Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.
.Charles William Eliot.
I love to read. So does my husband, B. And there are so many books out there to explore! But books are heavy to move, take up a lot of space, and seem to be irresistible for little hands.
So what's a minimalist girl to do?
Enter: the kindle. One kindle takes up way less room than paper books. And it's pretty convenient. And cost effective. There are hundreds of kindle books that are free or less than a dollar. And with an actual kindle (not just the app), I can "borrow" one book a month. B and I both enjoy reading on it (and he was a bit of a skeptic). And not having piles of books around for little boys to knock off shelves is pretty nice.
As for my kiddos, though, we have them read paper board books. Technology is great, but not what we personally want our kiddos to learn to read on. And board books are definitely not forever books. We have a pretty consistent turn-around with the wear and tear of loving, but exuberant, little hands.
I have to share, as a side note, that Anne Shirley is one of my oldest friends in the literature world, and we have gone through much together (watch out for a series on her in the future!). Who has been your literature friend through thick and thin?
I can probably become minimalist in many areas of the home, books is one that I would have a hard time with! I do have a kindle (and a nook actually), and more books than I have book shelves. I try to pare down the books as much as I can, but I think I have gotten to the end of my ability to get rid of books :-) We are also homeschoolers and use a literature based approach...which unfortunately means a lot more books are coming in on a regular basis. Most of my fiction reading is done on the kindle though, and that definitely helps a bit. As well as using the library, we can get pretty much any book we would ever want, and then return it when we are done, yay!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand...it took awhile to convert my husband. ;-) And I don't think schoolbooks count against you! The library is an amazing resource, though, that totalky goes hand in hand with minimalism!
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