At last! The mortgage papers have been signed, the solicitor has been paid, and now I’m technically on track for buying my new flat! All I really have to do in the next few weeks is try to not accidentally get arrested or go bankrupt. Of course, I’ll also have to start packing – and that means booking up all of those hundreds of books, again.
I’ve moved house about three times for every two years since I left home at 17. I’m getting pretty good at packing. The only problem is, the older I get, the larger my collection of books. I’d say that for every 30 books that come over my threshold, one might end up with a charity shop – the rest I just can’t bear to part with. Good for my collection, bad for my back when moving.
This time though, I’ll be moving and knowing I’m planning to stay for a good long while, I’ll be able to luxuriate in sorting them out and re-homing them all (and I plan to buy some new shelves so they don’t end up stacked on the floor like they so often have).
A small selection of my messy books
I am so excited, although ever so slightly scared of jinxing it…. so, shh, I never told you about this new flat right? The last few months of 2010 may have dragged by excruciatingly slowly as I waited for one thing or another to be resolved, but this year has been one wild ride so far.
Lynsey May 
Congratulations. It’s a great way to start a new year: in a new place.
I know I’ll be moving within the next two years, and like you, I think about all the books — magazines and newspapers — that will have to be packed up. Then there’s the numerous manuscripts and research that has accummulated in the past 12 years.
I think I’ll need a library in the next house. lol
Good luck with the move.
Diane
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Thank you Diane! I’m excited about the move but also don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet.
Oh a library, one of these days I’d love to have one of those. Sounds like you’ll need one though – maybe you’ll need to cut down on your paper products between now and then? Or not. 🙂
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Why don’t you just build your furniture out of books? It wake make moving easy and you wouldn’t have to worry about storing them.
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I have actually seen some amazing bits of furniture made of books, buuuuut, I just wouldn’t be able to do it. The poor little things, all glued together.
If I did though, I’d definitely make a throne!
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Yey!
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Congratulations on the new flat. I know what you MEAN about packing and rehoming your books. I just moved 2 years ago and had over 50 boxes. I don’t know if yours are in alpha order…If so, might I suggest you label boxes: A-?, Box #1; AW-BO, box 2; BW-CA, box 3, etc. You don’t want to be sorting them AGAIN when you move. Just an idea. Have fun packing (probably not). Lugging boxes of books, builds MUSCLES but don’t work too hard.
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Thanks Tess! I’m too haphazard for that kind of organization – also, all my shelves are of different depths so books are organized by their size quite often – but thanks for the tip. 50 boxes sounds like a lot of hard work, but I bet it was worth it.
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My, my…what a large pile of books you have! Congrats on the flat!
–ABWP
P.S. Please, please don’t tell me your books are in Alpha order! OMG where on earth would you even start? It is WAY too mature to move into your own flat AND have books in alpha order!
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Cheers! Hehe, nope they are in this kind of order: pile by my bed to be read, pile by my bed already read, pile in the livingroom flattening out one with a bent cover, pile in the kitchen that has been abandoned, all those not in a pile on shelves somewhere. I’m loving the thought of actually having enough shelf space though… maybe I can persuade the boy to turn the livingroom into a proper library?
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