My Minimalist Library
I
love books. More than I love reading, I think. The smell, the feel of them; I
love cuddling a freshly-bought book, fanning its pages to my cheeks. The words
inside them are just a bonus.
I
have owned a few hundred of them. May be close to a thousand in my lifetime. Fiction,
non-fiction. Romance, suspense. Engineering, astrology. Sports, medicine.
Anything.
There
was a time when books filled whole rooms of our house.
Since
discovering minimalism three years ago, this is the first time that I’ve decided
to pare down my book collection.
Why?
Maybe because now I have the time to notice. I’ve come to the gradual
realization of the space they take in our home. There were some that just
collect dust and some are outdated. Some, I simply just didn’t want to read
anymore.
I
also realized that it is not to the words I am attached to, but to the physical
presence of the books.
Minimalism
has helped me break my sentimental attachment to these books. This time I
thought that I’m ready to let many of them go.
Most
of them I gave to my friends. That was easy. The first time I brought a box
full of books in my old office, it was emptied in five minutes. The second
boxful took even quicker.
Don’t
worry, I won’t mention the titles and authors of the books I’ve discarded, but
only reveal those that I’ve kept.
As
a follow-up to my previous post, here is the list of my remaining printed
books. Of course, I have dozens more as e-books.
Still
many, although it was already purged much:
1. NIV pocket Bible
2. Thompson chain-reference Bible
3. Purpose-driven Life by Rick Warren
4. God’s Man of Influence by Jim George
5. The Power of a Praying Husband by Stormie
Omartian
6. God is in the Small Stuff (And It All
Matters) by Bruce and Stan
7. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by
Paulo Coelho
8. Like
the Flowing River by Paulo Coelho
9. Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho
10.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
11.
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
12.
Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
13.
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
14.
The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
15.
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
16.
Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
17.
The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
18.
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
19.
True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
20.
At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
21.
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
22.
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
23.
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
I
think it’s so easy to see who my favorite author is, don’t you think?
