Boxes and boxes of books and books

Assuming my identity hasn't been stolen in the past few months, a credit check should go through Monday or Tuesday and I'll be moving in August. Moving inspires consideration of what there is to be moved--and whether it's worth keeping.

I read a lot, and especially since finishing school and leaving the campus library behind, I've been accumulating books (I know there are public libraries, but I allow myself book purchases in lieu of spending the money on, say, heavy drinking.) This is in addition to the large number of books that I annexed from my parents' shelves as a teenager and recently brought from Canada with me as a consequence of my parents' own move. It's becoming quite the heavy pile of paper.



Now it's rare that I re-read a book, since my memory seems to keep track of enough to content me and I've yet to find a book remarkably different ten or more years later. Oddly, my gut feeling is that if I were to display my library, it would be in the hopes of someone else reading all the books--either as validation, or as a means to some sort of commonality. Regardless, I'm not likely to read them again. So why keep them?

A friend has offered space in a mostly-empty attic in which to store the many boxes (I assume I'll do most of the lifting to get them up there). Or, as a more permanent solution, there do exist a few used bookstores in the south Bay Area (though not as many as there could be) that might pay me a pittance. I was even thinking that I could try selling them at work (~800 people on-site) and donate the proceeds--they're currently collecting for back-to-school gear for needy kids. ...By even considering their possibility, I'm probably headed for one of the two latter options. Jacta alea est, the books will go.