Here are 5 simple ways to downsize your book collection:
- Donate to a Library: Anything you think you might want to read again, donate it to your local library. You’ll be able to rent it if you need to read it again. I do this all the time.
- Get Some Cash: If you’re not attached to the book and want some extra cash, visit a Hastings if you have one in your area. They pay a ridiculously high amount for newer books in good condition. You can also search out used book stores in your area to sell the whole lot.
- Purge Books You’ve Read First: A big category for people is books they’ve already read. Go through the books you’ve read and purge them first. Keep a few if you need to, but think hard, do you really want to read it again or would you prefer delicious new in your life?
- Purge Fiction Second: Fiction is readily available at most libraries. You can safely get rid of popular fiction and know you can rent it again from your library if you need to.
- Buy, Read, Donate: This is something I’ve done in the last year. A few times I absolutely wanted to read a non-fiction book my library didn’t have. So I bought it, read it, and then donated it to the library. It’s a form of sharing and tithing with a lot of greedy fringe benefits. I get to rent it again any time I want.
So there you have it. Five simple ideas for how to downsize your book collection.
Minimalist Musings
How many books do I have? None. I downsized all of them. I used to have plenty. I had my custom built triple wide cedar bookcase and my multiple overflow zones. I had my Ayn Rand collection sitting next to my Ann Rice collection, sitting next to my….. er, yes, I actually alphabetized my authors!
Now I’m happy with the library, ebooks, and the occasional purchase followed by a donation.
Ratty Conversations
What do your books mean to you? How often do you pull them out, read through them? Do you have books that have been sitting around for more than a year without being cracked open? How many books do you have? Let’s start a conversation.
* I had this post hiding in the unpublished archives. I’d thrown together the draft and forgotten about it. Figured today was a good day to contemplate books again. You can read more about minimizing books here if you want. Enjoy your Monday and do something different today. I’ve dropped off aloe at a friend’s house and celebrated the coming of Autumn so far today. ;)
I’m going first, simply because I can. ;)
I never thought I’d be able to live without books. I identified so much with the authors and titles on my shelves that I felt book lover was part of the core of my being. I think it comes back to the kind of kid I was. When we left Finland behind everything was very sanitized and suburban. I was always searching out wild places around me… but there weren’t very many. As a result I went inward. My parents were strong readers and we had a glorious library that extended through the whole house. Every room but my sister’s room and the kitchen had bookcases in it. I associated and identified with the written word better than I related to kids around me.
Making the decision to free myself of my book collection let me recover the energy I was spending on it. I no longer related my sense of identity by the authors and titles lining my shelves. It was an awesome decision and it was spurned on by the realization that if I got rid of the last of my books I wouldn’t need a bookcase anymore. That idea felt revolutionary to me at that moment in my life. And indeed, that idea led me to release a whole bunch of shit, and then move across the country. So getting rid of my books, for me, was really frickin’ powerful. Your turn…
I think I own about 3 books personally. One of which belongs to a professor, and I’ve been trying to get it back to him for years (but we have yet to find a good meeting time & are 2 hours away). The Hubs has about 20 books, some are necessary to his career path others are religious. We share a couple relationships books. The kids have about 100 books. I’m trying to find a good amount to save & get rid of for them. I just down-sized and donated a large bag last week. It’s hard because they use their books ALL the time! Otherwise,I heavily rely on the library, if I ever feel like reading (which is unfortunately not too frequently…would much rather be active). My parents, on the other hand, are book hoarders. They have at least 10 FULL bookcases and even a full bookcase in the garage. I think this may also be a reason I can’t stand to keep books.
Megyn @ Minimalist Mommi recently posted..Conceding
Awesome Megyn,
I don’t hear too many people who are done with books. It’s so often one of the last things to go. At least it seems that way to me. Interesting that your parents having so many books made you not want any. I was definitely the opposite for many years. I had a ridiculous collection.
I think it’s cool that your kids like to read. I said it with I think it was Jill before, that if I had kids I’d give them the biggest library I possibly could, just culling out the books they absolutely never pick up. Maybe you could do set up a one time trade or on-going trade with other people, like a book trade club? Even if it’s just you and one other mom? Your kids would get fresh knowledge without having to buy so many books. Just blathering on here…. Thought I’d share the idea. ;)
Tanja, thanks to your bootcamp, I’ve purged probably half of my books, and – for me – that is huge. Hands down, they have been the hardest thing for me to let go, but at the same time it has been incredibly freeing. I’ve always been a bookworm/book lover and for as long as I can remember I’ve longed to have an expansive home library where I could curl up, read for hours on end, simply surrounded by books. Over the years I’ve purged a little at a time, only for them to seemingly multiply overnight.
I still do have a few titles/series that I can’t let go of yet – my Harry Potter collection refuses to find its way into a box – but I’m ok with that. :) Over time I’ll probably release them as well. As a family we still have several bookcases filled with titles…a bit of my fiction, my son’s fiction, and nonfiction/reference books that we all use. Right now it’s a good balance.
I recently received an e-reader for my birthday and absolutely adore it. It keeps down on the physical clutter tremendously, but I’ve got to be careful to keep my digital clutter in check now!
Malinda recently posted..209:365 – P&S Red
How funny, I commented about the same time and my Harry Potter books are the one set I won’t let go of as well, at least until they come out in digital e-book form.
I only have the Harry Potter series (and will donate those whenever they become available as e-books) that I re-read about 3 times per year. My daughters love them as much as I do so they are very well-loved looking by now. My daughters also have 2 or 3 other series of books along the same lines as the Harry Potter books that they love & re-read often. We also have maybe 5 other books that aren’t read much, but they belong to my husband and he isn’t a reader at all, so the fact that he wants them is reason enough to keep them. Once I got the Kindle app on my iPhone, I started getting rid of books rapidly. I love being able to carry my books with me & them not take up space so I can read while waiting to pick up my kids or at their appointments. We move a lot so packing & moving all those books got to be a huge pain.
Not technically books, but along the same lines…. if only I could figure out how to get rid of my heavy scrapbooks/photo albums without feeling guilty. I have them all scanned into my computer, even though most pages require 2-3 scans to get all the photos, but somehow throwing them away feels wrong (like throwing away a Bible or something) and I’m afraid my husband & kids would be upset if I did. They are rarely looked at, but the family likes having them there even though they weigh heavily on me. Not to mention they reside in our bedroom in a china hutch (never owned china) and it’s all a visual clutter in my bedroom that I just can’t handle. Maybe I can convince the hubby to let me sell the hutch as it looks like we have another move in our future & then maybe I can do something about the albums as well.
Melinda,
Getting rid of half is incredible. Liberating! How perfect for you. I’m truly, truly glad that anything I wrote could have encouraged you to do that. I bet it’s feeling really good right now. ;)
Melinda & Kathy,
That’s right, the last Harry Potter movie half is coming out soon isn’t it? There were two blog posts on the Harry Potter book recently. I’m pretty sure both Meg (Minimalist Woman) and Chase (Unbridled Existence) both kicked something out on that. For me, Harry Potter was good, well really good, but Rowling never filled the spot of Tolkien or Frank Herbert for me.
Kathy,
I took a bunch of photos of my mom downsizing her photo collection. I’ve never turned it into a post though. I tried a few times but there were so many details to focus on I couldn’t get the right angle. It almost needs to be a mini-book instead of a post. Anyways briefly, I got rid of all my albums and it felt really awesome. I kept around 40 loose photos and keep them in a jewelry box. I love it. Very manageable, very small, only the favorites and I love looking at them now. The formatting on this page is whacked, but there’s still good information there about sentimental clutter.
Oy, I had my husband build an entire wall of bookshelves for me and rapidly filled them with all of the boxes of books that were in the basement. I have been trying to rid myself of a good bit of them and have made some progress, but there are those I will probably never get rid of. I used to have every single Stephen King book and then accidentally gave some of them to the library, so I have actually been adding back to that one so that I can have all of his books in book format. He is branching out into the kindle, but I still like to have his books in my hands.
Other than that, I could probably live with just the Harry Potter series and my shelf of “classics” – books I know I will read again. I should purge the rest, but it’s slow going. And a lot of them are my husband’s books. I will pick 3 or 4 and put them on his desk with a note that says, “Do you want these?” If not, they go into the box for the library. If so, they go into his bookshelf in his office.
Books are tough. I grew up reading voraciously and want my kids to do the same. We are a family of readers, so making that commitment to let them go is really hard.
Hugs,
Chelle
Chelle recently posted..You Want to Talk about WHAT????
Oh my god, I looooooove Stephen King. I’m a Stephen King freak. You used to have every single one? That’s a serious commitment. I can understand why you’re seeking to get them back.
King is a wordsmith. His use of the English language astonishes me.
Tanja,
Yes, at one time or another I’ve had each of his books. Then I went and donated several times to the library and gave away some of them. They’re on my wish list at amazon to replace the ones I gave away. That is one collection I will never give away.
I’m a writer, so my favorite book after The Stand is On Writing. I love his saying, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” I love adverbs, so I have to REALLY (haha) watch myself.
I also have a pretty good collection of books on psychology because that’s my other passion. I was a psych major and have a degree in it. I have a lot of books on autism and bipolar disorder. My son has autism and I am bipolar, so I kind of treasure those books. Most of the rest of them could probably go, however. There are just a couple of classics I really loved that I wouldn’t want to part with.
And then there is my husband’s book collection, which I can’t begin to touch or he gets touchy. LOL
Hugs,
Chelle
Chelle recently posted..You Want to Talk about WHAT????
I have about 50 physical books. I only keep books I LOVE.
I also share a kindle with the husband and have around 30ish books on it. I don’t mind ebooks as long as they are books I enjoyed.. if I don’t enjoy it I delete it asap.
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Regarding suggestion #1, donation to library:
While the public library is certainly a worthy recipient of your charity, don’t expect the books you donate to end up on their shelves. The sad reality is that donated books are almost always resold, and the profits used for whatever the library deems necessary. Even if they use it to buy new books, it is no guarantee that a copy of what you donated will make it to their shelves unless they were going to buy it anyway.
I prefer to pass my used books along to another individual. Book Crossing is also a great option:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/ – You can release a book “int the wild” and follow its travels if you want.
Mike | Homeless On Wheels recently posted..Exploring RV Living – All The Comforts Of Home: Electricity
You’re ahead of me Mike. I wrote about this in private today (for the book). Short version. I believe we need real community libraries. I think we need to build them up as cultural centers. And if we can’t have that in a standard government run book system, then I think we need to create another one. A book trade, book circle, community library space. Each town could choose to adopt something like this on a volunteer basis, similar to the concept of community gardens. One must participate in order to use the resource. A rather co-opian view of me.
I also do appreciate your view on the book seeds. I’ve always been fond of this one myself. I use it in my life as a recurring principle. Passing on, keeping in rotation, is a beautifully rule-free concept. It releases the concept of ownership but keeps the resources circulating. Beautiful, Mike, beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.
We have a lot of books. I used to think that one could never have too many books, but I’ve come along way in that thinking. This past year I have gotten rid of at least half of my (our) books. As a homeschooling mama, I like to have books readily available in our home, but we don’t have to own them. It’s not uncommon to have close to 100 books checked out of the library, but i try to keep it around 50 at a time. We go through them very quickly and make weekly trips to return books and get new books. I think that it’s important to have books available so kids develop a love of learning, but I think it’s equally important to teach them to use the library.
I’ve done all of your above suggestions and continue to do them. I used to have about 30 books that were new to me and I wanted to read. But every time I looked at them, I had this really heavy feeling and I realized they were weighing me down. Without writing down any titles, I got rid of all of them. You know what? I don’t remember a single book that was in that pile and I’ve never regretted getting rid of them. I also used to keep a list of books I wanted to read, but also felt that same sense of heaviness whenever I looked at the list. Now, if I hear about a book and want to read it, I simply order it from our library. Sometimes i get backed up 5 or 6 books and the heaviness starts weighing on me. So I return them to the library and then get them again (if I remember). If I don’t remember, then I figure I’m not missing much!
Since moving into our new house a year ago, I resolved to have limited space for our books. When the bookshelves are full, some books must go! I do actually need to do a bit of maintenance work in this area this week – thanks for the reminder.
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Releasing that heavy feeling is incredible. It’s the whole point for me. We release our attachments to the stuff and then we realize we have more clarity to make good choices in the future. Thanks for sharing it so clearly Jill. I always appreciate your perspectives.
I love books. I’m a constant re-reader, often preferring books I’ve read before to brand new ones. I’ve been struggling to downsize my personal collection for probably a year now. I’ve probably gotten rid of 100-200 books. I’m still double stacked on my bookshelves, mostly because while I’ve been whittling mine down to just what I really like to re-read, my husband is worse than I am. I’ve stemmed the in-flow of books by falling in love with my kindle as well. I really need to get a library card for the town I live in now too.
My last book purge was a couple of months ago, where I reorganized the bookshelves by genre and then by author. I probably got rid of 30-40 of my nonfiction books, and was damn proud of my husband for finding 5 or so that he could get rid of. They were donated, because otherwise, they’d never leave. We also had another shelf go out the door recently — with finding a job, he was able to take his classroom library out of our room.
Books are one of those things that just means home to me. I’m getting better about reading and then deciding if it goes into the donate bin, or taking more care when going to used book fairs, but I couldn’t imagine not having physical books in my home. Less of them? Sure, but a single shelf? That wouldn’t even hold the ones I love.
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Awesome. Thanks for sharing Nuri.
What I found is that it freed me to the opportunity to find new loves. I re-read so many old favorite titles repeatedly, but it was keeping me in a loop. I go back and revisit some old titles, but I’m also reaching out for new titles. Luckily the library lets me rent them whenever I want. I’m on round two of The Power of Less right now, all without owning it.
I’m a voracious reader too and used to have hundreds of books. I decided long ago that I didn’t need to keep novels once I’d read them, so donated to friends, family and the library. Then last year I had a serious look at what was left and gave away about half. I only keep reference books (I knit, sew, quilt, bead and garden) but there are a few which I could let go. I belong to the library (and volunteer there one morning a week), I call it my personal book shop. I request a lot of books that I hear about via blogs and friends, and read 5 – 7 books a week. If the library doesn’t have a book I want 9 times out of 10 they will get it. All the reading and none of the expense. Reading is a big part of my life, but books don’t have to be permanently here for me to be happy.
On a slightly different note, I used to read every book to the end. Now if, after a few chapters, I am not enjoying it, I STOP! I used to feel guilty but not now. I figure there are enough books out there for me to waste my time on one I don’t like.
I’m just learning to do this too. ;)
I’ve always had a tendency to keep reading till the end. I just couldn’t detach even from crap. I’m re-learning the 15 minute rule now.
I agree with Janetta…I have a small collection now of books down from hundreds a few years ago. I frequent my local library and request things that have caught my eye. If I don’t like something, I don’t keep reading – what a waste of time. I have drastically cut back on my book/magazine buying and now only buy a book if it’s needed and not available at the library. Great post – maybe I will try to get rid of a few more.
sonrie recently posted..on a mission
I also used to have a big book collection that took up a total of four seven feet tall bookshelves. They were there for so long that the shelves began to cave in and droop towards the center. It was one day when I realized how dilapidated my shelves became and how hard it was to stuff a book back in that I finally decided to donate them to my local library. I thought it was funny how my books just wouldn’t line up straight and neatly on the shelf. A lot of them were from middle and high school. Books that I was forced to read and never touched them again ever since.
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More questions people:
How did it feel to release your books? Not the instant emotion, but the one that came from having more space in the days that followed? What do you think of Mike’s passing it on philosophy?
Great read, thank you for pulling this one out of the archives and for the advise on where to donate them. Books are my next great purge. I have been collecting every books that I have read until recently because I have been purchasing ebooks.
I bet a lot of people are doing that right now, while the Amazon prices are low. Somehow I adopt new technology slow and I’m still largely working with the printed page. I may be missing out on a goldmine of low prices, but I’m also keeping myself from accidentally creating another cd collection. It was overwhelming because I tried to stuff too much into it.
I cut my book collection in half this year, with surprisingly more pain. There are others I will donate after I read them, though newer titles on the library shelves always look more appealing than the dusty ones in my bookcase.
A tip for Kathy – I scanned the pages of my only two scrapbooks then tossed them. It felt great! Especially since they were too huge to fit in my bookcase. My photo albums are more important and I’m hanging onto them for now.
Candi @ min hus recently posted..Sacred Clutter: Books
Thanks Candi! I may start with my personal scrapbooks that way nobody can get upset because they were mine.
It felt great to release my books, both the instant weight removal & having the space in the days to come. And I honestly don’t think there are any of them I’ve missed, since I can’t think of any titles.
I bought a Kindle which totally made my book collection irrelevant. I figured if I really, really wanted to read that book again, I can spend the $8 to get the ebook. I only kept a couple of autographed copies and a reference book or two that are just easier to deal with on paper (ebooks still haven’t found a good way to flip/skim pages). It’s a great feeling — I was even able to get rid of my bookcase! When I can get library loans through Kindle later this year, I’ll be all set!
Joel @ FreeingTruth recently posted..The Art of Slowly
I’m on a constant rotation with my books. I certainly own a few but I’m also not a hoarder. I have my books that I absolutely will keep (classics and favourites that I like to re-read) and then the rest are all books I haven’t read yet. I get most of my books second hand, and after I read them I usually donate them again to keep the sharing cycle going. I also really like to support local charity shops and I find buying second hand books and re-donating them is a great way to do it. And then of course I get the rest from the library. But ultimately I tend to buy second hand books faster than I can read them so often my book collection is larger than I would like at any point in time but at least I know it’s constantly changing and doesn’t grow stale and unused.
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I have a small bookcase that holds all the books i am allowing myself to keep in physical book form, including (of course) the Harry Potter books, Madeline L’Engle, some favorite fiction and some science biographies that I really don’t want to part with. Everything else I can get on my nook, and the county library system allows me to check out library books on the nook, as well. Pretty fantastic while I travel around for work most of the year! All the books I have purged, I donate to the library system or the retirement community my grandmother lives in, for their library
I am now down to 8 physical books in my library. In my consumerist heyday I had two huge walls filled floor to ceiling with books and more books! My choices: 2 cookbooks that get used regularly, the “Green Pharmacy” for herbal reference, Jay Shafer’s “Small House book” for inspiration when I need it, a Bible thesaurus that I have yet to locate digitally, a home decorating book and a couple of books awaiting reviews.
Katie has 9 books in her collection now. I think she is trying to compete with mom!
I do have a number of digital ebooks, though I have eliminated many that I will never read again. I give all of my physical books to Goodwill these days if I do not know anyone who would be interested in reading them.
Peace,
Annie
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I have to say–getting a Kindle pretty much took care of the book problem for me! I’m amazed at how I can basically carry an entire library (well, almost) worth of books in such a small device!
Most of the books I have are on a “get rid of someday” list–it’s about a bookshelf worth, not too bad.
Now, I will only buy a real paper book if:
– I can’t find an ebook, and can’t find it in the library (I use abe books or elsewhere to find cheap secondhand books)
– It’s a book that doesn’t translate well to ebook format (I’m thinking of “House of Leaves” here… you need the actual book [but you can get it from the library!])
I’m rambling on here, but books are a bit of an ingrained passion to me (my dad has a book room, stacked floor-to-ceiling high, and multiple levels deep, with books on every subject imagineable!)
So, I still love books, but don’t see Kindle books as any less special than the real thing, most of the time!
Matt
Matt recently posted..New Beginnings
I’ve contemplated Kindle. It seems intriguing.
A few years ago I downsized my book collection significantly, and went from seven shelves down to two. I don’t keep anything I’m not going to go back to, and prefer to borrow from the library rather than buy. I also just got a kindle and am looking forward to borrowing books from the library on it when they’re offering that service (it’s slated for later this year, I believe).
At my local library, the librarians go through the donations and if there’s something in good shape that fits their collection, they will catalog and keep it. If they already have a copy, but it fits another library’s collection, they will send it along to them. If it’s already in the collection or doesn’t fit, they will sell it at the book sale. In these times of drastic budget cuts, they need every cent they can get to keep afloat and continue to serve the community.
Some books I sold on Amazon – they make it unbelievably easy to sell used books – and gave many away via BookMooch.
The books my husband and I still have are primarily art books – ereaders just can’t do images the justice that a good printing run can.
I cut my personal book collection by maybe 40%, most of it was fiction. I also bought a Kindle and put my (mostly classics) donated books back on it. The half I kept was unusual stuff, my taste is not popular by any stretch of the imagination ( I often can’t find anything I’d want to buy in a regular bookstore) and reference. We are also heavy library users. I have children and they homeschool and the one thing I believe so strongly in is books for kids. I never limit the amount of books they can have and I encourage reading as much as possible. That being said, my eldest already has a Kindle and gets what she can on that. As a family collectively, we have a lot of books. I’ve purged as much as I want to myself, I don’t want to purge the kid’s books, and my man has can figure his book thang out himself.
On an emotional note, I felt sad but good when I gave my books away. I know I am too attached to the idea of books – my dad was an intellectual who prized that above all else and being and SEEMING smart has always been important to me. I know having loads of books in my house doesn’t make me smart – but letting go of that karmic reaction to paper intellectuality was real hard. But I did it!
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I used to buy books and then purge them (usually when it was time to move) but I finally purged most of my books after reading your earlier post about how if you got rid of your books, you could get rid of the bookcase. It was a lightbulb moment for me – I had a bookcase that was literally older than me, that I didn’t like, and only kept because I didn’t want to spend money on a new one. I was able to get rid of the old bookcase at a garage sale and am now down to less than a dozen books (including the Harry Potter’s of course). I’m also happy to be living with a library nearby and am striving to not purchase books, even ebooks, unless it’s something the library doesn’t have.
I went through this process earlier this year, Tanja. Most of my books were stored in boxes stuck in a closet because we didn’t have room for bookshelves in our new smaller house. I built a bookcase in my office (man cave) which is not part of the house for my writer’s reference library. Now that I’m getting back into writing full time I was needing these more often. The rest went onto shelves in a closet of the office and I posted them to our sellers account on Amazon. A few were donated to our library, but they are so over-packed that they have to get rid of books to take in new books. (They’re looking for a bigger building) Some of these titles are books I’ll want to read again (mostly my Sci-Fi collection) so as these titles sell, I buy the Kindle version with the proceeds. I love my Kindle; I can store up to 35,000 books on a device the size of one thin paperback. This has helped free up a lot of space in The Big Closet.
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I cut my books by about 35% not too long ago. I HAD TO if I wanted them to fit in the designated “book space”. It was surprisingly difficult! I have so many reference books that I actually refer to… I could look it up on the web, but I find curling up with the book and some post-it notes, more inspiring. There were some out-dated ones to remove and about a 4 foot stack of National Geographics that I had to admit I would never actually use. Paring down the fiction was easier, especially the ones I haven’t read yet — I wasn’t “attached” to the characters so I could let them go… with a tiny bit of guilt over not giving them a chance. I love how much better my bookshelf works now. And not tripping over the overflow piles either.
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Disclaimer: I work for this company
Better World Books (www.BetterWorldBooks.com) also accepts donations (and will pay for shipping if you live in the US). They donate a book for every book sold directly through their website. I’m certainly not at the high end of the totem pole around here, but I do like the company I work for and I’ve seen a lot of the great things we do. Just to be clear, Better World Book is not a non-profit – you can learn more here:
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/info.aspx
If this is not appropriate (I’m not trying to spam your comments!), I’ll completely understand if you remove my comment.
I down sized everything by a third last winter. I think I have about ten books left. I should probably go through those ten. My most beloved book is a copy of Gone With the Wind. The spine is taped together. I took it with me on Peace Corps in Panama and so it also has some mold damage. I love it because I can just pick it up and start reading and feel transported. Yet I know the book well enough I don’t get stuck page turning and stay up all night to see what happens next. The rest of my books? Not that magical, probably don’t need them…
Hi Foy,
Your copy of Gone With the Wind sounds like it’s transformed from a book with a broken spine into a true treasure. I’d keep that one too. :)
At one time we had 4 kids in this house, which then expanded to 3 kids and 3 grandkids, plus we homeschooled. I love books and homeschooling was my excuse to own LOTS of them! (not very mimimalist at that point in my life!) Once the kids grew up, and the youngest 2 went to public high school, I began reducing my collection. Selling many of the homeschooling resource books online and at curriculum fairs, I reduced by half probably. Plus, each child that left home has taken some of their own personal books with them. That only left me maybe 300 or so, lol! I have been slowly reducing that amount since then and I am probably down to about 150-175. Every couple of weeks I walk by the shelves and pull out another title or 2 and ask myself “Why was I keeping this book?”. I can’t imagine not owning ANY, but we shall see where this journey takes us!
Bernice
Is your life a roller coaster ride?
Hi Bernice,
I never would have imagined not owning any either. The only reason we got so extreme with it is because of our dreams and goals. We want to be snowbirds between Florida and Arkansas, and we also want to do a lot of traveling. It’s hard to really travel with a ton of books in tow! Since then I’ve learned to love it and I wouldn’t go back. I think it really depends on where a person is in their life. Someone really happy to feel settled is maybe gonna like some books on the shelves.
I just found I didn’t read them enough to justify their presence in my life. Anyways, I didn’t know you homeschooled! I’ve never seen that mentioned on your blog before. Very cool. :)
I had three bookcases in my home, each with 4 shelves in them, all full of books. I recently donated enough of those books so that I could also donate one of the bookcases as well. Hoping to get myself down down to one bookcase!
Hi Tanja
Getting rid of my books fits into the heading of one of your recent posts about being terrified to get rid of things.
I could get rid of a lot of things (like most of the stuff in my garage) but my books, yiks not sure I could do that. I have a few bookcases full. I particularly love history books and the big hardcover travel books.
I might have to read through your post a couple of times to work myself up to recycling some of the fiction books that I’ve read (naturally I have a big pile of those as well).
Cheers
Thea
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I love my books! Absolutely love them. I have hundreds, though thousands less than before. I happily donate, gift, and sell those I no longer need or that no longer bring me pleasure. On The Other Hand, I absolutely do re-read my books. I write in the margins, underline key passages, refer back while writing or thinking or sharing. Some books I have read so often I can find passages by memory. And what of childrens’ books? How will they learn to love the print medium of there are no books to have and hold? I intend to save my favorite books for my grand-daughter to develope that same passion for reading and love of books.
I also read online and with a Kindle app. I enjoy reading and am thankful for all the choices. Lving with less includes the luxury of books, for me.
And what of childrens’ books? My most beloved book is a copy of Gone With the Wind. I love books.
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I love this idea buy, read and donate. This is a good idea since if we are planning to downside our books. In this way, we can get education and share our education as well through donating the books that we have.
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