| Author | |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 7:30am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I'm currently culling books. One pile is the 'maybes'. Books that are on the 'A' list (recommended books on various lists) but frankly I find them boring.
Authors such as Paul Gallico and Joan Aiken oh and Picture books by Ezra Jack Keats. (Apologies, not meaning to offend anyone)
How do you decide whether to keep or not? Is it okay to move on or should I keep just in case?
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christine
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 10:23am | IP Logged
|
|
|
If my library has them and I don't consider them 'A' list books, I would give them away. I just need to find the time to sort through our books. 
__________________
Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 10:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Christine wrote:
| If my library has them and I don't consider them 'A' list books, I would give them away. I just need to find the time to sort through our books. |
|
|
Erin, I know you don't have a library or a good one nearby, but Christine is suggesting what I think, too.
Eric Carle is one of those authors for me. I'm pulling some of his books from our shelf. I'm only keeping a few basic ones. We like "Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats, and a few of Eric Carle (Caterpillar, for example) but not all.
And maybe that is the end choice. If it's being read, if I like it, if the kids like it, I keep it, but otherwise, it's taking up valuable real estate, and I can find others that we like more to fill in the spots.
Before I used to grab anything by an "A" author or illlustrator, but now I decide by the individual book. Tomie De Paola falls in this category, too.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 10:41am | IP Logged
|
|
|
That's a tough one, Erin! And a home has a finite amount of space for book storage so I know how tough this can be.
Can you set these books aside and just load your shelves with the *definites*...then maybe give yourself a little time as you're ordering your shelves to think about the books you've set aside as "A" list maybes. Go back to the entire pile once you've decided on ALL your *definites* and consider again in light of what you're keeping. If a book seems redundant or boring...or you know you'd always tend to pull out the 3 *definites* about a particular subject or theme that you have shelved and likely never really go to the *maybe* - I'd give it away and let it bless another home...it might be someone else's *definite*!!!  The exception to this might be if one of my children particularly enjoys a certain book that I don't have a preference for. I do keep a few of those.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 12:12pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I ask:
does my son gain something from these books?
Do the other children in our lives gain something from these books?
If not, is it because they are not old enough?
Then I decide from there.
I still have a few more books I could purge, but I'm really close to what we will keep.
__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
dakotamidnight
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 19 2009
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 211
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 12:23pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'd pass them on to another family if they don't fit yours - don't forget about sites such as bookmooch to help in passing them on.
I've been able to help several homeschool families recently on bookmooch get the books they wanted, and was able to then get books for my daughter in exchange.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Christine wrote:
| If my library has them and I don't consider them 'A' list books, I would give them away. |
|
|
Our library consists of Captain Underpants and John Marsden.  .
JennGM wrote:
| And maybe that is the end choice. If it's being read, if I like it, if the kids like it, I keep it, but otherwise, it's taking up valuable real estate, and I can find others that we like more to fill in the spots. |
|
|
Well they have been in our collection not being read for years.
JennGM wrote:
| Eric Carle is one of those authors for me. I'm pulling some of his books from our shelf. I'm only keeping a few basic ones. We like "Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats, and a few of Eric Carle (Caterpillar, for example) but not all. |
|
|
And that's what I struggle with, I tend to think I need to keep 'all' from an author instead of selecting. Paul Gallico's Snow Goose and Miracle in the Wilderness are beautiful books, but the others aren't as good.
Mackfam wrote:
The exception to this might be if one of my children particularly enjoys a certain book that I don't have a preference for. I do keep a few of those.
|
|
|
But don't you hope they will fall apart 
CatholicMommy wrote:
I ask:
does my son gain something from these books?
Do the other children in our lives gain something from these books?
If not, is it because they are not old enough? |
|
|
Asking if they are not old enough is really important. I have a friend who is rather ruthless in culling and I keep reminding her it's because her child is not old enough yet that it doesn't fit.
dakotamidnight wrote:
| I'd pass them on to another family if they don't fit yours |
|
|
I have a friend who loves Paul Gallico, I keep thinking how blessed she would feel.
Thank you all, I feel like I now have permission 
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ekbell
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 22 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 747
|
| Posted: April 09 2010 at 7:25pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Erin
And that's what I struggle with, I tend to think I need to keep 'all' from an author instead of selecting. Paul Gallico's Snow Goose and Miracle in the Wilderness are beautiful books, but the others aren't as good.
[/QUOTE wrote:
At an impressionable age I read Mere Christianity by CS Lewis in which he states
"All sensible people skip freely when they come to a chapter which they find is going to be no use to them" I've found that kee |
|
|
At an impressionable age I read Mere Christianity by CS Lewis in which he states
"All sensible people skip freely when they come to a chapter which they find is going to be no use to them" I've found that keeping this in mind has helped me a great deal when reading (particularly books of advice).
I'd say that if there is no need to read all of an book if only a part is useful to you; then there is truly no need to keep a book simply because you have and enjoy other books by that author.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: 'A' List Books, But Not My 'A' List
