If you're a book lover and an avid reader like myself, then becoming a minimalist or breaking your attachment to books is an alien concept that is difficult to wrap one's brain around. The very thought of letting go of books is a rough one.
I currently have books that fall into one of two categories as follows:
1) Books that are part of my permanent collection. All of these book titles are ones that I intend to keep (hopefully) as part of my permanent collection, but may need to pair down depending on various factors.
2) Book titles I've acquired and registered on Bookcrossing. These book titles I plan to enjoy reading sometime down the road and then release for the next reader to enjoy. It'll be easier to let go of these book titles once I've read them, but not until then.
The thing is, I currently feel kind of overwhelmed by the amount of books I have in my collection. This is something I NEVER thought would EVER cross my mind... Let alone say out loud or write about in a blog post for the public at large to read.
As a book lover how can someone have too many books?? Maybe it isn't that I have too many books, but that I currently lack enough space in my home to store all of my books? Sure, I have three small bookcases, but I have more books than will fit on them. So, books are piling up everywhere around our home -- FAST!! -- as I tend to accumulate books faster than I can read through them. Buying more bookcases will not fix the issue as many of the books in my collection are books that I plan to read and release for Bookcrossing.
It has occurred to me, that perhaps the best way to remedy my current situation is to go through my entire book collection and reduce the amount of books in my collection.
Lucky for me, I came across an article last month titled Breaking The Sentimental Attachment To Books by Robyn Devine on a website called Becoming Minimalist. In this article, six helpful tips are given to help reduce the amount of books in one's collection. Let's see how it goes, in breaking my sentimental attachment to books!
How attached are you to your book collection? Share your thoughts about how you determine which books stay in your collection and which ones you cull from your collection.
Until my next post, happy reading!
I currently have books that fall into one of two categories as follows:
1) Books that are part of my permanent collection. All of these book titles are ones that I intend to keep (hopefully) as part of my permanent collection, but may need to pair down depending on various factors.
2) Book titles I've acquired and registered on Bookcrossing. These book titles I plan to enjoy reading sometime down the road and then release for the next reader to enjoy. It'll be easier to let go of these book titles once I've read them, but not until then.
The thing is, I currently feel kind of overwhelmed by the amount of books I have in my collection. This is something I NEVER thought would EVER cross my mind... Let alone say out loud or write about in a blog post for the public at large to read.
As a book lover how can someone have too many books?? Maybe it isn't that I have too many books, but that I currently lack enough space in my home to store all of my books? Sure, I have three small bookcases, but I have more books than will fit on them. So, books are piling up everywhere around our home -- FAST!! -- as I tend to accumulate books faster than I can read through them. Buying more bookcases will not fix the issue as many of the books in my collection are books that I plan to read and release for Bookcrossing.
It has occurred to me, that perhaps the best way to remedy my current situation is to go through my entire book collection and reduce the amount of books in my collection.
Lucky for me, I came across an article last month titled Breaking The Sentimental Attachment To Books by Robyn Devine on a website called Becoming Minimalist. In this article, six helpful tips are given to help reduce the amount of books in one's collection. Let's see how it goes, in breaking my sentimental attachment to books!
How attached are you to your book collection? Share your thoughts about how you determine which books stay in your collection and which ones you cull from your collection.
Until my next post, happy reading!
I do love my book collection - as you well know from me being a bookcrosser too. However, as I do try to read through my collection of books, I also accumulate just as many in a year too.
ReplyDeleteI've got books that are near and dear to my heart - like my JRR Tolkien books and Stephen King collection. However, there's also a massive collection of books on what I call my 'Sad Bookcase' - or the saggy bookcase - which is really weighing it down. This bookcase was recently seen by my Aunty Helen who couldn't believe how many books I had... truth be told, I hadn't really noticed them until she sighed at the number of them and how high the piles were on top of the bookcases. She asked me if I have read them all and all I could say was: 'I try but I keep getting more either through the mail or I find more great books I want to read.' she just gave me a whithering look and said that I'll have plenty to read when I get old. :P
How true that is... :D
I do cull books and post them off to people I think who'd love them... but it doesn't seem to make a dent in how many I have.
Oh... and Aunty Helen asked me how many I had, I said around 1,000; give or take around 20 or so. She shook her head, not believing it.
I enjoying re-reading and have often culled my books only to want to re-read one of them later!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I too find myself at the point where I need to decrease the number I own.