Son 2 (and his mother) have spent quite a lot of time recently shifting all his and some of my worldly goods around Switzerland, as he moved from his student flat-share near Zurich into his own flat here by the lake, leaving me with more space at home. I decided to shift a bookcase or two. Yesterday, I armed myself with a duster, emptied one, shifted it into its new position – and found myself facing a huge dilemma. Should I really keep ALL my old, mostly tatty paperbacks?
I gave them a dust. My Mary Higgins Clarks, well read and yellowing now. My Dorothy L Sayers, even yellower. My Robin Cooks. My collection of Chalet School books – I have them all. They range from ancient Armada paperbacks, practically loose-leaf now, to pristine, dust-jacketed first editions (which I paid a small fortune for as a twenty-something, to complete my collection).
The problem is, I’ll never read them again; my eyesight isn’t twenty any more and my kindle is welded to my side at all times. Keeping those incredibly scruffy books feels self-indulgent, but then, they’re part of my life story. They have memories attached. The fact that I live in a German speaking area makes a decision even more difficult; the number of places I could donate any books in better shape is limited.
I put the problem to Facebook and was given advice ranging from ‘keep them, they are old friends’ to ‘let them go, donate them’. And of course there’s no right answer.
So what did I do?
Of course I did… 🙄😍
Other book news: psychological suspense book thirteen is due on my lovely editor’s desk next month, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into edits soon. There’s another Melinda Huber book well on the way too. Not a Lakeside Hotel story this time, though – this one’s about dogs and is set in the UK. And I have another project as well, a women’s contemporary novel; not sure yet what I’ll do with that. Plenty to keep me busy, anyway, as we head into summer by the lake.
(Reminder: Stolen Sister is free in Prime Reading UK at the moment!)
linda huber 