I love books.

I love books like some women love shoes.

I love books like some women love clothes.

I love books like some women love jewelry.

I love to shop for books like some women like to shop for...I think you get the picture.

My earliest memory of my love for books was reading late at night with a flashlight when I was suppose to be asleep. When my parents took away the flashlight, I would read by the light coming in from my bedroom window.

I love the way words on a page create images in my mind.

I love the sound a new book makes when it is opened for the first time.

Over the years, I have added many, many...probably hundreds of books to our home library.

But one thing I have realized (especially after reading Kathi Lipp's book, Clutter Free), is that I have hundreds of books in my home, that frankly, I just do not love. So why am I keeping books in my home that I do not love?

I kind of like the idea of a big home library, but there are many books I have read that just really aren't my favorites. They were good books, but not ones I plan on reading again.

So, I made a decision today...I need to clear out my home library and only keep books I love.

To be honest, this is going to be one of the hardest things for me to do. When I told my husband what I am going to do, he had to ask me twice what I was going to do.

Tonight, I attacked one section of a very large bookcase in one room of our home. Basically, I put the books in two piles: did I love it and would I read it again? or did I read it and I don't think I will read it again?

I surprised myself...my love pile was smaller than the other pile...

Now to figure out how I am going to get this other pile of books to live somewhere else...

Excuse me while I go sort another shelf full of books...