I love your introduction about needing assistance to avoid a bookstore. There is a strong pull--the book smell, the overstimulation of so much potential.

The mention of books from moments in your past, like the book on Spain when you considered living there, do make for a bookcase full of your life. I like how books represent different periods in life. I have those too. I also understand eliminating some though. I go through the house as a whirlwind of purging once a year or so.

You have a wonderful collection.