Decluttering is such an ugly word. But it has to be done.

I may have mentioned that I have a passion for the printed word. That’s partly because I have a thirst for knowledge and partly because there is no better entertainment than a good book.

There comes a time though when hard choices must be made. In my case that meant getting rid of some of the books that have been on my shelves for years, even decades. But how to choose who stays and who goes?

So much of it boils down to my mood when I sort. A book I can’t part with on Monday becomes something I will never read again on Tuesday, so off it goes.

I had two basic criteria. Do I ever want to read this book again? Is it readily available at the local library? Pretty simple really. That, and dumping any duplicates. (It isn’t that I bought the same book twice, it is that my wife and I have some overlapping tastes – there are volumes we both brought into the marriage.

So off they go, hundreds of books destined for a new home. Wherever they wind up, I hope they will be loved.