When Books Become Clutter

I’m still at the beginning of my project, but I’ve found some aspects of it easy, at least from an emotional-attachment point of view. Choosing clothes to donate proved painless, and I also recently sorted and recycled lots of old papers with ease, which I’ll talk about later in the week.

I can’t make a similar claim about books. Books are very important to me, and my attachment to them would take a long time to explain. My husband has a lot, but not nearly as many as me.

But I am facing the fact that they’ve become clutter, and in allowing them to become clutter I’m not showing them the respect they deserve. If I’m going to be nice to my socks, which I don’t really care about, I should absolutely be nice to my books.

I have loved to buy books since I was a teenager. Popping a mix tape into my Sony Walkman and trekking a mile to my nearest Waldenbooks was a regular weekend activity. I’d buy as many as my babysitter’s wages allowed, usually 3 or 4 at a time. At home, I always displayed them neatly, the only organized element in my otherwise chaotic bedroom.

I can’t make the same claim today. My attempts to carefully display books, on shelves and around the house as décor, have devolved into this:

This is supposed to be a tastefully arranged stack of books.

This is supposed to be a tastefully arranged stack of books.

I also sometimes start books without finishing them in a timely way. I’ll put a book aside and return to it when my frame of mind better matches the book. This year I’m trying to challenge myself to read more widely, so I decided to read a presidential biography this month. But American Lion requires more focus than I currently have so I put it aside. Thus my nightstand is a disaster of books-in-progress and other things.

This deserves its own post.

This mess deserves its own post.

A few years ago we hung shelves on one wall in our home office, which has done a lot to help us manage our books. At the moment this wall is my favorite thing about my house. It’s the first room you enter upon coming into my house, and I love that you see this space and immediately know who we are. It sets the bar for how I want the rest of our shelves to look.

My personal gold standard for book organization.

My personal gold standard for book organization.

And so I have a three-part challenge on my hands:

  1. I need to commit to keeping books on shelves and nowhere else. The books-as-décor idea does not work for me. In addition to our wall shelves, we have six free-standing shelves throughout the house which need to be better utilized.
  2. I need to manage my in-flux books better, by being more decisive about books I feel uncertain about. Maybe I’ll create a “finish it later” shelf before my nightstand qualifies for federal cleanup money.
  3. I need to pare down more. Recently I filled seven bags and donated them to a local library. And every time I donate I feel like I can’t possibly get rid of more, but somehow I manage. I try to remember how elated I feel when I hit a used book sale and find something great, and I want to pass that feeling on to others. I need to remember that.

I’ve also decided to look at our books as a true collection, and use a more discerning eye when thinking about what I truly love and want to keep. When I’m done, I want to be able to say I’ve honored our books by only keeping what we love and can accommodate in our home.

 


15 Responses to When Books Become Clutter

  1. I know the feeling Tracy. I’ve become a minimalist, and I’ve purged books several times. I now have only what I want to read, and I’m trying my best to get through the books, while doing renovations. Not fun! I mean the renovation part, lol! Although several people have suggested to me other ways, such as an e-reader, and I can appreciate the reasons, I love the feel of books, the smell of books, the whole experience of books! Yes, I’m a book lover, can you tell, lol?!

  2. I am a devoted e-book reader now BUT people give me books which sit around and I have books that I LOVED and so keep around thinking that my son will want to read them (he won’t) or that I will re-read them (I can count on one hand the number of times this has actually happened). Every year I grab a box and purge to the library book sale fundraiser. Eventually they will all be gone where they can be of use to someone– this peeling the band-aid off slowly method seems to be working for me!

    • Sara – I got around this problem by asking for Kobo vouchers instead of gifts, so I could purchase my favourite books for my e-reader (many of the books had been read and re-read so many times they were falling to pieces). This sped up the reduction of actual books in my house and slowed the number of gifts (usually unwanted) that came into the house and made everyone happy as they now knew exactly what to get me, especially as they know I love reading. And most importantly, I was happy.

  3. I cannot stand reading books electronically, the best part of reading for me is to turn off and leave the electronics and pick up a real book, find somewhere comfy and turn real paper pages! I really like your display shelves by the way. I now have books in two rough categories, books I want to read and donate (although some of these I may decide not to read, just donate) and books I want to keep although I will one day go through these again. I now use the local library, it is good because not only do I not have to store the books but it keeps me on track reading them as I know I cannot keep them forever. I have bought books and because I know I can keep them I keep putting off reading them till ‘later’.

  4. I am the daughter of two avid readers and I was an English lit major in college. I love books! I’m also an avid cook so I have quite a cookbook collection. However, I’ve moved many, many times now and I’ve found that I’m tiring of moving the heavy boxes. The collection is being culled, especially as many of the older books begin to yellow or the binding has broken. I have renewed zeal for our city library system and enjoy swapping with friends. I no longer buy books, and while it’s hard, it’s nice to know that I will have fewer heavy boxes for the next move!

  5. I am a librarian by education, although I currently am a stay at home mother and homeschooler. I have to applaud you on your efforts to cull your collection. By culling the items you routinely bypass (when looking for something to read, when looking for a reference item) you will make it easier to find the things you really want. I have gotten rid of so many books that I ought to read, started to read, or remind me of someone (but I didn’t really love the book) and now when I go to look for something, (when the library’s closed and I finished my stash) I only have favorites to choose from.

    And remember, your library can probably get anything you want, if you give it away and want to refer to it again. My library routinely provides books from all over the state to my local branch, and they can even request nationally if I really need it. All for free.

  6. I think it is important for you to keep what you love, and if books it what you love then great. I enjoy books but prefer to get mine from the library. I recently purged my books again and no have only 6 books, yes that’s right, 6 books on my shelf. 2 I have read and will read again and 4 I have not read but will donate them when I finish them. Of all the books I have gotten rid of over the years I do not miss the and know I can get them at the library anytime if I want to read them again. The decluttered space in my home is the first step of many in downsizing my possessions prior to downsizing my home in 6 years when all my kids will be off to college or there own spaces.

    For me 6 books is “enough” for me. How many is “enough” for you may be different but it is very freeing to changing view on my possessions and the hold they have on my time and energy.

  7. I love reading “real” books – actual books I hold and turn pages and need to turn on a light to read. I use my eReader, but am disappointed every time I finish a book I love and can’t pass it along to a friend. Which brings me to . . . a group of us started a book club. Not a regular book club, in part because we meet at the brewery, but a book club in which when we do meet, we all bring a book or books we want to share if we have one. Sure, we choose a book to read and discuss, but it’s great to pass along the books to others. I always send mine away telling the person to pass it along to the next person or donate it when they’re finished. We all have different taste in books and I love how it’s broadened my horizons just by having people offer me a book they’ve loved and can tell me a little bit about.

    Just a thought for something to do with your books. It’s always great to share something we love.

  8. These comments are fascinating! I’m an English major and avid Kindle user. I have the Kindle Keyboard (v3) and love that thing with my whole heart. I’m not sure what the other readers are like since this is the only one I’ve ever had, but it’s like reading paper. Only lighter than a book. And less cumbersome. And requires no dusting. Or storage. And fits in my purse. I can’t think of a single downside.

    I still own some books, of course, like my Scenic Historic Cookbook collection (most are from grandmas and great-grandmas), a few college texts I can’t seem to part with (damn you, Norton Anthology!), and my very favorites. I’ve kind of gotten over “real” books, although I do understand the other side of things–my 15 year old LOVES them and requires new books weekly to keep her fed. To each their own.

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  10. books are my downfall! I’ve been collecting books for as long as I remember. Now that I’m a book blogger, my interests have expanded. Too bad my shelves have not. The library doesn’t always work for me and while I do have an ereader, I love to look at my shelves (or rather, my stacks) and see all my books.

    Sigh. It wouldn’t be so bad except I re-read my books so while I’ve got to pare down as well, last time I gave away several bags of books, I wanted to re-read one of them.

  11. I really was happy to see this information and the postings which followed. When “decluttering”, books are easier to deal with than most other items in the home. Actually, my co-author Susan Anderes and I have written an e-book which sells on Amazon for .99 called: “Overbooked : Taming your out-of control book collection” We start with the “Practically Painless Purge”[tm] which immediately downsizes 10% of your collection. We starting writing the book as a result of my personally having to limit my book collection which had gotten out of control. It was much easier and less traumatic then I had imagined.

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