The Purge

I was trembling, but I did it. The great purge. The list was too long, something had to go. I couldn't face the list of 57 books. (I added NINE books to my list this week. NINE. I'm not allowed to read about what people online are reading, ever). So Mike sat down next to me and held my hand, and we went through the list and threw out anything that I'd put on there years ago and was pretty sure I was never going to read.

It hurt. It was hard. Part of the point of the list was not just the possibility of reading them, but remembering them, considering them, MAYBE reading them at SOME point. But they were hurting my heart--I was feeling responsible for those books I was never going to read.

So, in tribute to the departed To Reads, here's a partial list, created from memory, of the books we said goodbye to before we ever really got to say hello.

Strip City, by Lily Burana. A former stripper's pre-wedding last-hurrah stripping road trip across America.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by David Simon. The true life, true crime account of a Baltimore police department on which the TV show was based. Mike told me it was good.

The French Lieutenant's Woman. I have no idea why this was on my list. I don't even really know what it's about.

Oh, God, that's all I can remember! See, that's why I have a list, so I don't have to remember these things. It breaks my heart, though, that they were forgotten so soon. If I remember, I'll write them down, I promise!