Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. Originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books, it’s now hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits.
This week’s topic is:
Unhauling Books
(submitted by Amber @ Escape Life in the Pages)
Prompts: How do you feel about unhauling books? Do you get rid of books often? Or do you hold on to every book you buy? How do you decide which books to get rid of? Are there any books you would never get rid of?
Give me all the books!
Fellow readers, I have a problem. Sometimes it’s almost painful for me to let go of a book. My most-feared question when anyone peruses my bookshelves is, “Oooh, can I borrow that one?!” Because really, it’s not borrowing. It means never seeing that book again!
O-kaaay, maybe I’m being a little overly dramatic. But I do sometimes have a hard time letting go of books. Books are my comfort zone. Seeing them on my shelves brings me peace and happiness. So it’s perfectly logical that I want more peace and happiness, right??
The very small part of my brain that is rational knows, however, that I cannot keep ALL the books, so I do force myself to unhaul books as I read them, and then at least once a year I try to do a major unhaul of my physical and digital shelves. (It’s way past time for an unhaul!)
Decisions, decisions
Currently, I’m reading more ebooks than physical books (thanks to all the ARCs or advanced copies), which means I’m not getting to unhaul many physical books from my shelves. You can see I’ve only read either paperbacks or ebooks so far this year in the lovely graph provided by Kal @ Reader Voracious. And ebooks are dominating!
Meanwhile, I’m steadily adding more books! Oops.
And just because I read a backlist book waiting on my shelf doesn’t mean I’ll unhaul it. I also love to reread books—although, I haven’t had the time to reread any so far this whole year. After I finish a book, I always ask myself, Will I ever want to reread this one? If the answer is yes, I’ll find a place for it on my shelf. If the answer is no, my second question is, Will anyone in my family want to read this one? If the answer is still no, it gets unhauled.
When I unhaul books, they can end up going to various places. If it’s a physical ARC, I’ll either pass it on through a giveaway on the blog, to friends or family, or a nearby library that has a free books section. (Editing to add that I have also placed ARCs in Little Free Libraries!) Books that are not ARCs get shared on paperbackswap so I can earn more credits to request MORE books, or they’re sold at Half Price Books, or donated.
Hands off!
I do own a few books that have (as of now) permanent spots on my bookshelf. Those special books that I would never loan out, that cause me to break out into a sweat if anyone even pulls them from the shelf. (I did say I have a problem, right?!) Those are usually signed copies, rare copies, or special edition copies. But sometimes they’re just books that hold a special place in my heart, like my entire Twilight series, which I owe a debt of gratitude to for reigniting my love of reading over ten years ago!
Let’s Discuss!
Do you have a problem letting go of books? Let me know in the comments!
I still have my set of Twilight books, too.
I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them. They bring me happiness just seeing them on the shelf. 😉
I have a lot of books on my Keeper Shelf, which are ones that I’m not getting rid of, ever. Usually they’re books that I’ve already read many times and plan to re-read many times more, but other times they’re special because they’re signed, or were gifts, or come with great memories.
I generally forget to do anything with my ebook or audiobook shelves, though. I just let the titles that I want to ignore fall to the bottom of the list where they don’t bother me at all. Sometimes I’ll archive them, but that’s about it. How do you usually handle the ebooks you unhaul?
Yes! A Keeper Shelf! I have several of those. Usually at the very top of my shelves, in those hard-to-reach spots. 😉
I have only done a full ereader unhaul once and that was last year. It was primarily to help align my goodreads shelves and my ereader. I had so many ebooks I’d gotten for free but I was no longer interested in, or books I read a long time ago that I had no desire to ever read again. For my Kindle books, I go into the settings in Amazon and just delete them from my device. I think that’s the only way to permanently remove them. I think that’s maybe how it works for iBooks, too. I can’t remember. I’m newer to Kobo so I haven’t had to remove any books there yet. I have to admit, it did feel really nice to do it. Mostly just mentally. 😉
I have moved many, many, many times, so unhauling books is something I’ve had to do often. I keep very few books now.
That makes perfect sense! Moving books is quite the chore. But I do have to admit, one of my favorite things is reorganizing my many shelves. 😉
When I moved house nearly two years ago, I got rid of almost half of the print books I owned. Since then, my sparsely filled shelves have become almost totally full. There are a bunch of DNF books, and books I liked but didn’t adore that I’ll be putting into the little public library near my new home. So, yes, I do let books go… but some I’ll never even lend out!
It’s hard to get rid of books, but I do feel great when I see those empty shelves because I know it means I get to get new-to-me books. Ha! I forgot to mention little free libraries! I place ARCs there often!
Seems like signed copies are keepers for many. When I vowed to get rid of all the books we accumulated from conventions and bookish events, my daughter pulled her signed copies. I donated finished copies to Friends of the Library. I will admit, it pained me to toss the ARCs, but I couldn’t find anywhere local to donate and we had hundreds.
You tossed ARCs!!?? I just felt gut-punched. 😂 I’m sure many fellow bloggers would have been happy to take some off your hands. I know I would have. Another great option for ARCs is Little Free Libraries. I share them there sometimes. I forgot to mention that in my post.
If I even slightly think I will potentially read a book again someday, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. I think that’s mostly why I have so many books right now. Great post!
Yes!! Same here!
Yes… I get so attached to my books! haha!! Unhauling has become a bit easier the last couple of years though. I’m not sure what to do because I’m buying more books and not reading as many of mine. I have had and still have so many arcs to get to. It’s literally ALL I have been reading this whole summer. I’ve been too busy to read a lot but trying to keep up with those. The most arcs I’ve ever had before. I need to take a couple months off and read some of my own books… just so I can unhaul!! lol
You know I can empathize with you! I’ve been reading mostly ARCs all year, but especially this summer. I’ve done much better the past few months being very picky about which ARCs I accept. So far I only have about 2-3 ARCs each month for Sept-Dec. I’m determined to read ahead though, so I can have at least one or two months with no ARCs. I don’t know what it’s going to take, but I’m determined to not find myself in this situation next year. 😂
The decision to unhaul a book comes when I finish reading a book. If the book is good and I would like to re-read it, then it a keeper.
There are unread books I know I’m not going to get rid of. If their signed or hard to find copies then I’m keeping those books.
Thanks to a glitch, your comment posted as ‘anonymous’. So I’m sorry I don’t know who you are and you may not see my reply, but I agree with your statement 100%. 🙂
No-one gets to touch or borrow my books! I just wouldn’t trust them.
Thanks to a glitch, your comment posted as ‘anonymous’. So I’m sorry I don’t know who you are and you may not see my reply, but I hear ya! I definitely don’t loan mine out to just anyone, but I’m almost just as stressed about the judgement I’d receive if I said no as I am at the possibility of never seeing the book again. 😂