Since the slideshow post from yesterday, Laura and I have been really pondering HOW it is we’re going to get rid of all the books. There are some obvious ones, donate the books to the local library, local book stores, local Goodwill or have a garage sale. These are fine and may be something we do, but they sure are boring!

Boooks1

Books and Beer!

So instead, in a a flash of inspiration (or perhaps it was the bottle of Port Brewing IPA staring at me on our coffee table), we’ve decided to have a Books and Beer party. Part book sale and part beer tasting – a good way to turn people on to good lit and good beer.

Since I really have no desire to go through and price all 1600+ books, I think we’ll probably do the sale on donation basis with a minimum recommendation per book. I think. We’ll see.

If you’re in Long Beach, stay tuned!

Photo Lending Library

Aside from hundreds of fiction books, I also have a great collection of photography books. Large tomes by Salgado, Nachtway, Bresson, Arbus, etc., When I first started photography, I pored every photo book I could find. Most libraries don’t have many, and most bookstores have none (or a very slim collection of the usual suspects).

Photo Books
I’ve emailed the local bookstore OPEN about the idea of creating photo lending library within their bookstore. With the idea that these great hard to find books will be around for other aspiring photographers. Books would be checked out for a fee and have to be returned within a week or so. Not quite sure the specifics, or how likely it will happen since they would have to manage them separately.

Finger’s crossed.

Where’d they all come from?

I know some are wondering where all the books came from in the first place. I was a literature major in college and was/am a voracious reader. I kept almost all my books. Laura studied American History and kept most of hers.

When I was younger, poorer and had my literary aspirations of being the next F. Scott Fitzgerald, these books were my friends. They were an inexpensive form of entertainment. They helped decorate my apartment (and probably provided some insulation in that one room studio of mine). I could touch the spine of each and remember when and where I read the books. They are a link to a romantic literary past of mine.

Things are a changing.

I have to lighten the load if we will actually break orbit.