Books.

[beachlass]

So.... books.

I've made an executive decision that in our house we actually have enough bookshelves. There's pretty much one in every room, including the upstairs hall, and some are floor to ceiling and take up the entire wall. And I have two floor to ceiling bookshelves in my office at work, so my work related books live there. I've always done some trading in/out with my local used bookstores, so that has helped, and I've reduced the collection by boxes each time I've moved (about every 3 years for the last 20).

But I still have trouble letting go of them. Especially if it was a book I liked. My credentials as a book hoarder are pretty solid.

And then there was the day that someone shared Peter Walsh's rule of thumb for books (I think the shelving advice is his too)

For every FOUR books you keep, get rid of ONE

What is this madness!?!?! How can I possibly get rid of that many!?!

But it stuck with me, like a burr, and eventually I tried it with my cookbooks. I am astonished that it worked. And I have on occasion tackled the other bookshelves with this rule - although I'm more of a Keep Five, Release One kind of a girl.

I've also given myself permission not to be The Archivist. And to sometimes give books away, rather than lending them out.

It gets easier, is the main thing I've learned. And I've also acquired an e-reader, which is helping quite a bit.

Here's one blog entry, that gives some advice on the voice saying "But I'm going to read/re-read it!"

And another, where they think in terms of categories of books to go.

And my final thought:

Books are an identifier for me. To walk into my house is to visually understand that I am a reader. To come in, and start reading the spines of the books tells someone quite a lot about my identity. There's an expansive and eclectic assortment of fiction mixed in with graphic novels, every book by Malcolm Gladwell and knitting magazines, gardening books, mystery paperbacks and shelves and shelves of children's books. Letting go of a book involves letting go of the idea of my self that is attached to the book. And that can be hard, personal, reflective self-work.

Comments

[adair]

Wonderful post, especially the last bit. I have bookshelves (note the plural) in every room of my house except the bathroom. They are stuffed, and books are piled on tables in three rooms. All the advice from Peter Walsh, the two blogs you linked, and every organizing book I've seen does not touch on the difficulty of making choices.

[beachlass]

Yeah. I think the discipline of trying to get rid of a certain fraction of my books helped me focus on making the choices. For instance, the last two cookbooks I bought were gluten free/quinoa books, and after some wrestling with myself, I decided that if I was buying more gluten/wheat free books, surely I could let go of at least one of the vintage (wheat) flour cookbooks. That just sit on the shelf, a collectable I never even open, because it's nowhere near the most interesting of my old cookbooks.

But yeah. The choices can involved some self-reflection for me, on more than just the book at hand. (Like - Am I really committing to changing my habits around wheat?)

[erika]

Wow, you're getting rid of books. I'm astonished and amazed and inspired.

[beachlass]

I've been actively working on books for a couple of years now. It's a continuing challenge, I guess - developing the practice of not holding onto every book that comes into the house.

[erika]

Yes!

I signed up for bookmooch.com (recommended elsewhere in the community) and plan to start getting rid of the romance novels I never want to read again.

[finch]

Good on you for being willing to consider the sacred cow of minimalism. ;) I own about 1/4 of the books I owned in college, and next time I move across country I'll probably let go of some more.

I do agree that books say a lot about you and at one time I was quite attached to what my giant stacks and shelves of books said about me, but if somebody's going to judge me for only having three full bookshelves instead of the ten I used to have, they're probably not my type after all. XD

[beachlass]

I think that letting go of "I Have To Keep All The Books" has shifted me a little bit from book collecting (hoarding) to more book reading. I feel a little freer in my reading, maybe? A little more adventurous, or willing to indulge my tastes? IDK.

[hivesofactivity]

I totally understand that sort of self-identifying thing, and not wanting to let go of books which tell people who come into your flat who you are.

However, I've got quite good at getting rid of the novels that I know I'm not going to read again, and I'd add another category - I can now happily get rid of popular novels that I might like to read again, but I can pick up for 50p from any charity shop in the vicinity.

I've also loaded a lot of my better-condition books onto a local booksale/bookswap site - it's easier to send one off into the big wide world if you know it is a step to getting another book you'd like more.

speaking of musty paperbacks...

[beachlass]

getting rid of the novels that I know I'm not going to read again, and I'd add another category - I can now happily get rid of popular novels that I might like to read again, but I can pick up for 50p from any charity shop in the vicinity.

Yes. This.

Using that logic, I pretty much made my 1/5 ratio by getting rid of Agatha Christie novels alone in a purge last year.

[msilverstar]

Books are an identifier for me. To walk into my house is to visually understand that I am a reader.

that's really important, I never quite got it before, thanks!

[beachlass]

You're welcome!

[haruka]

Another way to cut down on books is to get an ereader. I gave my wife one a few years ago, and recently she realized that she's duplicated over half of her physical books onto the reader, so last week between the two of us (but mostly her, because my own books aren't duplicated as of yet) we were able to fill four huge boxes of books to hopefully sell (or donate, if we can't sell them.)

[beachlass]

My ereader helps a lot. Not so much in the getting rid of my physical Jane Austen books, but more in the area of drastically cutting down on the acquiring of new physical books.