Musings from a bibliophile

I love books. Once, in a moment of not thinking, I said something retarded to my sister along the lines of "I like libraries. They have lots of books." And she won't let me forget it. There are few places I am happier than in libraries and bookstores. I remember that, when I was a kid, I used to spend hours in B. Dalton's, a bookstore at Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, reading books off the shelves but always feeling slightly guilty, as though I was breaking some rule [is it wrong to read books, cover-to-cover, in bookstores because that means you may not buy them?]. When I am reading a good book, all is right with the world. While my pleasure reading during the first two years of med school was severely restricted due to massive amounts of medical minutiae I had to learn and commit to memory, I've been able to, in the past couple of years, again pick up the hobby I've always enjoyed.

I've been known to go to the gym with the intention of reading the entire time:) Unlike Molly, I love reading fiction (she only reads books about rocks and grasshoppers and things like that, but we'll see if she even reads this blog to comment on that generalization). And I'm always looking for suggestions for new things to read. I probably go to the Rochester Public Library (quite a decent library, actually) about once a week or so on average :) There are a few select people (Rachel, Laura, and Wendi in particular) who seem share almost my exact tastes in books (recent Rachel-recommendations, which I definitely will read since she has fantastic taste, include Redeeming Love and Another Day in the Frontal Lobe). But perhaps I need to diversify with others' suggestions to "broaden my horizons" a bit...

Here's a short list of some of my favorite books (and authors), in no real particular order (they're all amazing; however, the latter ones are more "girlie"!). If you haven't already read these, you are missing out. Get yourself a library card and GO RIGHT NOW to the local public library.

1. Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)
2. Lords of Discipline (Pat Conroy)
3. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) Read a review by Wendi
4. Midwives (Chris Bohjalian)
5. My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, and many more (Jodi Picoult)
6. Eden Close, Resistance, and many more (Anita Shreve)
7. The Notebook, A Walk to Remember (Nicholas Sparks)

There are couple of problematic things about books, though, which largely have to do with the fact that they are heavy and take up lots of space! First of all, I am ALWAYS either over, or close to being over, the weight allowance for domestic flights due to my compulsive reading habit. Sometimes I wish I were savvy enough to get all books on ipod or cd so that I could save space/weight; however, I don't like listening to books. I like reading them! And secondly, having too many books makes moving quite a chore. My parents actually forbade me from buying any more books while in high school because, as they told me, "We have a weight allowance and can't store any more! Go to the library or something!" :) So, in anticipation of moving in May, I have started to go through old books (including college texts) to try to whittle down my current collection.

I recently sold a bunch of used textbooks online and got about $40 for it, which was quite the bonus for me (those books could have very well followed me around forever, as I thought enough of them to save them from college!)! However, I have a few others (mainly music texts [who remembers NAWM?!] but also an Econ book and other random ones) that aren't worth ANYTHING on the sites I checked. What do I do with these?! The library won't even take them because some have highlighting, and they aren't valuable to anyone (including me, I guess), but I can't physically bring myself to throw away any piece of literature (this sort of parallels my issue with getting rid of fruit and other food). So I need some suggestions.

What do I do with these books? And please pass on any suggestions for other things to read so all can enjoy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make one last pre-travel trip to the library...