It’s like Amazon, but free, and with a smaller selection

It is finally spring. That one long, god-forsaken ice-storm called winter seems to be over. The trees are budding, the dandelions are already popping up, and like every year, I suddenly hate all the clothes in my spring wardrobe. Oh, and it is time for spring cleaning. Except for the actual removal of dirt. We haven’t gotten to that yet.

However, Andrew and I did do some organizing. We cleaned a ton of stuff out of our closet and bagged it up for Goodwill. Decided it was finally time to let go of all those fitted tees that are actually just too small for me (remember when you had to wear a really tight T-shirt or you were horribly out of fashion? Or is that still the “thing,” but now I am just old?).

We also cleaned out our bookshelves and boxed up a bunch of books that we are ready to get rid of. Andrew checked their going rates on teh interwebs and decided that they’re not worth selling. So . . . this brings me to my point. Finally. Are you interested in any of our old books? I won’t bother listing the old college texty books we’re parting ways with, but all the fun novels and such (there are a couple of nonfiction works in there, too) are up for grabs. And I don’t even want them back, so feel free to sell them for a profit or give them away to the next person. But if I have to ship something to you, you should do something nice for me. Like . . . I don’t know. Send me a book you want to get rid of. We could turn this thing into some kind of exchange, or something.

So here is the list, in the order in which I pulled the books from the box. Sorry, no descriptions or photos (but I will occasionally write a little snarky comment). And please don’t make fun of all the chick-lit. It’s kind of an addiction. Of Andrew’s. Yes, that’s it, Andrew is really into chick-lit. I am a serious editor who only reads serious literature.

• The Cider House Rules, by John Irving (waaaay better than the movie)
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser (it’s even hardcover, because I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one)
• Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen (even Oprah likes it)
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• Blackbox by Nick Walker
• Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken (remember when it was cool to be Very Left?)
• Stupid White Men by Michael Moore (did you know I used to be Very Cool?)
• Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
• Beloved by Toni Morrison (nice juxtaposition between this and the previous book)
• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Oprah likes this one, too)
• Bagombo Snuff Box by Kurt Vonnegut (this one is Andrew’s)
• Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot (this one is also Andrew’s)
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
• Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (this follows the same story as the previous book)
• Can You Keep a Secret? By Sophie Kinsella (British!)
• Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
• Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella
• Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella (fortunately, we’ve already given away the other Shopaholic books Andrew has read so he doesn’t have to be embarrassed by them)
• Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen
• My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki
• Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
• Ordinary Resurrections by Jonathan Kozol (look! serious!)
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (totally nonfiction! and not political!)

Leave a comment if you want to permanently borrow any of these books. But act fast, because I hear it's not considered cleaning if you leave the books in a pile on the floor.