10 December

Good Free Books. Our Own Book Give-A-Way Today

by Jon Katz

We don’t own a TV (we stream on our cell phones when we stream) and are both book addicts.

The books keep piling up. We read whenever we can.

I’m not a fan of having good books lying around to rot while so many people can’t afford them. So I suggested to Maria that we have our own free Book Festival for those in our community who like contemporary novels and non-fiction books but may not be able to pay $30 or more for one.

Today, between 11 and 3 p.m., we’re giving our stack of reading books to the community if people want them.

We’ve been surprised at all the traffic our Little Free Library gets out front, so this might be a good idea. There are lots of readers around here.

We have a lot of other books to pass along; if this one works, we’ll do several more. I have many spiritual and history books, and the farmhouse is starting to look like a public library branch.

Time to clean up and simplify and have fewer things.

I love to give books as gifts to people. I always tell them I don’t want them back, just pass them along. To me, the banishing of books banished to shelves for years is a sad thing.

Maria loved the idea, and ever the artist named it – Good Books Free – and went to work painting a sign. Shortly, we’ll drag a couple of tables outside and then carry the books.

I didn’t realize how useful it would be to live with an artist; they are handy at all kinds of things.

The Good Free Books GIve-A-Way feels like a good thing to do, and it feels like fun. It’s cold out there but clear and sunny. I’m interested in seeing what happens. I’ll let you know.

I don’t know if my taste in books will resonate with others around here. We’ll see.

If there are any left, they’ll go to our small library. The Bishop Gibbons School Library may want some of them as well.

8 Comments

  1. Wish I lived closer by. I love your taste in books and have read quite a few of the ones you have recommended. I have never been disappointed!

  2. Why buy books in the first place, just to give them away? Why not support your public library instead and put those hundreds of dollars to better use?

    1. Sally, not that it’s really your business, we have given a ton of books to our public library…we do it all the time. I’m not sure I need to apologize to you for doing it differently for once. Not everyone can make it to the library for many good reasons and the library often has no space for more books. I’m an author if nobody bought books you wouldn’t be reading this post.

  3. I recently moved to a smaller home which has made it necessary to ‘unload’ some books. I’ve gifted them to friends, family, the library which they sell for fundraisers, sold some to collectors and stashed many in the little free libraries around the neighborhoods. Yes, and many I never read – but I’m surely running out of time. I still hold on to ones that I really treasure and have often read and re read them. Thank you for sharing your books, inspiring others to give their own or pick up some of yours. I volunteer with the 3rd grade remedial reading program and often gift some to them as well. I don’t own a TV either and do stream on my laptop.

  4. You have such a big heart. I’m sure your community knows how much you do for the Mansion and immigrant children and families. Perhaps your next book give away might offer others the opportunity to make a donation towards one of the funds? I love your choice of books and would gladly make a donation to your heart funds. Those who wanted to give back in the moment would and those who can’t afford to won’t feel obligated. Once you put that on your blog I suspect some people might support your heart causes. I do recognize that having a donation box might appeal to those who prefer to take but who knows? Keep up the good work. You always make my day brighter.

  5. Buy, or check out from the library. Great, I’m able to do both. I often, underline words, phrases, and information in books. I have to catch myself, if it is a library book. Soon, I’ll be beginning to read Saving Simon written by a man who knows dogs and donkeys. It’s a library book, so no circling or underlining in that book.

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