A Book Purge

This pile is a very sad pile - and sadly it has nothing to do with the fact I haven't organised them by colour, author, or anything remotely resembling an order.

After a year of university, I came home with a great many things - worldly experience, a deep mistrust of tumble driers, and books. Mostly books. A lot of books. Even after selling half a hundredweight of the wretched things back to the university bookshop, I still had far more than my poor overworked bookshelves could house in their present fullness.

And so came the time that every book-lover shunts into the deepest corner of their nightmares: a book purge.

However, before I say goodbye to these little charmers, and they go on to make their way into the hands of family friends, charity shops and the local library, I would like to make a few dedications to some of those who, while not treasured enough to survive the cut, will, at least, be missed.

The Magician's Guild, by Trudi Canavan

A smart, pacy, deeply imaginative story from an author who well and truly deserves her place as a bestseller. Sonea's story not only indulged my love for complex magic, interesting heroines and dramatic plot twists, but was also my first exposure to LGBT characters in fantasy. A marvellous introduction if ever there was one.

From the Two Rivers, by Robert Jordan

After a confusing search through Wikipedia, I found, in actual fact, that the engrossing-if-bland fantasy romp I had just finished devouring was, in fact, only half of the first book of Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time saga. While I feel no burning desire to continue the series, I have to give the book kudos for scaring the heebie jeebies out of me so memorably that I still shiver a little at remembering one particular scene in its closing chapters. Thanks, Mr Jordan, for forging in me an instinctive mistrust of strange wall fungi.

The Near Witch, by Victoria Schwab

Notable for being a book that, while I did not think it anything special in itself, made me a surprising new friend when I leant it to someone over my AS exam period. She liked it so much she came back to chat to me about it, and so began the beginnings of a bookish buddy-ship like no other. We ended up indulging in several more book swaps, and remain in contact today, despite the fact we had not spoken to one another for nearly six years prior to this chance loan of reading material.

~*~

Ah, a tragic day indeed, don't you think my friends? Have any of you been on a book purge recently - can you bear to? Leave me a comment and tell me all about the books you've been sad to lose, from purging, accident, or simpy the old thing giving up on the strength of its bindings.

~ Charley R