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July 28, 2015 by Travis Jonker

The Top 10 Piles of Books at My House

July 28, 2015 by Travis Jonker   20 comments

Top 10 Piles

Things have gotten out of hand. I’m sure you can relate. After looking at these pictures, you might ask yourself, “Why doesn’t he get some bookshelves?” I have some. They’re pretty big. But not as big as my problem.

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Here, then, are the Top 10 random piles of books that I found around my house the other day.

#10: This Pile By the Bed

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Huh, interesting. Seven books. Seven. You’re really going to read seven books at the same time?

#9: This Pile on the Dresser

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You’ve completely run out of flat surfaces, haven’t you?

#8: This Pile Behind the Chair

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Behind a chair? You really have a problem. And what is that backpack thing?

#7: This Friggin’ Pile

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#6: This Pile in the Kitchen

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You have a pile of books in your kitchen. You are insane.

#5: This Pile on My Desk

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You realize that a desk is a place for getting work done. You realize it isn’t considered a storage place, right? Tell me you know this. Also: way to go keeping the used ink cartridge around. I know it can be really tough to part with those.

#4: This Pile on the ???

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I can’t even tell you where this is. Looks vaguely familiar … no, can’t tell you where this pile is located. In my own house.

#3: This Very Small Pile Under the Couch

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WHY WOULD YOU EVEN HAVE A BOOK UNDER THE COUCH? COULDN’T YOU HAVE PUT IT ON ONE OF THE MANY OTHER PILES AROUND THE HOUSE?

#2: This Pile on the Stairs

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What could be more embarrassing than having books on what appears to be every flat surface of your home? That this cute little pile is essentially a booby trap for people to injure themselves as they take to the stairs in an attempt to escape all the other piles of books.

#1: This Pile of One Under a Chair

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You put this here for the picture, right? This can’t be real.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sally says

    July 28, 2015 at 11:12 am

    the trick is to make sure the little books are on top 🙂
    (i’ve got the same problem)

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 28, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      I’m going to try this trick…

  2. tommfranklin says

    July 28, 2015 at 11:22 am

    Unless The Pile on the Dresser is your Already-Read pile, I don’t understand how Selznick’s “The Marvels” isn’t open and being read right at this moment.

    –Tom

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 28, 2015 at 12:23 pm

      I should have noted that these piles mostly consist of already read books. I cracked that Marvels as soon as it showed up!

  3. Kathleen Krull says

    July 28, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    My idea of heaven.

  4. Sondy says

    July 28, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    Travis, this is NOTHING! Nothing, I tell you! Oh, for the day when I only had ten piles…. (But you won’t catch me publicly posting pictures of them.)

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 30, 2015 at 4:24 pm

      It might be therapeutic…

  5. Kary Henry says

    July 28, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Don’t even LOOK in my car!! 🙂 Hey, some of those stop lights can be loooong…….

  6. Rachael Stein says

    July 29, 2015 at 9:49 am

    Ha! Now I want to do this.

    Except that the saddest pile of all would be the pile of books I set on the ground next to the car while I was cleaning it out, and then forgot to put away before the rainstorm. 🙁

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 29, 2015 at 10:01 am

      Ugh – sorry about that!

  7. Katey Howes says

    July 29, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Wait. Did you sneak into my house to take pictures? Cuz that is totally not cool.
    Suffice it to say, your post is a perfect example of my favorite decorating style: Too busy reading to clean.

    • Bridget Rieth says

      July 30, 2015 at 9:48 am

      Sisterhood!

  8. Teresa Pelusi says

    July 29, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    Travis,
    I was struck by a wave of nostalgia when I saw the pile with the Sesame Street Book Club books. My son belonged to the book club and we spent many happy hours reading those books. He also loved Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book ever, fittingly on the same pile.

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 30, 2015 at 4:24 pm

      Yeah, those Sesame Street books belonged to my wife – it’s been fun to share them with our kids, too

  9. Teresa Garrett says

    July 29, 2015 at 9:56 pm

    Glad to know I am in good company. I could have easily done this post. My family just shakes their heads when I start a new pile.

  10. Bridget Rieth says

    July 30, 2015 at 9:53 am

    If I have a stack on each side of my nightstand, is that one pile or two?

    • Travis Jonker says

      July 30, 2015 at 4:23 pm

      Hmm – good question. I’d say if they’re within two feet of each other – 1 pile. Any further – 2 piles.

      • Sondy says

        July 30, 2015 at 6:27 pm

        Oh, then maybe I only *do* have ten piles. Because there are multiple piles within 2 feet of another pile, so the whole chain counts as one! Right? Right?

  11. Kristen Kittscher says

    July 31, 2015 at 10:04 am

    This is hilarious! And something tells me this is the top ten out of forty.

  12. Ed Spicer says

    December 22, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    Oh Travis,

    Not to go all Grinchy on you, but come back to me when you have serious book piles!

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