Or rather cleaning out my bookshelves....I have way too many books. Some may ask: Can one have too many books? I believe the answer is yes. I am not really a collector. Back in the day when we listened to records on a record player, I was never the one who absolutely needed the special edition of this or that record. Same with CDs - I did not care if it was some limited thing with a special cover. Now I do not buy records or CDs anymore, but I still buy books. Always have and always will :o)
But also concerning my books, I never had to go for the special edition, the first edition, the signed edition etc. I am usually happy with the paperback and I do not mind used books.
All that said, I guess I do collect books after all, since there are many of my books that I do not want to give away/throw out. I have some old books which used to belong to desceased family members, and I like to keep those. I also have a few series that I want to keep. And then I just have a lot of books I want to keep for any number of reasons.
But no doubt - I have too many books, and since I live in a small apartment and since I cannot fill the WHOLE place with books, I need to clean out my shelves every now and then. I will say that I usually take a good look at my shelves every second year. I may toss out the odd book now and then, but every two years or so, I sort my book with the intention of simply getting rid of as many as I can bear.
I have spent most of today cleaning shelves and taking bag after bag to the trash-room. The good thing is that I did not just trash the books, I took them to our special trash-room, where people put their old and used stuff, and then anyone can grab it. I remember I actually got a sofa that way once. After a week or two, the special trash-room is emptied, but I am fairly sure that most of my books will be taken by then. After all, your trash could be my treasure ;o)
But the real beaty of it is, that now I have ample space on my shelves to buy new books, and I think there is enough space for at least a year's shopping for books ;o)
What do you do when the books are taking over your rooms? Trash them? Give them away to charity? Yard sale? Or do you just live with them?
NB. The image above is NOT of my room or my shelves. Mine are not that empty. The image is from a website that I for some reason cannot link to.
12 comments:
I am a collector! - at least when it comes to crime fiction. I wish your trash room was in my neighbourhood :D
I would love to have a trash room near me. Do other people leave books there as well? Sounds like heaven.
I don't often sort through my books. I have a lot of them listed on a book swap site which means at least the book levels generally remain the same. I try not to buy books so this works out quite well.
What doesn't help is that a lot of my books are stored in boxes in the loft. The loft is only used for storage, so it will be awhile before I run out of space up there!
I must fall to the collectors category, although I don't look for special editions. Books are my treasure and I find it really difficult to part with any of them. They are everywhere. Instead of a trash room, however I have friends and aquiantances who borrow them never to return them to me... so space is being ade by default.
Uggggh, I have way too many books that are pretty much taking over the house. Lately I have been going over them a lot better and giving a lot to the library. I still however have a lot I need to go through and get organized. Good luck with yours!
I need to do a book cull but I'm very reluctant to part with them so I've been putting it off for many years :-) My kids' school has a secondhand bookstall at the Family Fun Day each year so when I do force myself to get rid of them that's where my pre-loved books go.
I usually keep all my books, but I have some (usually mysteries) that I know I'll never read again. When I can manage to part with them, my books go to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), who hold a gigantic book sale every year and raise money for college scholarships. They have huge drop-off bins, and that's where my books go.
I don't like to get rid of mine. I just love to be surrounded by books. I want to be like the lady in Inkheart, who lives alone with all of her books!!! Now if I can just move my kids and hubby into one room, I could take over the house with books!
Only joking - I think!
I love cleaning shelves. I own about 600 books (all but about 10 are unread). I do not reread very often. I like your wall unit (perfect for books).
I Bookmooch them away, which kinda defeats the purpose sometimes, since I get just as many (if not more) back... :)
Cleaning the bookcases is a project I have penciled in for the fall. I give the ones I clear out to the library for their used book sale. Nice that you have a place where others can pick them up!
Uhm, I put them in storage. Seriously. :)
I definitely collect books. I just need more shelves.
I would love it if I could get a bookcase like the one in that photo...Lovely.
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