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Tension relievers for book lovers

You are anxiously waiting for someone or something, and need to put your mind off it so you will not start throwing things and screaming to relieve the tension. Books have a calming effect on you, but you are too wound up to read. Well, I've been there, and here are some suggestions for book-related activities:

Dust your books. Dust is an enemy to books just as much as dampness and sunlight.

If you are the type who finds books more by what they look like than by knowing exactly where they are, organise your books by size or colour rather than subject. I've done this with part of my TBR stash and they not only look good on the shelf, they actually look tempting, which might mean I will finally go and read some of them.

Hunt down lost bookmarks. I am a typical bibliophile and if I do something with books, chances are that many other book lovers do the same. I keep putting half-read books away with the bookmark still inside and don't realise I'm doing it until I run out of bookmarks.

Cull your books. It can be hard, but sometimes it needs to be done. Do you have books you have read to tatters and need to replace? Cull them and give them a respectable funeral, then put them on your shopping list. Do you have books that you have read once and know you will never read again? Cull them. Do you have books you bought five years ago and still haven't read? Chances are you will never read them, so give others a chance to enjoy them instead. Give the culled books to a library or a charity, trade them, sell them on EBay or have a garage sale. Think of all the lovely shelf space available for new books.

Get started cataloguing your library. Begin with just titles and authors, then find out which books are valuable. If you ever need to make an insurance claim, it pays to know what you have lost.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I find blogging helps, also, when I'm too stressed to relax and read.
October 22, 2006 8:26 pm
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