Thirty Books

I read something last night that really spoke to me. The character was half-way through a Master's program in some IT field and was running low on enthusiasm. To counteract the boredom, he was using the January break to read. Seriously read, as in two novels a day. He commented that it would be great to get a degree in Reading. Not Literature with all the papers, just Reading.

Oh yeah! No matter how much I read, it's never enough. I have a couple of friends who don't like to read novels of any type. This is so foreign to me that I sometimes wonder what holds our friendships together.

A couple of days ago someone shared a meme she knew I'd like. The first frame is Marie Kondo on books: "Really. Keep less than 30 books." The second frame is: "Like on the night stand?" My reaction to the first part was--on each shelf? I can't imagine how she came up with that number.

And I can't imagine how I could live with only 30 books on hand. In fact, I think it's ridiculous to put a number on it at all.

What does make sense is to follow her basic advice and keep the books that give you joy.

And the ones you need for your profession.

And for your hobbies--cooking , woodworking, stamp collecting, whatever.

Books about the countries you plan to visit someday.

All the ones you haven't gotten around to reading yet.

And any others for any reason.