The Awesomeness of Networking

After my earlier post about my book problem, I got great feedback in comments, email, Facebook, and even in person!  I got a lot of support and sympathy on trying to reduce my reading list from ladies who have the same problem... never let it be said that my friends aren't classy, literate people!  The most interesting idea, though, came from my friend Leah.  She suggests the following:

Give some of your "overflow" unread books to someone you trust and then when you are ready for a "new" book "order" it from them!

What a great idea!  I definitely had not considered this type of approach.  I'm very tempted to try this.  It doesn't force me to get rid of any books, making it more likely to succeed, and it makes me accountable to someone else, but in a fun way.  This could even involve setting a goal for myself: any book that I don't remember owning in a year goes away permanently.  I also suspect that my book-holding friend would notice what I do and don't ask for, which would help me make better buying decisions in the future.

I've actually had success with a similar system in the past.  In order to clean out my closet, I trick myself.  Anything that's a little worn out, the wrong size (big or small), doesn't look good, or that I suspect I don't wear goes into a box, which stays in my closet.  After a certain amount of time, if it hasn't come out of the box, it gets donated.  This has saved a lot of hassle over the last couple of years.  Speaking of which, it's about time that I did that again...

And before I forget, a friend of mine and her husband are expecting their first child and have a question about online gift registries. I know Amazon has a Universal Wish List service but maybe my friends who are moms have some better advice as well as some tips on what to put on a baby registry and what to avoid.  You can comment there (let her know that I referred you to her site) or I'd be happy to pass along any pearls of wisdom that you all have!  Thanks!