In my dream future, I live in a cozy cottage that has a comfortable, lovely library with floor to ceiling shelves and plenty of room for all of my books.
In my current reality, I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with a book collection that pushes the limits of my (not insignificant) amount of shelf space. If my bookshelves were a pair of pants, they’d need to be unbuttoned after Thanksgiving dinner. They are packed to capacity and have little room for additional acquisitions.
Until the day I can house my books in all the comfort and space they deserve, I have to periodically go through my collection and choose what stays and what goes.
If it’s a book I haven’t read, I evaluate whether or not I am still interested in reading it. I’m honest with myself, and I don’t feel bad about getting rid of books I haven’t yet read if my interests have changed. I’ve been collecting books as an adult for 12+ years, and my interests have changed a lot during that time. I accept the fact that there are 30+ other classics that I want to read before I read Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant, and about 50+ classics I would probably re-read before it.
If I’ve read a book and really enjoyed it, I usually keep it. There’s often a chance I’ll want to re-read it someday, or even just reference it again. I also write in my books and mark favorite passages or lines. If I’ve read a book and enjoyed it just an average amount, I consider getting rid of it. It really depends on the book. If I really didn’t enjoy a book, chances are I’ve already gotten rid of it.
If I’m on the fence about a book, it often helps to ask myself one of the following questions:
– If I didn’t own this book and was standing in a bookstore holding a copy in my hands, would I still buy it? If the answer is no, I likely don’t need to continue owning it.
– If I were about to move, would I take this book with me? This question actually works very well for all sorts of things in your house, not just books.
If in the future my interests come back full circle and I do actually want to read a book I’ve discarded, I can buy it again or check it out from the library. It’s pretty unlikely, so it’s worth the gamble.
I’m using this system to go through my book collection, shelf by shelf. I’ve already filled two bags with books to discard. The hardcovers in good condition I take to Strand to sell, and the rest I either donate to Goodwill or put outside on my stoop in a box marked “Free” – it’s kind of lovely to set books free for anyone who walks buy and takes an interest in them. I’ve already freed up quite a bit of room for future book acquisitions. I’m also keeping a list of books I’ve gotten rid of, so that if I ever think of it in the future I don’t drive myself crazy looking for a book that’s gone.
Do you have to weed your book collection? How do you decide what to get rid of? What do you do with your books that you decide to purge?
I’ve recently been thinking about doing a book purge, but I haven’t quite come up with the sell/keep criteria that I’d use. I own very few books that I haven’t read (currently 8), so mostly I’d be going through all the books I’ve already read. I always feel bad getting rid of the books I’ve spent time with, so they tend to pile up. I’ve got plenty of room, though…just not enough shelves. Maybe I should buy more shelves and forget about the purge.
(I’m rambling, I know.)
We’ve got little front yard lending libraries around my neighborhood. People walking by can take a book or leave a book in something that resembles a large bird house. Maybe I’d do that if I decide to get rid of some of my collection.
I’m jealous that you have enough room to house all your books! I would keep many more of mine if I had space. I also need to work on acquiring less books and catching up on all the unread ones I already own. I agree with you on books you’ve spent time with, I actually have a harder time getting rid of ones I’ve read than ones I haven’t read, which is weird.
Wonderful post, Emily! Loved it! It is a very difficult question – which book to keep and which one to let go. I have one rule though – all books that I have got as gifts stay with me. It doesn’t matter whether I have read them or not and whether I liked them or not. Because most of them came with something written on the cover page or with a card and most of the time the book was a present from a wonderful friend and so I keep them. I loved your criteria for on the fence books. I think you will like this post on this topic. It is a review of Linda Grant’s ‘I Murdered My Library’ and it is about Grant’s experience of giving her books away.
Thank you Vishy! And thank you for the link to the post about Linda Grant’s “I Murdered My Library” – I greatly enjoyed reading it! What a treat to read that while I’m in the midst of my own book downsizing.
I agree with you about gift books – many of my books are quite sentimental, and those I will never get rid of. :)
Nice post, thanks for linking me to it.
These:
– If I didn’t own this book and was standing in a bookstore holding a copy in my hands, would I still buy it? If the answer is no, I likely don’t need to continue owning it.
– If I were about to move, would I take this book with me? This question actually works very well for all sorts of things in your house, not just books.
Are excellent questions.
The books in a box outside idea is nice. Was there no issue with rain or was it a nice time of year?
Thanks Max!
It has been a very sporadic fall, weather-wise, in New York this year, but I make sure to only put out the books on days when there’s no chance of rain. I tend to put them out on weekends as well, when there are more people walking around the neighborhood. They go pretty quickly!
I’ve been pretty brutal about purging lately. It wasn’t easy at first but when I got going I found myself almost excited to clear out the books that I know I’ll never get to or those that I know I won’t be re-reading.
This time around I gave 3 full boxes of books to my local charter school library. I’ve also been known to leave books at a local coffee house for other readers to find and read :D
Great post!
I’m finding the exact same thing to be true – it’s liberating to free yourself from the obligation to read unread books that you’ve lost interest in! During my current “book weeding” project I’ve been evaluating every single book I own to decide what stays, and in the process have reminded myself of how many great books I want to read or re-read. It makes getting rid of the books I’ve lost interest in much easier.
I love the coffee house idea too!