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Pruning the Leaves from Jon Boyd on Vimeo.
Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986). Click to continue reading Scot McKnight's Bio...
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Books that I am certain I will never refer to nor want to refer someone else to are all thrown away. That is not a large set!
Prune books? Cull books?!?! Dear God, man! I remember the years we lived in Houston. I had a loft built over cinder block shelves of my Dad's library. Today, I sit in an office surrounded by overflowing bookshelves. There is something comforting about having books I have read around me. A book has to sink pretty low for me to get rid of it. More than just being something I probably won't read again, it has to be something I actively disliked. Other than that, it's mine forever -- except for those I loan to others. It's hit or miss whether or not they ever return.
My wife feeds my book habit in a controlled manner. For gifts at major occasions I tend to get book store gift cards. Ah. Browsing among the stacks of books. Picking out a stack to sit and skim as I drink coffee. Pure heaven. But when I don't have a gift card I'm restricted from bookstores. I do buy specific books that I already know I want to read online. It's a loophole.
Well, first I've got to be in the right frame of mind. (An upcoming move has often been an impetus, as well as shelves that are so full I can't keep them organized....) Then I usually just look at them and decide. There isn't much science to it, really just a feeling that realistically I'll never want to look at it again, and off it goes.
I've bought more books since arriving in Texas a couple of years ago. When we lived in Grand Rapids, I could get almost any Christian book I was interested in from the library. Here it's almost impossible. So, I buy and read. (I'm so thankful for Half Price Books!) If I don't keep them they go either to the library's donation pile or I swap them on paperbackswap.com.
My parents left me a house full of books to deal with--I gave away about 40-50 large boxes of their books and only kept a very few to treasure--that made me go home and prune my shelves--I've tried to make that a rule that whenever my shelves are full--some have to go.
I was looking for a Pack-Rat moving container and I found myself here. And now I'm thinking how do I go through all my books and sell most of them instead of saving them. And who takes old tapes and video anymore? I am getting to old (60) to keep all this stuff. When your grandchildren want you to put everything on DVD or CD it gets tiring :(
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