Before Amazon came along, I spent a lot of time and money in the bookstore. After Amazon came along, I would buy a cup of coffee at the bookstore and a lot of money at Amazon. Jeff Bezos's master plan flawlessly worked on me.

No matter the gift card stash, books cost money, and are an investment in your future self, and it is important. The thought that you could glean several years of life, instruction, enjoyment,and inspiration reading the words on a simple page, is enticing.

The time it takes to find the book can be merely a moment with a "1-click buy" on Amazon or a more detailed search of the local used bookstore. I have put out-of-print books on my Amazon wish list and waited several years for delivery.

The hard-earned cash that you spend with a quick swipe of your card or dropped on the counter openly proclaims what is important to you. Voting with the money you earned by trading your life for cash, to buy this book, loudly proclaims this collection of authors written words is a priority.

The moment of truth arrives as you open the cover and peruse the book, How we spend our time and the things we devote our attention to are a reflection of the person we have become. You get one life, and you have chosen to spend it with this collection of dead trees with some ink spread across the page.

As the back cover is closed and the first read is complete, a decision must be made; must you keep the book? Just as a grocery store only has room for a specific number of products, your library can only hold so many versions of the written world. My office bookcase is proof that I would rather error on the side of adding to the library vice giving away the resource.

The logical question to answer becomes, is it worth trading your money and precious life to read this author's words? I am grateful and humbled that you have made it this far in the post.

Going Further: What did you learn from these books? How did it meet your expectation? Will you read more from this author? How did the author surprise and delight you?