If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been trying to cull through my books so that they fit on the existing bookshelves I have. (I have three of them, and alas, not enough room.) Although I love books and would like them to be around me at all times, I’m still in a mobile stage of life. Meaning, I rent an apartment and moving all of those books seems like a bear of a task!

As a result, I have been keeping a box by the bookshelf and removing books I had thought I’d read but are now not as timely/that I’m not going to pick over other books. I have also been quick to pass on books that I like to someone I know will like them, after I have completed reading it. I did this with Goodbye, Vitamin and I finished Sisters in Law to pass it on to my sister on Easter weekend.

That said, there are certain books that I will not part with; these are books that, if they were not accounted for, I would feel a physical discomfort, books that hold memories or that were an investment of time, emotions, etc. In today’s blog post I’m going to take you through my sacred texts!

Game changers

Every once in a while you come across these books that are total game changers, and in that I mean that they alter your world view in some way. You may not even be able to articulate it in the moment, however, you feel a fundamental shift as a result of reading all the same.

Among the texts that are like this for me: Perks of Being a Wallflower; Voices from Chernobyl and Paradise Lost. They should be by my side for a re-read, in the case of Paradise Lost this means actually reading aloud while walking around my apartment. Re-reading these is check in with your inner self. Have I changed since I read this? How am I different? Am I happy with this change?

Beautiful language

There are some books that stay on my shelf because of their beauty. Now, I’d encourage you not to narrow your worldview in such a way that beauty only comes in writing that is flowery or has a happy ending. In fact, the books I keep around because they have amazing language, story telling and just are great works, usually aren’t beautiful in conventional sense. Once I’ve found one of these gems, I tend to collect other books from the author, as you might notice on my bookshelf.

Books that fit this category: Sharp Objects (any Gillian Flynn novel really); Angelology; Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City; Columbine; 11/22/63.

Series I invested time in

It should go without saying, but at the risk of not saying it, I’ll type it out anyway: The Harry Potter books aren’t going anywhere! These were an emotional investment, financial investment and time investment. If I didn’t have them at my fingertips to re-read, I would feel incomplete. That said, I share this series with my sister, but if she happened to call upon them to her house, they’d still be accounted for and safe. The Lord of the Rings series is another one that I would not part with for these same reasons, an enormous investment of emotions and time.

What about you! What books will you not be parting with?

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