Agent Palmer

In order to discuss paring down one’s own personal library of books, it is important to recognize two important facts, especially for the avid reader. One: there is no such thing as a complete library; and two: having too many books is a binary experience. You either have too few or too many. There is no in between.

So with that in mind, why am I writing a post about purging books? Because I found that I had too many, and so I went searching for ways to decide how to shrink my personal library.

It’s easy to say there were 10 things I learned or was excited to read within The Creative Act. Truthfully, I made 28 notes reading it cover to cover. Perhaps at another time I would have made 18 or 48. This book is unique.

While it is, in fact, a linear read about the inspirations, actions, energies, meditations, collaborations, and many other pieces that form the act of creating art, I kept getting the feeling that this stuff could just be picked up at any time and any piece might hit you as important.

I don’t know why I have this book. But more curiously, I don’t know why I knew some of the stories within it. 

You see, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell is basically stories and reformatted blog posts from author Tucker Max’s blog. I didn’t read Max’s blog, I didn’t know who he is, and yet, I knew the stories. Perhaps they were “viral” before we were really using that term.

The email subject line stated, “Kindle Notice – Devices no longer supported,” and it went to pretty much anyone with an older registered device, at least if my social networks are to be believed.

“Starting May 20, 2026 — 14 to 18 years after their initial launches — we are discontinuing support for Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier.”