I treated myself
to a couple new books. I have an informal rule, ten books have to leave before one comes in, and unfortunately I have no gotten rid of near enough. I’m gonna have to start dropping them off at the damned goodwill before long.
Anyway, this only pertains to real books, and the books I bought were “The old man and the boy” and “Use enough gun”. I also just got a clean new copy of ‘The old man’s boy grows up”
Well worth it. I will be taking my time with these, savoring them, because like Kipling, once I’m done there will be no more. These are books that I will not find for my kindle soon if ever, and they are- at least so far- enjoyable enough that I don’t want them to pass me by.
12 comments Og | Uncategorized
I didn’t discover Ruark until a few years ago, now he’s a favorite. The Old Man’s Boy Grows Older is available for Kindle here:
https://archive.org/details/oldmansboygrowso002128mbp
It’s not a particularly skillful digital transfer, or at least wasn’t when I downloaded it to Kindle.
I’ve visited Ruark’s childhood stomping grounds often, the Southport/Wilmington area is a favorite vacation area for me. The old home that Ruark’s Old Man owned and Ruark re-acquired is now a bed-and-breakfast place, The Robert Ruark Inn:
http://www.robertruarkinn.com/
It’s been restored and re-furnished to give a semblance of what Ruark would have seen on weekends and summers with his grandfather.
Your rule for book acquisition/disposal is similar to my own, although I have a 1:5 ratio. Hopefully as more books are digitized readers will be able to clear their shelves except for a few treasures that have sentimental value.
Get…. rid….. of….. books?
I’m having trouble with that concept. I know what each word means, but when grouped like that they just don’t make sense to me.
Besides, I only have four or five hundred printed books.
Problem is I have so damned many I don’t know what to do with them. I only have maybe 500 on shelves in my office but every time I look in the basement or attic I stumble across another couple hundred in boxes. Books I cannot see are of no value to me, so I’m trying to move most stuff (SF, murder mystery, etc) to Kindle and only keep on the shelves books that I actually love and want to see everyday and maybe take down and read regularly.
You know I love you like a brother, but that’s just a stupid rule. It should be one out, ten IN.
M
yeah, well, my house is about three times the square footage as yours, with less living space because of books. I can store a lot of stuff on the Kindle.
My problem is somebody keeps stacking tschotschkes on the bookshelves.
Welcome to my nightmare
I lost all mine to the big book sale of 95. I had a wall, 8′ x 20′, of books. The got boxed by my wife and sent to the half price book store.
The lad sorting them had two piles, one was what he was keeping and the stack the store got.
Now the son has discovered some of them and the sets are missing some. I blame the sale.
Oh well, I suppose buying things several times is my mantra.
I first read a bunch of these in Grandpa’s tool shed; had an old dresser with a lot of old magazines in it, including the ones with Ruark’s columns.
Now I’ve got a copy of both books; need to loan them to son when he has time for them.
Og – Before you part with any books, would it be possible to list what you intend to dispose of? I’m betting there are titles many of us would like, and I’ll gladly pay for cardboard boxes and the USPS media rate to get some.
Nosmo: Not getting rid of anything inherently valuable, mostly old paperbacks. I stuck a few up on ebay, my user name is haironymous. I have bigger boxes of old crap I was just going to take to a local thrift store. You have my email, mail me if you want them.
Og, I found “Use Enough Gun” several years ago at, of all places, Goodwill. I’ve since read others, especially enjoying “The Old Man & the Boy.” Ruark is a pleasure a lot of folks don’t remember. I’m sure you’ll like it. It’s best in a comfortable chair, with the beverage of your choice, & (when warm enough) on the porch in the evening.