296 Pounds

I need to lose 296 pounds...

...of books.

For those of you who have seen my cute little condo, you were probably amazed at the lack of excess crap, that it was a curated and simple place.

No more. This weekend, Pedro and his girlfriend delivered 296 pounds of books from my former home to the condo. Pedro got out my bathroom scale and weighed them. He initially thought it was 200 pounds of books, but girlfriend didn't believe it was that much. I suppose I could weigh the boxes once they are empty, and subtract that. 

What am I going to do with all of these books? I don't have enough shelves in my apartment. 

In a way, it is a little Christmas, getting all of these books that at one point I had been excited about them because I bought them in the first place. Many I have read. Many I have not. I would go to bookstores and buy three or four books, and read two. I found some gems, like my first edition copy of Katharine Graham's autobiography, that I will want on my shelves forever. There are other books I've loved, but would never read again. There are many books I've loved that I have given away to friends. I loved those books so much and I had to share them. A friend gave me Ali Wong's book. The minute I finished it, I gave it to Claire-Adele.

I still love books, but I need to break my book buying habit. I have a friend in my condo building who loves to read, and she swears by the Libby app where you can download library books on your Kindle for free. I have Pedro's old Kindle, which is fine, but I still love paper. When I read on a Kindle, I realize I am not a linear reader, I flip back and forth between chapters, which is hard to do on a Kindle.

Anyway, I have a new project. More to come...