unclutter | Entries tagged with books

Left some rusted bakeware and an old license plate out on the curb near the driveway to be scrapped. Found more sewing notions that could be donated. Might need to go through my books to consider which ones to pack up before moving - even though we haven’t even considered all the areas we want to search for housing yet.

I added the weight of this to the running sum of things I’ve gotten rid of for the final two weeks of the Zero Waste Challenge, this final one for 2025 measures from April Sixth through the 19th. I admit I forgot to fully record the exact weight of items in the 90 gallon inorganic cart, so I just added photos to the emails I sent my liaison.

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Birds chirping

adair

I did some whining at [personal profile] fred_mouses post about resolutions, on managing the books in my house, which are probably my biggest space issue. I have no more available wall space for shelving, and 3,548 books in my LibraryThing list, and that's far from all of them. Letting go of books is Hard. I might want to re-read them some day, or just come across one and look into it again for the mental release it provided. I have a number of books that I picked up at Books to Prisoners, the best used bookstore in town, because they looked interesting, or were about something that was currently on my mind, or sometimes seemed like something I Ought to Read. Most of these are stacked about unread, because I can always find something to read, or re-read.

I have decided I need to get 500 books out of my house this year. That does not mean I will not bring more in, because I can't stop myself, but 500 need to leave. I took a 5-volume series to B2P and they are going to the jail library. So that's 5 this week. Removing them from the shelf revealed 2 hard-cover books in the row behind them -yes I have double-stacked shelves - that I really do not need to keep, so they are in the bag to go. That's 7 books. I need to look at the double-stacked shelves; things in the back may be ready to move on; I certainly have not seen them for a while.

This whole process of letting books go has been on my mind for a while - I think I am developing ways to convince myself that at least some of my reasons for keeping some books are no longer valid for me. And, of course, many of them can also be acquired as ebooks, which take space on my computer and my ereaders, but at least I won't knock over stacks of them when I open a window.
Edit Entry Edit Tags Add Memory Share This Entry Track This Link Reply

fred_mouse

I dropped the ball on Wednesday*, so starting my twice weekly posts today. Did you unclutter today? If so, what?

I spent an hour or so sorting the random piles of books in my bedroom. Lots are still there, but I binned 3 conference proceedings and some other booklets, put three books on the 'leaving the house' pile, and moved some others to locations where I can start to work out whether I need them or not (need to compare against what I have).

* I'm hoping to make Wednesday and Sunday posts, because those are days when I'm usually on the computer

fred_mouse

As part of my 'what else can I clear out' jag I'm on (goal: get it all done by November), it occurred to me that I've been putting shopping receipts ad similar in shoe boxes, and putting them in the roof space for over a decade. In which time, I have *never* pulled them out. Today, I pulled them all out, and various small boxes that won't be used for their original items even if we ever move again (eg. the ones the kettle, the skillet set, and a tea trio came in).

About half the receipts have gone in the compost, layered with soil, and several buckets of water poured over them. The rest will go in through the week, as eldest adds a bit of soil each morning. And about two thirds of the boxes are in the recycling bin (flattened). The rest might go in for this pick up cycle, but we'll see the night before we put the bins out. The rest will go next week.

I've also identified a handful of children's books (Bobbsey Twins, Trixie Belden) that I don't think any of my kids read, and I don't love enough to keep. Still to run those past the rest of the family though!

fred_mouse

Yesterday was hiking followed by migraine, so I skipped a few things, like making the post here.

3rd January: 15 children's books
4th January: one duplicate book, a balloon pump, 3 kids books and my ~~2016~~ 2015 diary [adding: this is the appointment diary, so not really a personal record]

Books are being picked over by friends on Thursday; diary went in the recycling; balloon pump might be taken Thursday, or will go to op shop on Friday.

days: 5; items = 101 (previous) + 15 (Jan 3) + 6 (Jan 4) = 122

fred_mouse

With the assistance of the kids, four sections (of 66) of the books/games shelves were sorted through, finding about 20cm of Little Golden Books and about the same of other picture books. I have a couple of people lined up to collect some/all of these.
tested all the pens in the pen bucket; threw out 4 (also sharpened pencils, but they all did what they were supposed to)
sorted retail loyalty cards, binned those I don't intend to use and those that just ask for my phone number anyway.
sorted the craft card/other materials left over from last Thursday's craft frenzy (dress up party), stacked the useable pieces for primary school teacher friend to collect this coming Thursday.

Note that I'm putting things that aren't rubbish in the front hall - I'm counting them as gone if I have a plan for where they are going. Not expecting today to be as productive, as I have a long list of 'argh, urgent' tasks to deal with.

days: 2; items 5 (yesterday) + 4 (pens) + 6 (loyalty cards) + 29 (Little Golden Books) + 46 (ish)(other picture books) = 90

fred_mouse

For this week's declutter, I've partly addressed three issues - the collection of unwanted (free) plastic wrapped newspapers and empty boxes on the front verandah; several of the books in the front hall that aren't particularly loved, and the pile of books on the 'rehome' pile in the garage. Books went on the free books table at the second hand bookshop at work; boxes and newspapers went in the recycling bin before the truck came this morning, so there was no guilt about possibly over-filling it. Total items, probably 20? A good haul for a week anyway, and more than meets my 7 items once a week goal for this week, and makes up for last week, if I didn't do anything then.

fred_mouse

Yesterday, I looked at the pile of books that has been sitting on the 'to be returned' shelf for many years, and declared that people I haven't seen in over a decade probably don't care about whether I keep their books or not, and if they *really* care and want them back, I'll just buy them a new copy. Or a new book that they want to read.

Today, I took them, and put all but one on the 'free books' shelf at the second hand bookshop at work. They belonged to N (Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body, borrowed in 1993, several attempts to return), J (something by Edwin Shrödinger, borrowed in about 1998), and P (four assorted fantasy/sf - David Eddings, Tamuli; something co-written by Gregory Benford and ?; no idea what the other two were, borrowed in the late 90s).

I also dropped off five dead batteries at the recycling point in my work building, but that wasn't nearly as monumental.

fred_mouse

In the last week, I (with appropriate assistance) have at least partially uncluttered the following:

3 small shelves of picture books - about 20cm of children's books, some gone to new home already
DVD collection - about 50cm of mostly non-fiction and children's. 7 have been rehomed, the rest to go.
adult books - three unloved items identified. Yet to do anything with these.
bathroom cabinets (both the under the sink, and the wall mounted lockable medicine cabinet) - out of date medicine, several near empty boxes of sticking plasters consolidated and the boxes thrown out, random accumulated plastic containers. Also, ~1 cup of broken pegs (I always plan to fix them, and it is the cupboard closest to the washing line). Apart from the medicine, everything went into the rubbish - too hard to sort the tiny things.

and in previous week (? timing uncertain) also found 3 Vogue sewing patterns I'm never going to make, and put them in the Box To Go.

Plus, the kids are starting to bring out clothes that they don't want/fit any more, so I'm accumulating a pile of those to deal with.

Not quite one thing a day - I've had spare time, and a couple of areas where I was looking for something it was easier to pull everything out and put it back in order or we were reshelving, so it was a good time to have a coarse level cull.

Current declutter goal: have all the books on shelves once the current bookshelf repair is done (ie. we will get rid of the temp bookshelves, and the stashed books in the games room will either go on the repaired shelves, or out).

boundbooks

I had a stash of comics, Japanese-language manga, zines, and doujinshi which I didn't wish to throw out. Selling them wasn't an option I wished to pursue, as they had low re-sale value, not to mention the stress of trying to locate anyone willing to take them.

I'm sure that other people are in the same boat with comics, manga, zines and doujinshi, so here are some great resources.

A Way to Donate Your Comics and Manga

The Virgina Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university that has a comic arts collection. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Archives is held with VCU, and Special Collections and Archives is actually open to the public five days a week.

VMU wanted my small number of issues (only 15 or so) and my Japanese-language manga (I didn't have any English-language translations, so I don't know if they're acquiring those, but you could ask!), so they're definitely interested even in small donations. Contact info, including a direct email address, for Special Collections and Archives can be found on their contact page.

A Way to Donate Your Zines and Doujinshi

The University of Iowa (UI) has partnered with the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) for the Fan Culture Preservation Project, which "is a partnership between the OTW and the Special Collections department at the University of Iowa Libraries dedicated to preserving fan artifacts such as letterzines, fanzines, and other non-digital fanworks and memorabilia." They also accept doujinshi.

You can donate to UI by contacting the Open Doors project at the OTW.

Shipping Tips

I definitely suggest using Media Mail, if you're located in the US (I'm unsure if there are foreign equivalents). Media Mail is great for sending used books because it's designed for sending educational material. It's super-cheap, so you can save a bundle on shipping by using Media Mail.

It may also be worth asking if the institution you're donating to can pay for shipping, depending on your situation.

Cross-posted to

boundbooks

holyschist

I made a first crack at the massive paper backlog and recycled two grocery bags full...and in the process found an uncashed check (!) from last November. So that was nice. Hopefully the second crack will reduce the paper mounds further.

( Transitioning to ebooks question )

spuffyduds

Husband and I just went through the first part of our fiction bookshelves, and bagged 20 books to take to the used bookstore.

Ouch, that was painful--but now we have ONE ENTIRE SHELF with no extra books stacked lying down because they don't fit!

I have not been managing to keep track for a long while, so I'll just say I'm twenty items out for the year, thus far!

pinkadot89

Here's my tally for the two weeks of August 13th - August 19th, and my cumulative progress.

( Numbers under here... )

Better than the last few weeks. I'm just glad ebooks aren't physical objects or else I'd have a TON more in items!

beachlass

OUT: 21 books!

I think that squares me up for the new books I bought.

pinkadot89

Here's my tally for the week of July 16th - July 22nd, and my cumulative progress.

( Numbers under here... )

The drawer cleaning adventure is going great. I've found stuff I never knew was there, and it's starting to empty out. Soon it'll serve its purpose to store things that I actually need/want/use, rather than just storing everything I throw in it. And two weeks ago when I was selling my games to Amazon, one was missing out of the case. I had originally just pushed things around trying to find it, but when I reached in to throw out an OUT item this week, there it was! That's $6 I'll be getting soon! So this one item at a time thing is definitely working! I can also move around my showering without knocking a bunch of bottles over!

pinkadot89

Here's my tally for the week of July 9th - July 15th, and my cumulative progress.
( Numbers under here... )

I'm still focusing on my dresser. It's slow going, but more progress has been made doing one item at time, than when I tried to sit down and just do it all. I didn't finish any of the shampoo or other products, but I should next week.

beachlass

OUT: 47 children's books

I had another go at the children's shelves tonight. I still let myself hold onto anything I remembered as one of the kids' favorites, or mine, or books that just are so good. (Of course, we have a lot of children's books that fall into the category of so good. It's not like I made a habit of buying crappy kids books.) Letting go of books seems to be a constant and gradual process.

beachlass

I tackled my writing desk this afternoon - threw out quite a bit of miscellaneous paper that had accumulated on it; tidied up the stationery.

Also OUT: 30 children's books!

IN: 2 novels, video game, dvd, 2 cds

deifire

Decided to start this in March.

I was really worried how I was going to handle the sci-fi fundraising auction I went to last night, since things are sold in lots, and there's always a temptation to go home with a lot more than you donated, but I actually did pretty well. And not all the books I bought are staying. (Books are a bit of major clutter issue for me. Last time I moved, the book collection weighed more than everything else I owned combined.)

So far this month:

In:

1 large climbing tree for cats
10 books (8 from last night's auction)
1 giant praying mantis toy for cats

Out:

47 books
2 sci-fi toys
3 old phone books
1 pile of old catalogs, magazines and journals

Total so far: 41 down

Current Mood: accomplished

beachlass

IN: a new (to me) coat from ebay
OUT: 5 coats - 2 kids raincoats that are now too small and 3 of my coats

So I got my new coat this morning. (Parcels in the morning! So exciting!) And after I got the boy shooed off to school checked to make sure the internet was still here, I went to look for coats I could release. Because: coats. I have lots. I like coats. And jackets And wraps. And big bulky sweaters. And live where we have lots of weather.

The first one went into the bin, with some regret - a classic denim jacket I've had since high school (more than 20 years ago!) - all hand embroidered by me with early 90's feminist slogans and characters/symbols from fantasy novels. Let's be serious. I am never, ever, ever going to wear that again. No one is, especially with the half-finished dragon on the back.

The other two were differently hard - because they're Still Good. One is too short, in a way that is just unflattering for someone with my cup size, and the other is a perfectly good aubergine coloured full length wool coat. That was a hand me down. That I never wear, because I prefer my black coats. And there's this voice in my head saying: "But! What if you need it someday?" I'm not sure what full length coat emergency I'm supposed to be waiting for, voice in my head.

ETA:
Also out! 9 cookbooks!
Given to my daughter, who is mostly living in the city these days.

Profile

uncluttering one day and one thing at a time

Navigation

May 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Fluid Measure by branchandroot
Theme: Rose Garden I by dancing_serpent

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 23rd, 2025 12:26 am

uncluttering one day and one thing at a time

Entries tagged with books

Zeroing in on yet more basement cleaning.

Friday Report

Sunday post

historical paperwork, boxes

decluttering, 3rd & 4th Jan

books, pens

weekly declutter - verandah, unloved books

other people's books

haphazard decluttering

Some Ways to De-Clutter (Via Donation) Your Comics, Manga, Zines and Doujinshi

Farewell, paper...and a question about ereaders.

Books. So very many books.

(no subject)

why do i even own hegel's philosophy of history

(no subject)

(no subject)

books! argh!

clearing surfaces

Getting started

still snowing

Profile

Navigation

May 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags