There Can’t Be Only One

Last night was date night and the girlfriend found this app with great questions to ask for a date night. It was fun and we got to learn even more about each other.

There was one question she asked me, however, that was practically impossible to answer.

If I could only keep one book that I already own what would it be?

What? How is one supposed to pick only one book? That is like asking which tooth are you going to keep in your mouth? It’s the reason I only had one kid because I’d always have an easy answer for who’s my favorite. And apparently saying I’ll just keep my Kindle was not an acceptable answer.

When I moved in with my mom after my dad died, I knew I had to pare down my books if I also wanted to keep my father and grandfather’s books. There just wasn’t enough room in this small house.

It was quite literally one of the hardest things I have ever done. The books still on my shelves are what’s left after a dramatic, painful purge.

Granted there are some that I haven’t read yet, and in the case of the religious texts, especially the one in Greek, I never will. But that doesn’t mean I want to part from them.

The TBR pile is growing so there might be some in there that I could let go of, but to keep only one?

In the spirit of the night I knew I had to give her an answer. So I told her I’d keep the dictionary. With that I could find interesting words and write my own stories about them. I suppose I could live with that. But would that be living or merely barely existing?

I can ‘t even imagine a world where I’d be forced to have only one book. That’s totally barbaric. A truly dystopian world. Thank goodness that’s not a real thing and I get to keep my Kindle and the books on my shelves.

P.S. To my nerdy friends who get the allusion of my title, send me a message so I know where my peeps are at.