Month: May 2010

Hello, my name is Tara and I’m a hoarder. I hoard everything from little scraps of paper that I have no idea why I feel the need to keep to books that I have read and know for a fact that I will never read again. Although I could go on for days about my pack-rat mentality, I just want to discuss keeping books.

I love books. I love to browse books at the library or bookstore. I love to buy books. I love to swap books on PBS for new books. I just love to own books. Period. End of story. But there comes a time when you just have too many. I have countless books on my shelves that I look at and scratch my head asking myself what I was thinking when I picked that particular book up. Books that I know for a fact I will never in this lifetime read for whatever reason, I have lost complete interest in. Do I swap them on PBS or even trade them in at my favorite used bookstore? Nope. They still sit on my shelves.

I am a major fan of reading books that belong to a series. I like to get as many of the books in a particular series as I can before I start the series. And then when I read them I hate to part with them. It’s like pulling teeth. Seriously, it’s that bad. Although I’m getting better at reading books and then clearing them off my shelves, I am having trouble parting with some of my books. For example, I have read the first four books in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. It’s not a favorite series, but I have most of the books and I’m determined to get through them – eventually. So, have I gotten rid of the first four books that I’ve already read? Nope. There they sit, taking up room in my already overflowing shelves. Is this a series that I will ever re-read? Doubtful. So what’s my problem? Who knows. I’m doing the same with the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. I’ve really been reading those books here lately and am really enjoying them – but seriously, will I ever re-read them? Probably not. The only books that I really WANT to keep because I have a pretty decent feeling I would re-read at some point in the future are the Alex Cross books by James Patterson. That is my absolute favorite series.

But in all honesty, I’m not a re-reader. So why do I feel the need to keep books? I mean, I’m obviously always going to keep my Harry Potter hardback books. That’s a given. But, really, why do I feel the need to continue to hoard these books? Isn’t it supposed to be like anything else – out with the old, in with the new? Think of all the new books I could make room for if I could just stand to part with some of the ones I already have!

Does anyone else have this hoarding books mentality?

My husband and I were out of town this weekend on a quick trip to St. Louis to see some friends and catch a couple Cardinals games. Since it was a three hour drive (each way!) I got a lot of reading done in the car.  I had a little bit of trouble getting into a new book this morning, so it made me start to think about quitting books – you know, setting them aside to either pick up again some other time or just to give up on them completely.

Three or four years ago I would have never quit reading a book in the middle of it. It just wasn’t me. I couldn’t hardly stand to do it, it made me feel like a failure. It made me feel like a bad person. A few years and a few hundred books on my personal shelves later, I realized that I was being silly. Now I have somewhat of a personal “policy” where if a book doesn’t catch my attention by 50-100 pages I’ll set it aside. Sometimes I’ll just set it aside for another day, other books I won’t return to.

This brings me to my current read .  I’ve got Ted Dekker’s The Bride Collector from the library. I waited on a wait list for a few months for it. And I’m at page 96 and I don’t like it. It’s times like these that frustrate me. Last year I read BoneMan’s Daughter. A few months ago, I read Burn (that he wrote with Erin Healy). I enjoyed both of those books. So I was really looking forward to this one when I saw it was coming out. I waited patiently for it. And now I’m frustrated with it. So what do I do? Do I suffer through it because I want to like it, or do I set it aside? A few years ago I would have stuck with it and finished it (even if it took me a month to do so). Now, I’m not sure it’s worth it. Without thinking about the fact that this book has to be returned to the library by June 2nd, is it really worth my time to suffer through a book I don’t like before the 100 page mark in order to finish it and potentially be really disappointed by it and write a possibly negative review?

Could this book turn out good? – Possibly.

Is it worth taking the time and risk not liking it? – Probably not.

So my question to you, dear readers – how do you handle “bad” books? [I hate to say bad, because my opinion of a book is not necessarily everyone’s opinion]. What do you do when you encounter a book you want to enjoy soooooo much and yet you just can’t stand to read it? Do you suffer through something or do you give it up?

My opinion? …. Life is way to short to read books that don’t appeal to you! So I’ll take The Bride Collector back to the library. Do I feel guilty? Maybe a little bit. Will I worry about it? Probably not. Might I try this book again sometime in the future? Possibly. But for whatever reason, this book is not working out for me. I’m quitting it.