On keeping books, or not

I tend to keep books I think I will want to reopen and reread multiple times; books I imagine I would not tire of easily if I were to be stuck for a long time with only my own library to read and no other books available to me; books that teach me something I want to remember, but I need to be reminded of.

In short, I tend to keep mostly poetry, classics, history and religion, with a few novels, essays, books of science, travel, and reference books. I like them to be in nice, readable editions.

I get rid of books that I bought because they had a good reputation with somebody who enthused about them, but I find I can't warm up to. I get rid of books that I enjoyed reading, if I am indifferent to the idea of rereading them. I get rid of books that, when I do reopen them after a period away, seem stale, flawed and not as attractive as I thought them before.

I get rid of books that have no purpose other than to preserve a kind of nostalgia for my past, such as the tattered copies of Black Beauty or The Secret Garden or Winnie the Pooh some people seem to drag through the decades. They are welcome to do this, but they are the equivalent of keeping old toys, not a library.

I am unsentimental about purging books. I sell as many as I can. The ones I can't sell I donate. They are just books after all. One meets so many of them in a lifetime.

What, now I'm not supposed to keep my old toys, either? Harsh!

I've just gone through a rough purge. Sold lots of the "nostalgia for the past books" that meant a great deal to me once but seem stale or even laughable now (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I'm looking at you). Kept a handful of textbooks as reference, though if I'm really being honest with myself I know that I never really pull them out.

I have a couple rarities that I've never read, keep mainly cause they were thoughtful gifts from friends (Letters of Marx & Engels). I'm trying to force myself to purge most of my trade paperbacks though. It's difficult to resist the urge toward "library building," but if I really sit with the idea it occurs to me that I have no need for a cumbersome personal library when there's a much bigger one just down the block and the entire internet floating around my apartment.

keep everything! Every time I dump books I end up regretting it. Notes I keep by turning up the bottom page corner, and trusting I'll remember the book.

though this has made me much more choosy about what books I'll take home compared to my slush pile slut days

Casuistry, you asked what each of us kept or got rid of, not what you must get rid of. Clearly, you may keep whatever you wish, be they books, old toys or locks of hair tied up with fading ribbons.

hoos avoid starting the millstone. Last flat move cost me hundreds in fees, mostly for all the books.

Oh I'm just teasing, Aimless. And going through a moment of personal whatever, stress of reinvention, or something. I appreciated your response, as I always do.

I've so far never much regretted selling books, but I've done it so rarely... The last time I did a big purge was, of course, when I moved here from New York, and got rid of about 1/4 of my books. Just gave them to friends. This time I will probably take most to Powell's, I reckon.

Keep them all, except the beat up paperbacks. Sign up for bookmooch if you want to.

I try to only buy books I've already read and loved, so that way (in theory) I only acquire books I know I want to keep forever. When I do a purge (not oo often, my 'library' is pretty small) I just take out the ones I honestly don't think I'll ever want to re-read, or reference.

This time I will probably take most to Powell's, I reckon.

I don't know that I've ever sold off books without buying something else. Obviously you may be different, but bookstores' rates for cash (vs. trade-in) are usually so paltry, and the temptation to find something once you've made it to the bookstore so great, that I've found that selling books is not a particularly effective way of paring things down.

I've been trying to get rid of stuff lately too. I'm not moving, but I buy so many books that, when it's time to choose something new to read, I impatiently begin like 10 books at once and it takes awhile before I can really give one book the attention it deserves. I haven't been very successful in getting rid of them because it's tough to give up books I haven't read yet and it's easy enough to justify to myself how almost anything I have read could be 'useful' in the future.

I have sold books and given books away (to friends, to libraries, to charity shops). Sometimes, I've been too ruthless and have regretted not having something I used to, but only when it was something unique and difficult (or impossible) to replace. You have seen first-hand the result of two people who adore books as objects who have acquired and culled and acquired again for 8 years - it's not pretty. We also still have many hundred books in storage which some day must be dealt with. You should know that we would gladly store anything you'd wish to keep - there is room in the storage pod. And it would give us an excuse to drive to Portland.

I have been in ruthless mode for the last 2 moves, but it has been tempered by Mr. Jaq's sensibilities. It's easier to be ruthless when it is just you.

I've always found it really, really hard to get rid of books. We moved to our current house about 4 years ago, and for a long time I had about 70 cartons of books piled up around the place. Finally we did wall-to-ceiling bookshelves all around one room, and I got all the fiction out, and did a cull. Got rid of about 200-300 books.

We printed flyers saying we'd be doing a book sale on our front verandah one Saturday and letterboxed the surrounding streets, then piled the excess books up on a table and sat there. Paperbacks $1, TPBs $2, hardbacks $3-sold about half of them. Sold another 50 to a 2nd-hand shop for $1 each. Took the rest to a charity shop and gave them away.

Then I went and spent the money on more books.

Now the shelves are overflowing again. I think I'll have to repeat the process.

Then I went and spent the money on more books.

Haha isn't that always the case?

Go to Half-Price with a box of books to sell, walk out with $5 and a bag of new books.

I am almost certainly going to exchange for store credit, though. I mean, as long as I leave with fewer or better books, that doesn't seem like a bad thing.