Week 11: A little Controversy

I'm coming up on a dilemma....if I do whole rooms every week I am going to run out of posts pretty quick.

Spoiler alert: I don't have 52 rooms in my house.

But, I probably have 52 different areas that can be addressed. So, I'm focusing on one such area this week. 

And it may be a bit controversial.

Books.

I love books. I love to cuddle up with a cup of tea, a great classic, and get lost in the pages.

And I love it when I see my kids enjoy the same thing.  No, I am not telling you to give all your books away.  But maybe evaluate what you do have.

Prior to moving to our current home I had ALOT of books.  There were quite a few boxes that were moved that contained just the books I had collected over the years. I just couldn't bear to get rid of them.

But one thing helped me rethink the need to have ALL of the books.  This:

A large number of my books were ruined when our pipes broke and dumped a foot deep worth of water into our house. 

It was a sad day (understatement) but it definitely caused me to rethink things.

Thankfully some books survived, and most of the kids' books made it through. But as we have re-built out collection, it's with a little more thought.

If a book has really changed me, made me think, challenged me - it's a keeper.  If it's a book that I could read 10 times and it doesn't get old - it's a keeper.

The rest can be found at the local library or borrowed electronically from there as well and downloaded onto my Kindle.

Side note: a few children's books that are staying around.  All books by Mo Willems.  Pigeon books and Gerald and Piggie books. If you haven't read them yet with your kids, please do.  I think I enjoy them as much as my kids.  And a collection of books from my own childhood. I remember my mom getting these for me and feeling so proud of myself when I could finally read them. 

So, what we do have and how we keep it contained:

After shots.  Even with my 'rule' on what books stay and what books go, we still manage to collect some anyways. I did a going through and ended up with about 20 books that are going to be passed on.  Two IKEA books shelves help keep what we do have corralled. 

Children's books that tend to be flimsy paperbacks, and small board books, all get contained in the baskets.

I started using those when the kids were young and it has worked really well. Each basket probably has 15-20 books in them.  It makes it look neat and put-together, and it's quick clean-up for the kids.  

I also keep it old-school with photo albums. I've been filling the leather-bound ones since we were married.  But recently I'm discovering that it's harder and harder to find them. Everything is going digital and if people print off pictures, they print photo books. I may have to transition that direction in the near future.

So, did I stir up a controversy?  Is there someone out there who thinks that there is no such thing as too many books? I'm guessing there is....because some days I kinda fight that feeling myself.