At one point there were almost 200 books on my bedside table.
I've pruned the pile down to apprx 30, and moved the rest into the living room. But that still leaves another 30 books in these two big bags that are stashed behind the cheval mirror.
See the 6 stacks of books on the floor? At least 2 of those stacks were moved from the bedroom. The bookshelves are piled two high, and two deep.
In some places three deep.
The stack of books on top of the small bookshelf (pic below), are books I've read, but they're not keepers. They're going to Goodwill, or the UBS. Otherwise 95% of the books you see in these pics are on the to-be-read list. I doubt the books I've read and decided to keep would fill up even one shelf completely.
I'm pretty damn sure I've got close to 2000 books. Yikes! And that count doesn't include ebooks, of which I've got plenty. Or the magazines that are months old, by the time I get around to thumbing through them. :-PMight as well throw in a pic of the writing advice books grouped together under the console in the hall. Most of these also unread. Although, there's such a plethora of great advice online from editors, agents, and published & unpublished authors, editors, I won't beat myself up too badly about not getting around to these books.
You see my problem, yes? I love my books, but I hate clutter, and I'm running out of room. We live in an apartment, so there's no basement, or attic to accept the overflow. And I really don't want to put another bookshelf in here, especially since we won't be living here forever, plus experience tells me most of those books won't be keepers, anyway. Drastic measures are called for.
As with all New Year's Resolutions, wish me luck. (heh)
12 comments:
Thank God.
Thank God I'm not the only one. *gg*
Raine, I need an intervention. gg. Maybe we can form a group?
I feel your pain >G<
I pruned heavily about 2 years ago. Then I pruned a bit more last fall. But the biggest thing I did was go cold turkey on the book buying.
Now I buy ebooks only. (OK I cheated I had an Amazon gift cert and used it for paperbacks but... we won't go there, 'k?) I usually read ebooks right away, so no guilt over book purchases that sit there collecting dust. Oh, they don't collect dust either ;)
Good luck!
Jaye... it's time to start sellling your books on ebay!
Hey, that eBay idea is a good one. You could make some money to buy more books with. *snicker*
OMG!!! I thought I was bad. I feel so much better now.
You knwo whats even funnier? ntil I started trying to write on a regular basis.. Inever even had a TBR pile. LOL
Good luck withthe resolution...and Uhmm I see the new Jaid Blakc onthe bedisde table stack. Let me knwo how it is. :)
I cull ruthlessly several times a year. And I mean ruthlessly. If a book is on my keeper shelf, it has earned its place by dozens of re-readings. Dh was getting cranky about the wall of paperbacks staring back at him, reminding him that I hadn't dusted in a while and, by the way, where's his dinner? Yeah, I get a little caught up.
My TBR pile is small but cheap. The Used Book Store is my friend! I once bought a dozen books for $9. Color me thrilled! Then I took most of them back on my next trip to exchange again. ;)
LOL I have to ask myself, why am I saving that textbook on primate adaptation and evolution?
I've got two bookshelves (big ones like yours) loaded up plus a smaller one in my room. I thought I was done, then I went out in the garage to look for something and....found another big box of books *sigh* and this AFTER I pruned before the move.
Karen, I'm afraid to count up my e-books. I know I have 2 full CDs of ebooks (most of them unread.) PLUS, there are ebooks on this pc and the lap (most of em unread).
Dude, the ebay thing has crossed my mind. I just might look into it. The UBS has cut back on the rate they pay for books anyway - $1-$1.25 per mass-market paperback, when they used to pay $2 - $1.75.
Carol, you're an evil woman. I said I need 'intervention', not an enabler! :-P
Sash, same thing here! I didn't have an TBR pile until I started writing. I got most of my books from the library. The ones I like, I went out and bought. Then my late charges started adding up, so I started buying..... *gulp*
My, what eagle eyes you have. *gg*. (re Jaid)
Sela I wish I had your willpower. I think it would haunt me if I didn't at least 'try' to read a book before I cut it. There must have been something about it that appealed to me enough to lay out hard cash for it. (as we all know, books ain't cheap.)
I don't have a lot of keepers, so that isn't the problem. A book has to hit me *exactly* right to make it on to my keeper shelf. And if in a reread, it doesn't work any more, it gets put in the UBS pile, so I am ruthless that way.
LOL, Cece. That's the way I felt when I realized I had those 2 big bags of books behind the mirror. I was like, wtf?
Well, I know for a fact I have at least two more boxes of books in the garage, but they're so buried I can't get to them to sort throught them. I probably won't see them again until I move. Oh well. It'll be almost like a box full of undiscovered treasure!
heh, heh, I just posted about this same problem! Canadian Dude sent me here, thought we had something in common perhaps :-)
I have some of the same books as you in my 'to be read pile'.
I've been paring it down and collecting my keepers and using credits at the UBS to buy ones I know I want for my collection. Series drive me crazy-if I like a series, then I want all the books in the series.
I think I'll be linking to you. I've enjoyed looking around you blog.
Laura
this is so funny. add 50 cats to the mix and we can all be considered true hoarders. :D
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