Last month we talked about Spring Cleaning and I said the subject of organizing your books was a topic for another time. Well, no time like the present. I’ve finished with most of the promo for my Safekeeper series and my April release; IN SAFE HANDS. I am now dithering over a new proposal. And...my house cleaning is done!So, temporarily I have a pristine house and the books that have collected in my office over the last year ought not to be cluttering it up. These are well-read books, the ones looking a bit gray around the edges, that I’ve enjoyed and should be outside in the hands of someone else who will enjoy them as much as I did. I am not one for selling my used books. But can you ever bring yourself to throw a good book away? Books that might not be slated for your keeper shelves perhaps, but books you enjoyed and are now so over? Just the thought gives me the heeby jebbies.
Here are a few surefire ways of finding good homes for your graying babies and a little inner peace for yourself:
1. Stop by a nursing home with an armload of books and ask for the activities director. Most will welcome you and your books like a long lost sister. While there, peek into a few rooms and say
hello. Talk about a good feeling!
2. The Emergency room of a hospital is another great place to leave a few books. Hardly anyone thinks to bring along reading material when they are rushing a loved one to the ER (only to sit around waiting for hours on end)
3. Stack some books in a shoe box (loose books slide all over the back seat) and put them in your car. Drop a few off at all the places you visit during your regular day. The waiting room of you children's doctor, the hairdresser, the dentist and the nail place are all good opportunities. I left a couple of paperbacks in the jury waiting room last month and I bet they were a big hit. Some of your graying babies may be unwelcome at some of these places and pitched. But most will be passed on to be read again and again.
4. How about that charity flea market that has been soliciting you for donations? Drag out an old basket, fill it up with books, add a ribbon and there you go! A great money maker.
5. Some (but not all) libraries are thrilled to get new book contributions—even paperbacks.
6. There is a movement I’ve heard about where the idea is to leave a book on a bus bench or at a table in the mall food court (or other public places) for others to read. But I worry about uncontrollable things like weather and rowdy teenagers. You might want to try it for yourself, though.
Now I have another problem. When I began to clean the books out of my house, I found a stack of books still in my To-Be-Read pile. Uh oh. I am in big trouble. Now I remembered why I wanted to read all those books in the first place. Must read instead of work!
Here are just a few of the titles I absolutely must read before reading anything else:
Murder Game by Christine Feehan
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride by Annie West
Gateways by F. Paul Wilson
Manhunter by Loreth Anne White
Whisper No Lies by Cindy Gerard
Oh dear.
How about you? I’d love to know what’s in your To-Be-Read pile. Or maybe you have a better idea to share of what to do with your books once you’ve read them. We are dying to know!
Leave a comment before tomorrow morning and I’ll choose two people to receive an autographed copy of IN SAFE HANDS (or a book from my backlist if you’ve already read it)
Linda Conrad’s latest Silhouette Romantic Suspense trilogy, The Safekeepers, wrapped up in April with IN SAFE HANDS.
Don’t forget to drop by Linda’s website to find out
what’s Behind the Book for her series, and register to enter her ongoing contest to win books and gift certificates!
http://www.lindaconrad.com/
