My Life As Books in Boxes

Our house is undergoing renovation, so I had to pack all my stuff in boxes. It became evident how much of a bibliophile I am, as most of belongings are–no surprise–books (which includes my comics, manga, RPG books, and local fiction magazines). Even before the renovation, books have dominated my room, first filling the shelves, and then, when they couldn’t fit, most of my floor (it hasn’t come to the point yet that books are my bed). This is, of course, even after I’ve culled them and given some away (or sometimes, permanently loaned) to friends and a fandom library. Packing is a tedious chore, but it also provieds room for introspection. In my case, I had to segregate my books into piles.

The first pile are the books that I’ve read and am honestly not going to read again. They’ve gathered dust and triggered my allergies (I’m sneezing as I write this). Sitting side by side with it are the books that I haven’t read and am not likely to read anytime soon. Some are still wrapped in plastic (which is the case with book sold here in the Philippines). The problem here could be one of many reasons: I could have changed as a reader, and what appealed to me ten years ago isn’t what appeals to me now. It could also be an awareness of the author or the series. Maybe I bought into the hype back then but upon actually reading the prose was disappointed.

The second pile are books that I mean to read, but haven’t had the time to do so. As a book blogger, I find that my reading time is becoming a premium, and sometimes, that means reading ARCs and books handed to me by publishers and publicists, as opposed to books that I had bought. An additional monkey wrench here is that some of these books have accumulated dust (which is bad for my health) or are turning yellow (unfortunately not all books are printed on acid-free paper). Do I put them in with the first pile, or do I store them in the box that will most likely be re-opened? I had to make some hard choices.

photo by Luigi Diamanti

The third pile are books that are high on my priority list. Either I’ve read them recently and am thinking of keeping them (they’re that good), or they’re books that have been recently been sent to me and I need to read soon. This pile actually fits in one box (whereas the others might need three or even four boxes). But what amazed me is how I’m forced to distill everything down to books that I really, really want. It’s like asking which of your babies is your favorite. Bam! My life reduced to boxes.

I’m also amazed by how much clutter I have managed to accumulate. Some of these is due to sheer greed. Look, I’m a comic geek, and I buy comics every week. Those comics actually get read and are lying on my floor. When I started to pack, I’m thinking, am I really going to re-read issue XXX of title Y? The value of graphic novels and trade paperbacks significantly increased, if only for the organization. All of my comics went to the first pile, in a box that will probably never be opened again. (Why don’t I just give them away? They’re also dust magnets.)

And then there are my RPG books. They’re heavy. I don’t use every book every day, but when it comes to my weekly D&D games (either as a player or as a GM), I’ll need those books. The trick is that I don’t know which ones I’ll need until that very moment.

This also had me thinking about digital books and comics. Boy, wouldn’t it be easy to have everything stored in a flash drive? And your files archived in folders? Why am I forced to cull my book collection? Putting them in a box means that I don’t have access to them for referencing. And digital books don’t trigger my allergies. Can’t the digital revolution arrive sooner? At least until the hard drive breaks down… Bugger that.