Letting Go of Books | The Curated Bookshelf

How I got over my dream of having a huge book collection and learned to unhaul and reduce.

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[cj-pcon]

I don't usually comment. But I appreciate what you said about using goodreads to track your reading. I love the books I used to own, but dont want physical things clotting my life any longer. So this helps me remeber what I've enjoyed without being beholden to physical property.

[RealMexFoodShouldntGiveUDrrhea]

Love this. I have recently let go of some books because I see them as living things that want to go out into the world and touch as many people as they can. So if I have a book I won’t read or have read and don’t plan on reading it I take it to my local thrift shops. It was getting kinda crazy on my shelf.

[saucers_and_sorcery]

I had to get rid of 90% of my books when I graduated college and moved out on my own and I've definitely amassed a ton of books since then. I feel like I'm a compulsive book buyer at times and I do like to hold onto a lot of books but I'm also super ok with donating or giving away books. I go through my collection a few times a year and even after reading books if I disliked the book or DNF'd it with no intention of finishing I won't put it back on the shelf, I'll put it in a pile in my office to donate or give away. Right now I have 13 books in my donate/give away pile. The books I have the hardest time parting with are graphic novels. I find I reread those more than other books and unless I really hate a graphic novel I'm not likely to give it away or get rid of it.

I mostly track my books on goodreads but I also like to post about the books I'm reading on instagram and write down my books in my bullet journal (when I remember to keep up with it).

[laceywiththebooks]

Love this! You are gorgeous by the way!

[WildeBookGarden]

Great discussion, Claudia! I feel like I'm pretty equally a hoarder and an unhauler--I buy a lot of books (and use my library), but if I don't love a book enough to want to reread it at some point in the future, I get rid of it. I've even unhauled 4 star books if I know I enjoyed them but won't return to them for whatever reason.
I use Goodreads to keep track of the books I've read! Before you talked about it, I hadn't thought about the fact that it takes the place of a physical record of my reading history, but that's definitely an important function it fulfills for me (the easy use of the "want to read" button is also a big help!)
There was a big chunk of my reading life when I almost exclusively reread books, which I think has really helped me hone in on "rereadability" as being a defining feature of which books I actually want on my limited shelf space. :)
Also: my cat Petey loves to curl his tail around my face just like Minerva does to you!

[chrissybooksandberries]

lol your cat. I really loved this discussion and hearing your thoughts about wanting all the books and then getting rid of them.

[OneBookMore]

I love this video, and I feel the same as you. It has taken me a very long time to come to terms with the fact that having shelves and shelves of books is just not realistic for me. A couple of years ago we had a long-distance move, and I took ALL of my books with me. Over the last 2 years I have realized that we will likely be moving again and the thought of packing and moving them all again is just ridiculous to me. I have been using my library so much, and it has really occurred to me that it's not necessary for me to own every single book I have an interest in reading - that's what the library is for! Like you, I use goodreads as a catalogue, and it works out quite well. It's hard to be a person that not only loves reading, but who loves books as physical objects. In the end of all things, it's just stuff, and I don't need to own all of it.

[neenah]

Love the kittie lol I ussually try to get books from the library and only buy when I really suspect I will like the series. I no longer haul books. Good reads is how I keep track I love it!

[danecobain]

I used to keep all of the books that I read and then I went through a phase for a couple of years where I got rid of them all to de-clutter etc. But it was something I deeply regretted and I ended up spending a lot of time and money rebuilding it all ^_^ And now I'm back to keeping them all again