The woman in the black sweater in the third row raises her hand and asks The Question. The Question that strips away any pretense of expertise on my part. The Question that exposes me as a fraud in professional organizer’s clothing:

Woman: “What do you do with books you haven’t read?”

Sunny: “What do I do? Or what should you do?

Books are my Achilles Heel. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t just books to me, and I know that many people have this problem. Books can be connections, untapped possibilities, memories, knowledge, comfort, security, promises. Rarely are they “just” books.

Some of my earliest and best memories of my mother are of when she would take me to the library with her. She made the trip every few weeks, and I was convinced that the armloads of books she brought back and forth with her were her keys to happiness. I never saw her more peacefully absorbed than when reading.

The best times were when I would have the librarian all to myself and she would take me into the stacks and recommend her latest favorites that she thought I’d enjoy. She knew, of course, that for me they had to involve animals in some way – particularly dogs or horses. To this day I can see her very tall, angular frame standing in a shaft of sunlight, paging through a volume plucked down from high over my head.

And the smells…slightly musty old stacks, polished wood reading tables, freshly-washed linoleum floors, newly-inked date stamps. It felt magical, and those feelings suffused the books I brought home with me and spread out on the floor around my reading chair in my bedroom. I’d kick off my shoes, settle into the chair with my chosen book, and press my sock-clad feet against the wall’s hot air damper. An icy wind might be blowing outside, but I had heat warming my toes and feet and my imagination.

Books, then, have always been more to me than the sum of their pages – companions, friends, teachers, mentors. And there’s the rub. How do you choose which connections to maintain and which to let go?

Let’s go back to my professional persona. As an expert consultant on the subject, I do have some suggestions:

Number One – Of all your favorite books, keep only the ones that are in decent condition (i.e., can be re-read without the pages falling out) and those that you have space to store without exposing them to further deterioration. If a particular book is valuable enough to you, you may choose to have it re-bound, or otherwise preserved. Ideally, you should be able to have easy access to any that you might wish to re-read.

Number Two – Books you’ve read that don’t fall into the above categories should be passed along for the enjoyment or edification of others, if possible. If there’s no interest in a particular subject, perhaps it has outlived its usefulness and can be recycled.

Number Three – The Original Question. What to do with those books you’ve borrowed or purchased but haven’t gotten around to reading yet? Sometimes we confuse purchasing or borrowing a book with actually sitting down and reading it. Because they’re not the same thing, the unread books tend to pile up. The only way to deal with this is to survey the books, prioritize them according to your current needs or interests, and schedule reading time. Only obtain additional books once you’ve established a regular reading program. Otherwise, they’re just going to sit in the corner and make you feel guilty. Life is too short for that.

Speaking as an inveterate reader – do I follow my own advice? Sometimes. I try not to accumulate more than I can comfortably store or process, because that can feel overwhelming. But there are definitely times when a new release or review will grab my attention and I “must have it”. I’m human.

As I prepare to move, I’m making progress sorting through my collection. Saying goodbye to some memories and making room for new ones.

But bottom line? Reading is one of my fundamental true essentials.