This week has been a busy one. Denis and I got the front garden cleaned up so it no longer looks as though the Addams Family lives here. I straightened up the closet here in the office, potted another batch of plants (that included scarlet verbena and Arabian jasmine... love the names), and reorganized the pantry and the kitchen cubbies. The Cajun pot roast with maque choux was a hit. (I was planning on leftovers-- HAH!) I'll be giving Moroccan chicken stew a try next if I remember to come up for air while working on my largest project-- weeding out books in the library.
I moved a large table in there, sat my netbook on it, and pulled up a comfy chair. I opened the door so I could get some air and listen to the birdies sing, and then I set to work going through each shelf in each bookcase, pulling the books that I don't want to keep and setting them in tall stacks on the table. When I had the table filled, I'd sit down and delete or mark each book "read but unowned" on LibraryThing, and check to see if some of them were requests on Paperback Swap. The ones I'm not listing on Paperback Swap are in bags now and will be donated. When I've got everything done, I'll post Before and After photos. Those of you who keep every book you read may not want to look when they're posted.
Anyway, that's not got much to do with links, so I'd better get the lead out!
Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff
- Remember that piece of art you bought on the installment plan in 1963? It could be worth $30 million.
- Top ten books of the American South.
- The world's friendliest countries, eh?
- How book publishing has changed since 1984.
- Good book reviews are no longer enough.
- 1960: Gun-toting child reads bunny book.
- Penguin's new handsewn covers.
- A round-up of books on the gulf oil spill.
- The best Civil War books.
- The ten most badly bungled classic-book-to-film adaptations.
- 7 authors who were charged with deceit.
- For Harry Potter fans: Magic Is Might.
Book "Hardware"
- A books laptop stand.
- My kind of area rug.
- Lots and lots of photos of bookshelves. Because I never met one I didn't like.
eBooks
- Amazon to offer Kindle library lending.
- 10 ways digital books are changing our literary lives.
- The more things change, the more they remain the same: the death of the book.
From the Book Blogosphere
- I've finally found a home-- Jen Forbus on Blogging & Community.
Blogging Tips
- A Popular Posts widget for Blogger.
New to My Google Reader
- Shaggy Dog Story
- Book Lovers Inc.
- Midnight Book Girl
- Roof Beam Reader
- Reading, Reading & Life
- Not New For Long
That's it for this week, folks! Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly chosen batch of links for your surfing pleasure!
It can be painful to clean out the bookshelves, but if I'm honest with myself, I own many books I really don't need to keep. It's been almost a half a year since I did my last clean out -- I should go through the shelves again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! And I'm clearing out books this weekend, too. It's not easy!
ReplyDeleteCathy - I admire your cleanup effort :-). And that Moroccan chicken sounds delicious. I'm looking forward to seeing your 'photos. Oh, and thanks as always for those useful links :-).
ReplyDeleteSoon I'll be sorting out books to donate to our annual Blueberry Festival book sale. It's always difficult, but at least I know they're serving a good cause. We are in dire need of the new library we're raising money for.
ReplyDeleteWow wish my family had bought a Warhol!
ReplyDeleteI like your new e-book section!
ReplyDeleteAnd don´t worry about paper books - I broke down this month and bought 12.
I have also been weeding my bookshelves as they were getting a tad out of hand. So far I have 3 bags to donate to the library. Good luck with your weeding and thanks for always making me smile with your posts.
ReplyDeleteJennifer-- I hope your weeding goes well, too, and I'm certainly glad that I can make you smile. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get rid of some books too and it's really, really hard!
ReplyDeleteAs for those hand sewn covers..wonder how much they will be. I'm coveting The Secret Garden and Black Beauty.
Kris-- The Secret Garden for me, too!
ReplyDelete