[jacques_chester]

I know, intellectually, that some books simply expire. They simply aren't relevant any more. Such books can't be given to a library and can't be offloaded to a book exchange.

Some even, due to changes in the world they refer to, have taken on a negative value because they can deceive a trusting reader. In good conscience these cannot be given to someone else.

I console myself with these thoughts whenever I dispose of a book. Because I find the disposal of books to be thoroughly traumatic. Giving up my old law books was heart breaking. So too my teenage copies of Learn to Teach Yourself C++ in 21.75 Minutes for Dumb Idiots.

It all hurt.

Beds? Chairs? Clothes? Meh. I would be OK with starting from a scorched earth. But my books are sacred. I do not choose them lightly, because I know that parting will be so painful.