Around the World discussion
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Picking Over Borders' Bones
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I picked up 15 books at Borders yesterday. I'd rather move to a bigger place than give up paper books. I have good ecological practices in other areas of my life, but I can't do without physical books.
Lifting boxes of books is my major form of anaerobic exercise!
Borders haul:
The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
On the Beach
Rat Girl: A Memoir
The Sheikh's Batmobile
Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man
Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas
Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land
Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents
Population: 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time
War is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared to Death in the World's Worst War Zones
Holidays on Ice
The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
On the Beach
Rat Girl: A Memoir
The Sheikh's Batmobile
Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man
Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas
Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land
Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents
Population: 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time
War is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared to Death in the World's Worst War Zones
Holidays on Ice


I very, very much enjoyed The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East. I have recommended that book to so many people that I feel like a tape recorder. Other books have been written since this came out and they do not compare.


There were more but I don't remember them all, some short stories and poetry. I do love books and always will.
Oh, I made one last trip to my Borders yesterday. I ended up getting 18 books! All my bookshelves have been full for yrs. My boxes of old, already read, books in the basement have made it through 2 floods and 4 moves. But I am hanging on to all of them, and still adding more! I may end up on the hoarding show, buried under a ton of books. I could never give up on the actual book. In my fear that one day bookstores will cease to exist at all, I may be going overboard, currently (sorta like building a shelter against the bomb, full of canned goods and bandaids. Only my shelter is full of books!)

Of course I have other friends who understand entirely as they have the same "problem" or is it.
Some people spend their money on movies, or tailgating, or gold, or shoes. I spend mine on books and travel.
Sue wrote: "Christi---I know how you feel. My sister and some friends walk into my apartment and sort of shake their heads with books climbing over the chairs and floor. It's not like there's no library in tow..."
Lol, I ask myself "or is it" a problem? all the time! My answer is pretty much "no", but then I am not being objective at all :)
I just looked over my recent Borders haul, and realized that of the 18 books I got, 17 countries are represented! I have found the right group!
Lol, I ask myself "or is it" a problem? all the time! My answer is pretty much "no", but then I am not being objective at all :)
I just looked over my recent Borders haul, and realized that of the 18 books I got, 17 countries are represented! I have found the right group!

Gaeta, I have books stored in three countries. I can never find the one I am looking for..... With an ereader, they are all in one place. No more lugging books around for trips either. But yes I do love the good old books best. And think of picture books, art books, maps!
It's not as if all of this electronic equipment is ecologically cost-free, either.
Most electricity is not generated cleanly. Even wind turbines can kill birds. Most electronics include toxic components. The world is facing a metal crisis. Most plastic isn't recycled.

In my community there are several ways to donate so that the device can be refurbished and given to poor people, but usually there's a $15-25 fee, making electronics, like cats and garbage, easier to dump in the woods.

I believe every community has a fee for getting rid of electronics now. Some recycling doesn't cost such as the multiple cell phone programs for charity. Those are just drop off programs in my experience. I've seen adds for Best Buy's recycling program but I don't know the details of what they accept.


Too sensible to survive here unless some state tried it. In a way some states do things like this as my state of Massachusetts does with the bottle bill, requiring deposits on all drinks bottles. Of course I can get that deposit back by recycling the bottle.
@Sue: Or "Obama-style socialism!!" Of course, you commies from Taxachusetts know all about that.

but then I have "liberal-commie" tendencies so watch out for me!
I know your type. I worked in the Boston area for several years. But since I went to a commie college, I like your type!

Same here. I couldn't do without physical books, they're my refuge when I need to escape from modern technology and can't stand staring at a screen any longer. I'd go crazy if I could only use e-readers for the rest of my life. I try to be ecologically friendly in other ways of my life.
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Books mentioned in this topic
On the Beach (other topics)Tibet, Tibet (other topics)
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (other topics)
On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea (other topics)
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (other topics)
More...
Good haul Gaeta. Lemon Tree and Invisible Bridge are 5 star reads for me. Favorites too. Doc is on my TBR.