I like to read. I maintain a page of books I’m reading, have read, and just might read. In 2009, I read 29 books, started another 2 books, and found 37 more books I’m interested in reading. This doesn’t count the magazines I read or the technical books I reference.
The books I read divide quite nicely into just a few categories:
- Science
- Science / Technology Histories
- Evolution
- Religion
- Biblical Criticism
- House Church / First Century Christianity
- Apologetics / Perception / Issues
- Business
- Fiction
How about you? Do you still read books? Did you have a favorite in ’09? What book do you recommend?
Science
Religion
Business
Fiction
Books I’m Reading Now
Books I Might Read
These are books I’ve read about, that I’ve been told about, or that I’ve run across in the bookstore and don’t want to forget about.
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Why not donate your read books? It’s easy to do.
1. Pick a small town.
2. Check to see if they have a public library.
3. Contact the librarian to ensure the books will be appreciated.
4. Be sure to check to make certain that nobody will check out the books and not return them if they think the subject matter is unsuitable, according to their personal standards.
5. Put the books into a box as you finish them, making certain you don’t include any you wish to keep for reference or passing on to a friend.
6. Make a list of the titles and the price for tax purposes as you put them in the box.
7. Next time you head that direction on vacation or “Sunday driving,” include the box when you pack the family vehicle.
8. Drop off the books when passing through that town.
Hint: You can also include the postage on your tax statement if you mail them.
Marilyn, that’s a great suggestion. I used to think that libraries only accepted hardcover books. That’s not true. Our local library accepts paperback novels. Some they’ll put on shelves. Others they sell as used books.
I recently rediscovered our library. In 2009, I read only one book from the library. In 2009, I expect the number to be much larger.
The reason I picked a small-town library is because I live in Portland. If the one or two boxes of books a year that I donate were sent to Portland, it would be like spitting in the ocean to cause a tsunami. By picking a really small town like John Day, Oregon, my books can make a real difference. And, since my taste in politics is large-city rather than small-town, I get to expose the people there to a totally different perspective. Ditto relgigion, since I’m an avowed atheist. Over all, I’m pretty sure a large percentage of the books I’ve sent would never be picked by the local librarian, which is broadening culturally.
I would expect the lifespan of a book in Portland’s public library to be significantly shorter than in John Day, so your gift would be appreciated in Portland, as well.
I haven’t visited many small town libraries so I don’t know about their book selection practices. I do know that some of the most liberal bookstores I’ve found were in small, touristy towns, e.g.: Sun River and Mendocino.
I suspect your library has more than novels among the paperbacks. Some very scholarly books are published in paperback, and the price differential between the pb editions and the hc editions can be truly substantial. I’ve seen scholarly books sell for around $100 pb, and have a price tag of maybe $30 or so in the pb edition. Libraries put really high-quality plastic covers on the paper editions, knowing that they won’t get checked out all that often and that they will last a good long time despite not having hard covers on them.
Another good point. Thanks, Marilyn. :-)
I had a long conversation with the librarian before sending my first box of books there. I thold her I had never counted the books I have in my home, but would guesstimate that I have somewhere around 1,000. She said that would double the size of the library’s inventory.
Given that and what I know about the county-by-county election results, I would guess that their collection of books on atheism, for one example, is pretty darned sketchy.
Something you said earlier in this thread leads me to believe I ought to mention that my suggestion excludes books checked out of a local library.
I just finished a really good book by a local author. The name of the book is Convictions and the author is John Kroger, a prof. of Law at Lewis and Clark Law School. It’s about his journey through the U.S. Attorney’s Office, primarily in NY. Fascinating stuff.
I borrowed the book from my stockbroker, and he wants it back, or I’d pass it on to you.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I just added it to my interesting books page.