PART 1. THE BOOKS: It started with a notice at our township library that they were having a used books drive. All I had to do was pull my car up to the curb and volunteers would unload as many books as I wanted to bring in. With Chris out of town on a business trip, I wanted to do something to surprise him when he got back, the way he builds me a piece of furniture every time I go to BlogHer. And the fact is, I'm a book hoarder. I was hanging on to decades of books, stacked three boxes high in our basement. That notice at the library was the jump start I needed. I set aside 4 big packing boxes from product review deliveries and started sorting through the boxes in the basement. I made piles to keep, piles to donate, and piles to throw away. As a book lover, it's almost painful for me to throw away a book, but if I came across one with a torn off cover or the beginnings of mildew, out it went. Into the keep pile went everything by my favorite authors - Stephen King, Dean Koontz, … [Read more...]