How many books do you have?
I came across this article on book hoarding earlier and it got me thinking.
We’re planning to move house soon and one of the first things on my to do list, before I even think about packing, is to go through my book collection and scale it back a bit.
As I wrote this post, I quickly scanned my bookshelves and made a very rough inventory. I must have easily over 500 books, the majority of them novels.
I’ve never found it easy to part with my possessions. If you went through my things, you’d probably find bank statements for accounts I don’t even have any more (just in case) and piles of old receipts that I’ve shoved into a drawer and forgotten about. Tidying is not one of my skills. I often need time to mentally let go of an item before I can physically purge it from the house.
But cleaning out my books isn’t the same as cleaning out my wardrobe, or even the piles of memorabilia and inspirational material left over from my wedding.
Deciding to part with a book is hard on a more meaningful level.
There are books on my shelves that I’ll never read, but I don’t want to part with the possibility that, one day, I might. There are books that I’ve read and hated, or been so bored by that I can’t recall a single thing about them. Yet still something keeps me from boxing them up and taking them to the charity shop.
Maybe it’s because each book on my shelf says something about me and the things that have captured my imagination. There’s the copy of Homer’s Odyssey that I slogged through for three months straight, reading the verse line by line because I loved Virgil’s Aeneid. Or there’s the pile of books by Che Guevara and Jack Kerouac that I read at university when I was writing about freedom and revolution and travel. There are the old copies of Point Horror or Sweet Valley High that I read so many times as a kid that the pages have started to turn yellow. There are the books that stirred something in me, the ones I reread whenever I have the chance; each time taking something different from the story.
In a way, each book is an achievement. Not just the copy of Dante’s Inferno that I hang on to in case I ever need to refer back to it. I don’t keep it around to show off to anyone who visits my house – look at what I’ve read – I keep it to remind myself. There are the books I struggled with, but came to love; the ones I wanted so badly to understand, to adore, but could find nothing to appreciate.
I want to remember all the snippets of knowledge, all the phrases that can be found within those pages. Even the bad ones offer something, however small.
I’m the sort of person who will collect books as objects, not only to read. I have a copy of Moby Dick in Icelandic, because it reminds me of travelling to a country I fell in love with. The book is a thing to be revered, to conjure up memories. It’s a thing of beauty. It’s the same reason I have three copies of Wuthering Heights, even though I never enjoyed it – although, to be fair, the third copy came to me by accident rather design after an ISBN mix up with an online order.
So how am I going to dispose of my books?
I’ve been preparing myself for a while, mentally listing the ones that I’ll miss the least. But still, they have their fingers clutching at my heart.
I know I need to clear out my bookshelves to make space for new stories, to build a collection that more accurately reflects the sort of books I’ve loved and not only the ones I’ve been sent to review, but it will be tough.
Hopefully it will give me chance to rediscover some of the novels that I’d forgotten and some of the ones that have long been on my to read list.
And if all else fails, I guess I’m going to need a bigger pile of boxes.
Allison says
This post is so reflective of my feelings about getting rid of books that I might have written this myself! Whenever my family gets on me for having “too many books” (no such thing!) I have to beg to save some of them, even if I didn’t even like them. Thanks for sharing!
Amy Lord says
Thanks Allison! Sadly I didn’t even stick to my own advice for one day and went out at lunchtime to buy more books – I have a problem!
Sara Strauss says
It’s so hard to part with books! Once you read one, it’s like it becomes a part of you and it’s like the character whose point of view you read from has become your own — you were them for a little while after all, so it would be like getting rid of a friend! A while ago, I just had too many books and so I had to give some away (most went to the library or to friends) and I didn’t like giving them away, but some I knew I would never read again and some I didn’t like, so I was happy to get rid of them. If you really need to get rid of some, I would suggest sitting down (maybe at a place where you can’t see your books like a coffee shop) and writing down all of the books you have that you love and would never want to give up. The ones that you can’t remember, you can consider giving away. Good luck with the move!
~Sara
Amy Lord says
That’s a really good suggestion, thanks Sara! Although I would definitely forget loads, so it might be a place to start 🙂
Jade @ Bits & Bobs says
Getting rid of books is hard – much harder than non book lovers would think. As I’ve got older, I’ve got better at purging my shelves and try to do so regularly. I ask myself two questions, have I read it? And, will I reread it? If I haven’t read it or see myself rereading, then its a keeper. I try not to attach too many memories to books as I know I would never be able to get rid of them! Good luck, whatever you decide to do with your collection… Perhaps bigger boxes need to be on standby!
🙂
Amy Lord says
Boxes of books will probably be the biggest thing we have to move! It’ll be once I realise how many I need to carry that I really cut back 🙂
Joséphine says
I do this too! My family used to move a lot when I was younger, so I grew accustomed to purging things I no longer need on a fairly regular basis. When it comes to books though, I also think it’s a little harder. There are books I’ve not read and probably never will but refuse to part with because I received them from various people I met in my life and there’s meaning in why they would’ve given those particular books instead of others.
Still, as much as possible I try to stick to the rule of keeping books I haven’t read and intend to read and books that I’ve read and would reread. Any book I’ll never read (again) usually has to find a new home with someone else.
Amy Lord says
I’m quite bad at letting go of books I know I won’t read again, especially if I enjoyed them or they’re meaningful in some way. But I don’t want to purge my collection right back, I just need to streamline it a little – for now at least!
Katie says
Oh, such a hard task! I’m steadily trying to grow my book collection – I’m just getting close to 150 I think aha.
Amy Lord says
That’s a good number! Getting rid of a few books just means I can buy more 🙂
Samantha says
If any of your books need a home – you know where to find me – especially the ones I haven’t read! Then you can always ask for them back if you want!
Amy Lord says
Ha, you can have first refusal! 😉