We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…
When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?
Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)
And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?
I had to weed out when we moved to IA from KY. First I used PBS and bookmooch and mailed out any book that was wishlisted by someone. Most of these were children’s books. I ended up having 250 credits! That was when media mail was only $1.59, so even though it was expensive at the time, it was definitely worth it. Shortly after that it jumped up to over $2.00.
Then I gave several books away to my very small local library, some to Goodwill, and some I sold to Half-Price books. I estimate I gave away over 1000 books.
Then, I still had over 50 book boxes to move!
That experience has taught me to try to stay away from hardbacks, and to swap/mooch a book after I’ve read it — particularly if it’s on a wishlist because later on I might not be able to get rid of it.
I rarely buy books anymore. I use my library A LOT, and I go to Goodwill (books are only .59) and shop at library sales (anywhere from .10 to 1.00). That way if I did have to move again, I won’t have to feel as invested in my personal library as I once did. I still buy books like translated works from foreign authors because those are hard to find.
Weeding my books was a painful experience, but I’m convinced that even without a pending move, it’s a necessary evil every 2-3 years at the very least.
“This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”
This is a great question, and I’m looking forward to everyone else’s lists as well!
The Bible
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman (because of its similarity to my hometown)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (combined with its sequel, Children of God)
Two books that I realized got left off the list because I did it so quickly:
The opposite of last week’s question: “What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?”
I LOVED The Sister by Poppy Adams (read my review), which only has 3 stars on Amazon. Many people did not like it or felt like there was too much moth science in the book. I loved all that because it also described the characters of the book. I also much prefer the UK title, The Behaviour of Moths. I loved this book, and I’ll be looking out for more by Poppy Adams.
How about, “What’s the worst ‘best’ book you’ve ever read — the one everyone says is so great, but you can’t figure out why?”
I love almost all classics. Seriously. I loooooove them. The only classic that I can think of that I didn’t like was The Red Badge of Courage. Blech. I had to read it in high school, and so far it is the only one I can think of that I just had to force myself through. Yuck.
2. Have you read everything he or she has written?
No, but I’ve read the Chronicles of Narnia multiple (at least 6) times, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces, Out of the Silent Planet, and Mere Christianity.
3. Did you LIKE everything?
I didn’t like everything, I LOVED everything!
4. How about a least favorite author?
Well, I really don’t like P hilip R oth or J ohn B anville. Sorry for the intentional breaks, but I don’t want hate mail from devotees.
5. An author you wanted to like, but didn’t?
Virginia Woolf. I couldn’t get into Mrs. Dalloway at all.
I’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY?
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?
My house is full of books — as anyone who knows me can attest; BUT, I have definitely curt-tailed my book buying over the years. I used to mostly buy books. Now, I first look to see if my library has a book I want. If they don’t, I look to pbs or bookmooch. If I can’t get it from either place, I’ll consider buying it.
I also used to keep all my books. When I moved, I realized I couldn’t do that anymore. It wasn’t fair to make my husband and sons move the amount of books a small library might have. I also much prefer trade paperbacks to hardbacks. Now, when I’m finished with a book, I usually put it on pbs or bookmooch if it’s wishlisted, and if not I’ll sometimes do a giveaway or take it to goodwill.
I reserve buying new for those books that I have a 90% certainty that I will like, and that I know I’ll want to keep. For example, some recent purchases have been:
And I only bought the Annotated Dracula after I’d already listened to the audio and knew that I would want to re-read it some day with the annotations. Marilynne Robinson and Neil Gaiman are two authors that I love so I was confident I would enjoy these purchases.
I still have A LOT of books in my house, but I’ve been smarter with my money about acquiring them.
"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? (1 Peter 3:12-13, ESV)
I LOVED 
by Poppy Adams (
. Blech. I had to read it in high school, and so far it is the only one I can think of that I just had to force myself through. Yuck.
