A humbling experience is to go through your personal library and feel the silent reproach of all those unread books you were itching to read when you purchased them. A book can be a good companion, but too often they are silent friends we never interact with. Books are many and human years are few.
The Shock of Recognition
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
I bought a Kindle, and I feel like a traitor.
But it is nice to take your library with you to the beach.
I have often said, “Books are Friends. You can never have too many friends.”
I love my book collection, and I am proud to say I have never bought one just for appearances’ sake, although quite a few on my shelf have infuriated the living crap out of people who come to my home, especially my father 😎
“I bought a Kindle, and I feel like a traitor.”
I know the feeling. When buying a book, I vacillate between a hard copy and digital version. Often the digital wins out because of price and the ability to search for a phrase or statement that I read earlier.
For those who shared their shame at buying Kindle books, might I recommend checking with your local library system? We here is San Diego County have online access the free books and magazines via “Libby”. It’s not quite having the Library of Congress at your fingertips, (although it does have the complete works of Georgette Heyer, including mysteries for those so inclined) but, with time, that may improve. (BTW, I would love for a similar system to be built for online access to Catholic works and classics.) Quite scanty on nonfiction, too. But, it’s a start and access is free.
I came to terms with having dozens of purchased but unread books when I realized that it meant that every time I get done reading a book, I can begin reading another one instantly. A more sobering comfort came when I inherited books from various dead relatives and realized that my own books would meet the same fate one day.
I have a system where every book will be read at least once, given an arbitrary length of time. However, human life does not last arbitrarily long.
SouthCoast-
Check out Project Gutenberg. I’m currently working through Fr Hugh Benson’s works.
Also Librivox for audiobooks. Listening to Augustine’s City of God while doing my Spring projects (which, inevitably, drag into summer, and fall)
I have not added to my book collection in years. The most disappointing thing is that I could not interest my sons in reading.
Penguins Fan:
Read with your sons. Read to your sons. Some thing they choose, even the comic books. Alexander Milne ; “Now we are six.”
Learn what your sons enjoy. It works.
Amazon online book buying can be addictive.
I try Bob never to look at my book count on Kindle!
[…] McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic4. Paglia Replaced at JPII Institute – The Pillar5. Purchasing Too Many Books – Donald R. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic6. Watch: Pope Leo XIV’s Emotional […]