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I've been selling books on amazon.com for a couple years now. It's a great way to earn a bit of extra cash. I also pass books on to used bookstores. That said, not every book I read leaves the house. I keep the books that mean something to me, that I enjoyed reading, or may read again. To give you an idea, here's my shelf of most of the books I've read & kept so far this year:
My desire to add to my collection of books has been with me since I was a little girl cramming Babysitters Club books into my bookcase, so it's not going away any time soon. If I didn't purge books, I would have no room for new ones and they would take over my house! Perhaps when I have a bigger home I'll change my viewpoint on this, but we'll just have to wait and see!
So, am I in the minority here? Do you keep every book you've read, or do you sell, donate or pass them on to others?
Actually,I keep every book I read. I only get rid of those I didn't enjoy much.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about this last night actually. I have decided I am going to keep more of them. I usually do giveaways, donation, or take them to the used bookstore. However, I like them, they are pretty and even if I am not going to read them again (which is not likely) I still like having them around.
ReplyDeleteTara This is a great question. I tend not to keep the books I read once I have read them. I will pass them on to my local bloggers group or sell them at the second hand bookstore.
ReplyDeleteThe few that I keep are signed ones and ones that I think my son will enjoy when he is older ie Kaleb Nation etc
A friend of mine had a real space problem in her apartment and she just couldn't keep books anymore, so she gave them to me.I was like"Is she crazy?She is giving out books?I could never to that!"
ReplyDeleteOf course, I am eating my words now because I completely understand her!I'd love to keep all my books,because I have paid for them,I have read them and regardless of me liking them or not,they are books,I mean,come on!But it's just not possible for me to keep every book I buy.It's mostly a space problem.I give some that I didn't enjoy much to my friends and others at second hand stores, hoping that someone else might enjoy them more than me!It's very hard for me to part with them, but it just has to be done.
I usually keep the books I read but since I'm slowly running out of space, I'm only staying with the books I liked or absolutely loved. Most of the time the books I no longer want get donated to the library or if it's a YA novel, I host contests for it. I feel better knowing that the book is going to someone who'll enjoy it more than I did :)
ReplyDeleteAs I'm a starving unemployed ex-college student, the library is my best friend. But when making the (exceedingly rare) book purchase, I tend to buy books I have already read and will read again. As for the existing books in my collection, I have also culled in the past, discarding those I didn't like as much and those I don't plan on reading again. I do make mistakes, though - years ago, I got rid of the Ramona books, and now I'm dying to have them back now that the movie's coming back... :(
ReplyDelete- Rebecca
@ Elie: I'm also keeping more books now. There was a time where I was selling most of the ones I'd bought and it was rare to keep them-and I regret that now!
ReplyDelete@ Cindy: How lucky that you have a local bloggers group! That is great that you keep books you think your son will enjoy.
@AtenRa: I agree-it is hard to part with books, but I've had to force myself lest live a house piled with books-especially since i'm not the only book lover that lives here!
@ Piratepenguin: I need to start donating more books to my local library on a more regular basis. Contests are another great way to pass on books-especially ARCs which you can't sell!
@Readerly Person: I've also made mistakes-like getting rid of my Babysitters Club books! :O Oh, how I'd love to re-read those books. I'm being more thoughtful about it now, if I think there's a chance I want to re-read it, it stays on the shelf.
For me it depends. I donate most of the YAs I read to my HS Media Center. The adult books are more of a problem. I just joined Paperback Book Swap and hope to get rid of some of them there. I looked at selling at Amazon but it seems kind of complicated. My house is getting very crowded with books.
ReplyDelete@ Kathy: Amazon isn't hard to get set-up, unless they've changed their process. You basically have to link your Amazon account with your bank account so they can direct deposit your earnings in. You have to ship orders within two days, and when you confirm the order, the $ goes into your account. You do have to keep an eye on your inventory to make sure your prices aren't too high, but it doesn't take much time, I check in once a week, usually.
ReplyDeleteI need to look into Paperback Swap, my mom has done it for years!
I do not keep every book I read. First I see if my used book store will buy them or give me credits for my account. Second, if they look newish I give them as gifts ( remember, I'm a poor teenager). Third, donate them to school's library.. it's so small.
ReplyDeleteDaisy
I keep anything I think I'll re-read again, which is probably more than most, or anything I want to have for my kids or to lend to others! I do have a lot of books. And I sell or donate the others. All of my books were in storage for three years once and it was like hugging old friends the day I finally had a place to put them and could unpack them and set them free on the shelves again.
ReplyDelete@ Daisy: there is no harm in giving used books! I mean unless your dog chewed it up or something. :p I buy a lot of books used.
ReplyDelete@Angiegirl: Wow, I can imagine it was like reconnecting with old friends! That's a long time to be without your books. When I lived with my parents, I only had so much room for books on my shelves, the rest were in plastic bins. It was always a drag to find a book I was looking for. I couldn't wait to move out and have space for all of them.
I keep 99% of my books, they other I lend out or give away!
ReplyDeleteI used to keep everything, and then every year go through and donate a bunch of books to the library. Now I am trying out a couple different swapping programs - goodreads swap, paperbackswap, and swaptree. That way you get a book for every one you give away!
ReplyDeleteI get rid of quite a few. There's so many I know I won't read again and, like you, I sell them on Amazon and then buy more. I had many books from my English cources I just didn't care for or need so I've gotten rid of them. There's only one I can think of that I regret selling - Howard's End. At the time I didn't like it but now I think I'd like to read it again because it's memory has grown on me. Oh, well. Only one missed book over the past three years isn't bad.
ReplyDelete@ Liz: I need to get into the swapping, I may try swaptree since I think you can get swagbucks?
ReplyDelete@ Chelle: That's not a bad track record. There have only been a few books I've regretted selling too, and I've bought them back. :)
I do many things with my books. Like you, if they have a special meaning... they stay on my shelf! Every book I read and review goes into my classroom on my bookshelf because that is why I started my blog- to keep my students reading! So in essence, sometimes I have purchased copies to keep at home or school. I would suggest you find a school library to donate some to as well because with all of the budget cuts, books are one thing they say we don't need... HAHA! If they only knew!
ReplyDeleteIt depends on my shelf space. When I find myself running out, its time to review which books I want to keep. For the rest, I usually donate them. I'd sell them if I could. More cash to spend on books. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy attitude is much the same as yours. I read the ones I'll revisit or teach from. Chuck, on the other hand, wants to keep every book that's pretty or sounds mildly interesting--even though he'll never read them. I just sneak them out of the house when he isn't looking and he never misses them.
ReplyDeleteOops, did I type that out loud?
:D
@ Jennie: Another awesome teacher! Your kids are lucky. :D
ReplyDelete@Andi: LOL! My husband likes to keep a lot of his books too, but he's not quite the voracious reader I am, so that's okay. He has gotten good about culling his shelves about once a year, so that's good too. :)
Even if I loved the book and tried to get everyone I know to read it, I know that there are few that I will reread. Not because I don't want to reread them, but my TBR pile is always overwhelming. For that reason, I swap them on PBS or BM. Then I use those credits to read other books that I were on the fence about reading.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the problem for me right now, as I know my friends would read the books that I have so they don't feel unloved (I barely reread books, except for some occasions, with books that wowed me ) In a way, I think what you're doing is a good thing, because if I had an overflowing bookshelf and there was a fire in my house, earthquake whatever, I talked about this in a post before, it'll be hard to save every single one of them that's for sure. In the future, as my bookshelf gets bigger, I'll probably end up giving some away & etc.
ReplyDelete