We have shed so much stuff in preparation for this house move. A big one for me was thinning out my book collection. Over the last few months, I have sold or given away heaps of paperbacks, mostly fiction. The photo is just a tiny sampling of what went out the door.
It was bittersweet. One of my dreams for our new home is to have a reading corner with full bookshelves and a comfy reading chair. Another is to put a Little Free Library out the front. So to be shedding the same items I was planning on collecting for these two projects was hard. I had to keep reminding myself that every extra box full of books was an additional box I had to shift to the new house or possibly store if we didn't find somewhere to move to straight away.
My criteria for letting the books go was a little bit Marie Kondo and a little bit The Minimalists. I asked myself the following questions for each book:
- Does it spark joy? This is a surprisingly good question to ask yourself about many things, from personal belongings to relationships and time commitments.
- Would I ever read it again? My TBR pile is so high it's doubtful I'll ever have time to re-read something.
- Is it easily replaceable? Based on The Minimalist's "can you replace it in under 20 minutes for under $20?"
For me, paperback fiction books may pass the first criteria but rarely pass the second two. On the other hand, my collection of books about journaling easily pass all three and are definitely keepers. So the paperbacks have all gone to new homes, and the journaling books are all safely boxed up and ready for our future move. One bonus is that I know that every title going onto those future bookshelves will be meaningful or important to me and not just sitting there gathering dust.
Do you find it hard to let go of books?
Until next time,
@Sammie
Good work. To be honest, I was a book hoarder until I wasn't - these days I just think 'meh, when am I going to read that again?'. I'm trying to get books from libraries or swaps like the library you talk about. There's one at a shop in town so I'm always swapping. i'm only precious about certain books or coffee table reference books that were gifted or that I often refer to.
Funnily enough I was a huge, huge book hoarder until I started working at the library (I also read a whole lot more before I worked there, but that's more to do with lack of time now rather than specifically library related!)
Being taught how to curate and weed a collection properly, and the reasons for doing so, was a big eye opener. I trimmed my personal collection back considerably a few years ago - at that point it was spilling out of the verandah room and trying to take over the living room. This time was a bit easier, but I was still surprised by the sheer volume of extra books that had crept in.
Oh my heart! Those aren't even my boxes of books and I'm sad that they're going! 😂
Seriously though, I hear you. Back about a decade ago, we (me, husband, and three kids) decided to downsize to a ridiculous degree so we could move into a camper full time. Letting go of boxes of books like yours was one of the hardest things for me to do. My collection had already been involuntarily downsized some years before, thanks to a leaky roof, so it made it that much more difficult.
I think you have a great attitude about it though! I have no doubt you will eventually have your cozy reading nook & LFL, and it will be even better than you imagined. Sending lots of good house moving juju your way!
Oh wow, downsizing to a camper must have been brutal! But a cool adventure to undertake.
I can't imagine losing books to water damage. Purging them by choice is one thing, having the decision taken from you would be heartbreaking for some titles :-(
I am also in the process of discarding books. I've guesstimated there's at least 5000 books in this house. Many are books I've read several times, but doubt I'll read again. Lots of children's books and books for homeschooling. Many were the same authors in your boxes, that my husband had liked and I did not.
I've very seldom discarded books in the past. This is a major purge for me.