n

If the purpose of the books is just to look pretty on the shelf, why not just get a painting?<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nThough my book collection survived the move, finding refuge at the bottom of the wardrobe and sundry other places I could spare, thinning the herd has become a pressing need. Not only do you have to contrive to find space for a bookshelf, you also have to dust the books often enough to keep up with the dust generator that is urban Mumbai. And if the purpose of the books is just to look pretty on the shelf, why not just get a painting?\n\nMost of my \u201cmom friends\u201d have moved on to the Kindle camp. Unsurprisingly, there\u2019s something about toddlers that makes it difficult to read and lug around a big hardbound book! The Kindle-campers amongst my friends have either managed to de-stash their books or are vaguely thinking of doing it. After all 2020 has been, among others, the year of decluttering. What can be better than donating your precious books to a lending library, orphanage, or senior citizen? A friend\u2019s mum, who would never lend out her books, broke that habit to share her favourites with a neighbour who was quarantined at home and bored witless.\n\nAfter all, if 2020 has taught us anything, it is how to accept change. Maybe the next time Beauty and the Beast<\/em> is remade, it\u2019ll feature Belle with a \u201cdreamy far-off look, and a nose stuck in her Kindle book\u201d! So I\u2019m going to stock my one shelf with my toddler\u2019s Julia Donaldson collection, give away James Joyce\u2019s Ulysses<\/em> (and the hope of ever reading it), and still call myself a book lover. Just as a book is not judged by its cover, why judge a book lover based on the size of their bookshelf?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was only when I was moving houses that I really saw the number of books I have accumulated over the years. That\u2019s when I came face-to-face with every bibliophile\u2019s worst nightmare: Reducing the size of my book collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":6939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[8607,6426,7917,10957,10958,10959,10960],"class_list":["post-6938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-book-hoarder","tag-books","tag-e-books","tag-famous-five","tag-hardy-boys","tag-hoarding-books","tag-kindle"],"yoast_head":"\nGoodbye, Old Friends: The Struggle of Letting Go of Your Book Collection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was only when I was moving houses that I really saw the number of books I have accumulated over the years. 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