The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself  by Michael A. Singer
2007
Weight: 12 oz
Method of Disposal: Selling

I probably need this book now more than ever, but I really struggle to get into books like these.  I tried it a couple times, and I read most of it.  I see it is a bestseller, and I am happy to think of it helping so many people, including the wonderful woman who gave it to me.  My dear friend, Linda, who has moved up north and who I am not sure if I will see again. 

She used to come to my work with boxes of gifts and photos of things she had enjoyed during her lifetime.  She always had stories and to this day we will sometimes stay on the phone for hours, though I think we are less and less able to do that lately.  We still have late night texts and a shared love of dogs to keep our relationship strong.

I hope this book brings the next reader whatever it is that they are looking for.

The Story of English

The Story of English : Third Revised Edition by William Cran, Robert MacNeil and Robert McCrum 2002

Weight: 14.4 oz

Method of Disposal: Sold on www.half.com

Selling this book brings back memories of college and Guthrie classes in particular.  I always respected him even though I did not do all that well in his classes.  I am confident that the one I did the worst in was History of the English Language, which is the class I bought this book for.  I really enjoyed the lectures, and my dear friend Liz helped me out when I was drowning.  She also passed me notes to cheer me up if I was feeling a little inadequate and moody.

It was a strange feeling to enjoy something so much but still struggle so hard to do well.  You might be able to tell that I am not a master of grammar.  Not like my friend Liz.  She was always playing with the language, making jokes, writing masterpieces.  I admired her for it, and I was jealous all at the same time.  Actually, I still do, and I still am.  Mostly, though, I just feel lucky to know her and to have been able to attend Guthrie's class and learn as much as I could.

I am sad to let this book go.  For as long as I have kept it I have always imagined I would be able to dive back into it one day and learn some of the things I might have missed while in college.  Unfortunately, my job keeps me incredibly busy and at some point I have to recognize how unrealistic it is to believe I will be reading this book again anytime soon.

I do wonder who purchased it.  A student?  Someone with a general curiosity?

703 Books, 451.80 LBS

Selling Books

Comparative Studies in Religion and Society: Terror in the Mind of God : The Global Rise of Religious Violence 13 by Mark Juergensmeyer 2003

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down : A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman 1997

Voice of Witness : Underground America : Narratives of Undocumented Lives

Weight: 3 lbs

Method of Disposal: Selling

This is that incredibly sad moment when I need to sell books I have not even read yet.  I have avoided this moment as much as possible, but the moment has come to let go and hope for the best.  I am just thankful someone bought them.  I hope one day to be able to check these three out of a library or borrow them from a friend one day.  The other good news is that somewhere, out there, people are still buying books.

Mythology The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling

Mythology The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling C. Scott Littleton
2002
Weight: 6.1 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

Life is a lot like this hefty, over-sized guide to mythology.  It seems like a good idea, it is made up of a lot of interesting stuff, depending on how you are feeling it can look nice or just flat out overwhelming.  The more time you spend with it the more it just feels like a burden and the less interested you are in flipping through the pages, collecting new experiences.  At some point you realize you are going to forget everything anyway and, in the meantime, it just collects dust and weighs an awful lot.  Nothing ever changes.  It is the same old story with the same old binding and no matter how much you want to make it something else you cannot.  And, in the end, it is not worth anything to anyone, including you.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector and the Search for Happiness Francois Lelord
2015
Weight: 4.5 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

I quite innocently picked this book up a couple months ago.  I read on the cover that it was an international bestseller, but I had no idea that a movie had been made.  In the form of a book I found Hector's search for happiness endearing and was sometimes able to relate.  I am not so sure I would feel the same about a movie.  I can see that being trying.

This book did not take me to new mental planes or offer me some before-now-unkown-but-so-essential truth, but it amused me.  I would absolutely read Hector and the Secrets of Love, Hector and the Passage of Time, and Hector and the Wonders of Friendship if I were to stumble upon them at a fair price.

Dated Travel Guides

The Atlanta Dog Lover's Companion Marilyn Windle (1996)
Georgia Off the Beaten Path: A Guide to Unique Places 3rd Ed William Schemmel (1996)
The Hiking Trails of North Georgia 3rd Ed Tim Homan (2001)
Survival Kit for Overseas Living: For Americans Planning to Live and Work Abroad 3rd Ed L. Robert Kohls (1996)
Weight: 2.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Recycling

It is sort of strange to have so many 3rd Editions in this pile and so many books published in 1996 that I got at very different times in my life.  I would have enjoyed almost all of these books for a long time if things did not change, but I am a little scared to rely on the advice of a guide book that is 19 years old.  I know I lament about it all the time, but how did that happen?! When did the 90s get so far away?!

Too Damaged

The Elements of Style Strunk and White
Great American Short Stories
The Little Black Book of Cocktails
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
The Other Side of Truth Beverley Naidoo
Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy
Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan
Waiting to Fly Ron Naveen
Weight: 8 lbs
Method of Disposal: Recycling

All of these books have been destroyed in some way since we moved here.  I did not throw them out right away, hoping I could salvage them, but I have not been able to.  Elements of Style smells terrible.  I cannot tell you why.  I console myself with the fact that I know I own other copies.  This was the one I got for my high school AP English Class.  It was the first Strunk and White I ever laid hands on.  I was hypnotized by "inflammable" being the actual word for what we commonly think of as "flammable."

I obviously have other copies of 1984, but this one was the coolest by far.  It was purchased from the bargain section of Borders in the 1990s.  The words were spliced with art work in an overly large edition of the classic novel.

I've not read Waiting to Exhale and feel like I should since I saw the movie with Whitney Houston all those years ago.  I was really looking forward to reading about penguins in Waiting to Fly...I could care less about the Scriptures...

Cookbook Purge #2

Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking Julie Sahni
The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook Chris Hardisty
The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook Louise Hagler
Food Combining Made Easy Herbert M Shelton
Old Fashioned Cook Book Frances Childs
The Pampered Chef: All the Best
Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook Sarah Fritschner
Vegetarian Gourmet Cookery by Alan Hooker
365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian Kitty Morse
Weight: 10 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

I am fairly confident that the last time I moved I got rid of a ton of cookbooks.  I probably got rid of any that were not vegetarian, and I probably went on a similar rant about how I need to just be honest with myself and acknowledge I NEVER use my cookbooks.  Ever.  I have (once in a blue moon) used a bartender book or made a dessert from a book, but I do not think I have ever made a dinner.

So, this time, we are only keeping the ones that Harriet will use.  She is the predominant cook in the household.  And any on juicing/bartending.  Maybe next time we will get rid of those too!  All I know is that I just spared my back and neck that 10 lbs. And to think I would have lugged them over there just to put them in a cabinet, collecting dust, until the next move.

5 LBS

Four Letter Word: Invented Correspondance from the Edge of Modern Romance (2007)
Mr. Doyle and Dr. Bell: A Victorian Mystery (2004)
Nastybook (2005)
Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism (03/04)
The World of the Celts (1993)
Weight: 5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

                                                   5 more pounds I do not have to move. 

I really did enjoy Four Letter Word when I read it several years back.  I did not read Mr. Doyle and Dr. Bell, but I am trying to be realistic in recognizing that I will not.  Nastybook was a fun young adult read.  The Terrorism book was terrible, as are most in that series.  And The World of Celts is interesting, but HEAVY.  For realz.

 

Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood

Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood  by Naomi Wolf
1998
Weight: 11 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

Do you hear me now about how many of my books are pre the millennium?!  I am not sure if I just read this book too late or if I just was not feeling it, but I was not impressed.  It may be because I did not read it as a teenager, which is when I bought it, but later as a women's studies major that graduated 8 years ago.  It felt disorganized and not all that insightful.  I am sorry Naomi.  I have many of your books and jumped at the chance to meet you when you participated in some sort of panel with the Dove campaign years ago. 

Dykes on Dykes: The First Interactive Dyke-Cartoon

Dykes on Dykes: The First Interactive Dyke-Cartoon by Katrin Kremmler and coproduced with Indina Beuche
1998
Weight: 14 oz
Method of Disposal: Recycling

It really pains me to throw this one out.  That is why I have kept it so long despite the fact that it was used as a chew toy by some foster dog and whole mouth fulls have been torn out.  I will never forget that it was sent to me by my brother soon after he was married.  It was so lesbian and so something I would have been drawn to on my own.  I was more stunned than I probably should have been that my brother bought me something lesbian.  That he thought to do that. 

It is not that it would be difficult to know this about me--that I will watch or read all things lesbian/bisexual/queer/trans/etc.  That I crave it.  It is just not one of my fascinations that the family generally pays attention to when they are gift giving.  I cannot do my feelings and thoughts of that day justice.  Just know, that it meant a lot to me and I fully intending on keeping this book until the end of me, had my other passion (pups) not have interfered with that plan.
 

Georgia: A Guide to Backcountry Travel & Adventure

Georgia: A Guide to Backcountry Travel & Adventure by Jeff Samsel
1999
Weight: 14 oz
Method of Disposal: Recycling

Another book that just needs to say goodbye to this planet and stop taking up space in anyone's home.  I am sad that this one is no longer valuable.  It is a guide from 16 years ago even if I have never got over the fact that the nineties are actually that far away.  It was just yesterday, man!  Why do 60% of my books predate the year 2000?  Is the information they contain still accurate?  Should I just stick to fiction from here on out?
 

The Science of Self-Realization

The Science of Self-Realization by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada

1997

Weight: 8 oz

Method of Disposal: Tossing

 

 

This one has been chewed on by critters, and so I do not think it is safe to sell, donate, or give away.  It isn't in great shape but, even if it was, I am not sure I would know what to do with it. 

When I was in high school I worked at a smoothie shop in the mall.  I met all sorts of people while I was working there and a lot of them were up to no good.  There was an overwhelming number of adult men and women who were interested in sleeping with a kid like me.  And I do not mean sleeping in the adorable, sweet sense.  I really believe I had more adults interested in me then than I have in all the years combined that I have actually been an adult.  It is disturbing.

If I was not ducking and dodging those creeps, I was trying to get free stuff from the Truth kids on my cigarette breaks or chatting it up with the folks handing out books like The Science of Self-Realization for a small donation.  My mother always warned me, "don't let them brain wash you."  "Don't trust those people."  And I never did, but a free book was a free book and, no matter what the topic was, I wanted to read it.  And I did, though clearly it did not have the impact on me it should have because I have completely forgotten it all these years later.  I have, however, never forgotten that mall and the people who hung out there.

Just this week I was sitting at my desk at work when one of the women who felt like we "connected," insisting "age did not really matter" all those years ago walked in the building wearing a FedEx outfit and had me sign for a package.  I guess I am too old for her now.  She didn't think twice about it or try to charm me in any way.  She had absolutely no idea who I was or that I knew her secret.  If I got her name now and made a phone call would it do anything for anyone?

 

1987-88 Information Moscow: Western Edition

1987-88 Information Moscow: Western Edition
Romaine Fielding Enterprises, Inc.
1987
Weight: 2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Throwing Out

We are preparing for another move AND we are incredibly (and depressingly) broke so I am going through all my old books again and trying to thin out the herd.  I am grasping for financial straws and hoping that if I put some of them up for sale online that another random soul who likes to read actual books will scoop them up.  Keep your fingers crossed.

While doing this, I came upon the Moscow book.  I typed the ISBN in multiple times, never even paying attention to what the ISBN belonged to.  I grew increasingly frustrated every time the search would uncover nothing.  Finally, I paid attention to what I was doing.  Can you believe I moved a 2 lb information guide from when I was two years old with me in the last move?!?!  If you know me then you are probably not surprised.  Well, it is not happening again.  Tonight is the last night me and that book are spending together!
 

American Nature: Our Intriguing Land and Wildlife

1997

Weight: 3.6 lbs

Method of Disposal: Donating

I feel another big change about to happen and so it seems important to cut off some more weight and as quickly as possible.  I never imagined that this project would take me so long, but I have a lot of books and very little spare time when I get home from the animal shelter.  I do not know how so many people are able to balance their work and home lives.  It seems to be something I am incapable of.  Work is all-consuming.  I think it is challenging when you work with living animals and each move you make effects them in some kind of way.  It is hard to stop, knowing there are so many out there needing help and attention.

This book came to me through one of the foster parents at the shelter.  She gave it to me along with many other wonderful gifts.  Unfortunately, she has moved now and, though we still text, we are not able to talk as often as before.  It was nice to look through it one more time before disbanding it, but I know the gift giver would understand.  It was when she was trying to decrease the amount of stuff she had that it came to me.  It is also possible that she is more of a free spirit than I will ever be,