To not want to get rid of all my books

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

I have a lot of books. I love to read, teach English, have been collecting for forty years.

In the last three years I have got rid of over half of my collection. We are down to three large bookcases, each in a different room, and some smaller ones.

Now DH wants to get rid of the large bookcase in the dining room. I have cleared one shelf and can clear another, but that is it.

AIBU? Half of this bookcase is his cookbooks and I don't notice many of those going!

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

YANBU - if you are making space you should both be getting rid of possessions equally. When we do a book purge we always get rid of paperbacks available on Kindle first...

[Schwabischeweihnachtskanne]

What is he making room for?

What is the point of clearing individual shelves (unless you also have books in boxes)? Unless he gets rid of his cookbooks you won't be able to get rid of the shelves anyway.

Does he use the cook books?

[Schwabischeweihnachtskanne]

I read a lot but rarely re-read, so I do think novels can be dust magnets... there isn't a lot of point in keeping ones you won't ever re-read (for me that'd be 99% of novels probably). But there is no point purging them unless he gets rid of his books on the same bookcase, or you'll just have a half empty bookshelf... and full bookshelves do look nice and create a nice atmosphere and stop a room being all echoey... so there is no point getting rid unless you need the space for something else.

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

The plan is to move the PC downstairs. It won't go if we keep the bookcase.

I have cleared one shelf as a starting point. I just can't see where the books can go from the other five!

[TheWitTank]

I adore books but despise clutter/overfilled rooms so I can see both sides! I only keep books that are very special to me and pass on or donate the rest to charity shops. I do love passing on a book I have enjoyed so someone else can enjoy it too. Does he use his cook books?

[Daffodil90]

As a bookseller I can tell you it's a legal requirement that you keep as many books as you like. True story ;)

[queenofthepirates]

I LOVE looking through other people's bookshelves! I can hardly request their Kindle to flick through can I? A house without books is a sad place.

And don't come to me when your table needs propping up.

[knobblyknee]

Dont do it. You cant always replace them if you change your mind. I got down to 3 bookcases of the essential ones and I reread them. I already regret rehoming some of them.

[TendonQueen]

There's always a limit to how many books you can get rid of and it sounds like you're close. Where else is there in the house for them to go? And yes, he has to be prepared to ditch some cookbooks. What about a more slimline bookcase?

[futureme]

I ditched hundreds and hundreds ... Down to very few here as I realise another year gas gone by without a shelf being touched.

Tiny house here though. Might feel a bit different if I could see them for decoration but even so I rarely reread.

[StitchesInTime]

YANBU.

If you're getting rid of books you still love and want because your DH is pressuring you into it, surely it's just going to cause resentment? Especially if he's not making any effort to reduce the number of his books in your home.

Have you looked into whether you could fit any more smaller bookcases in your home if you really don't want to get rid of the books? Say in the space where the PC currently is upstairs?

[Crazypetlady]

Don't do it, books are meant to be kept.

[RustyBear]

DH bought me my kindle because he thought it would mean I would get rid of the actual books.

I've had it 18 months now, and how many books have gone? None, that's how many. Not even the ones I've now got on the Kindle as well...

[janethegirl2]

I absolutely love books but if my dh tried to get me to get rid of my books, I'd be more inclined to get rid of him!

[allegretto]

Do you work in a school? Do you have an office you can put them in? We have similar problems and DH and I have both taken books into work - that way they are out of the house but we can get them back if we need to.

[allegretto]

Looking at the number of books we had there was no way we could have read them all in this lifetime!

[WhereYouLeftIt]

Books do furnish a room. There's not a room in our house that doesn't have some books, and while some are transient a large number of them I could never part with.

[breakfastnotattiffanys]

If you get rid of a book, a fairy dies! Truth!

[PassiveAgressiveQueen]

LTB

[ToadsforJustice]

Get a laptop. Keep your books. LTB.

[MaisyMooMoo]

Books are good insulation. If you get rid your heating bill will increase.

[Cavaradossi]

Gosh, I'd ditch DH sooner than my books. Fortunately he feels the same way. Every room in the house apart from the cooking end of the kitchen and the bathrooms is lined with bookshelves.

Kindles are for travelling, when you can't carry two suitcases of hardbacks.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

I think it's strange that more sentimental attachment is afforded to books than almost anything else. Agree that the vast, huge, enormous majority of books are never re-read ... so why keep them?

[TelephoneIgnoringMachine]

I'd love to have lots of room for my books. But, small house plus mildly hoarder husband equals me loving my e-reader. I'm having a clear out at present, getting rid of anything I'm not likely to read or use, anything I didn't enjoy, & anything I have or can get on my Kindle. I actually read a lot more, now I have the Kindle. I can claim the moral high ground (selling it as "setting a good example") & hope DH will follow suit - as "my" areas in the house are / will be clean, tidy & well organised.

I do like books though. I love the smell of books, & the old fashioned ones with cloth bound covers. If you have / had room to keep them, YWNBU to do so.

[Leviticus]

Definitely LTB. He sounds abusive.