DH's books in our small flat

500? Pfft, amateurs.(joking) I'm team dh too im afraid. And books are nifty insulation and sound proofing. But yes protect the books. A first edition Clockwork Orange now worth nothing attests to that.

Toys come and go. Books are lifetime companions.

And come the digital apocalypse, all us luddites with our books and cds, records and dvds will be laughing!(as long as we have power)

Can't you stash them in the storage unit and just do a rotation every few months so they can all still be accessible.

Why? You could say that about anything.

I feel the same. I can understand keeping a few favorites but I do wonder at what is behind wanting to keep loads of books. Maybe it makes people feel intellectual to have books everywhere.

You both need to get rid of all your books and switch to Kindle.

Do you still play with the toys you had as a child? Do your DC play with your old toys?
I shared my old children's books with my DC ...

Sacrilege!

I do have a kindle for every day reading instead of paperbacks

I think people like keeping older books / dislike getting rid of books they’ve loved because you just don’t know when you might reread them - at the moment I’m rereading lots of books I first read 20 or 30 years ago and it’s bringing me so much joy.

I think there also lots of people who like books as objects - they’re often very beautifully designed. I also definitely like some of my books in the same way I like old photos - looking at them reminds me when/ where/ who I was when I read them, and that’s a nice feeling.

I also do wonder if there’s a venn diagram between, “people who love keeping their books” and “people who don’t really mind clutter”

No I don't play with them but I don't read the books I had as a child either. I read a lot but I don't usually read any book more than once. I can remember giving my children one or two books I had as a child but actually the print was small and new versions better.

The books as you say are decorative. My DH loves to have his favourite series on display but this doesn't trump the rights of the rest of the family to have space for their things. If he's neurodivergent take it slow, but be insistent. Removal or repurposing of just one bookcase would make a good amount of space for toys.

I do understand keeping a book that is beautifully designed. My mother very deliberately has some for decorative purposes and that is fine I just don't get keeping them for 20 or 30 years just in case you want to read them again. Would you keep clothes in your wardrobe that you hadn't worn for 30 years just in case? It's not as if you couldn't buy it again or get it from a library. I read on kindle though.

I'm the same I'd keep my books and throw the person out 😊❤️

Particularly well made clothes, yes, definitely. In fact, 3 of my favourite things I wear belonged to my Mum, my Auntie & my Grandma, and are quite alot more than 30 years old!

It’s horses for courses, though, I suppose & I guess the problem here is that the OP don’t agree, and what matters is how they find a balanced compromise.

Ok but how many toys does your son have?? I would get creative with toy storage (and cull ones not played with) before getting rid of books.

I've always lived in small flats, there's loads of storage ideas online

Try to treat this like a practical challenge. Your comment about 'why should we have to build shelves high up, he should just get rid of books' suggests you're not just thinking practically.

I'm team books in general, but I would definitely recommend reading Marie Kondo's Life-changing magic of tidying up. Our books remain manageable because I regularly go through and cull them. We have several thousand. I only keep those I want to read or reread, ones which have sentimental value or which look particularly beautiful.

You replied to a post about neurodiversity, and I continued the thread.

There doesn't need to be an intention to read. They are like artwork.
Ai tells me
When you choose to bring a piece of art into your personal environment, you are choosing how you want to feel, remember, and present yourself to the world.
I'm not particularly interested in the last of those but the first two definitely apply.

I get keeping a book that actually is beautifully designed but the average paperback is not a work of art, especially if all over the place collecting dust. I do think that people keep them because of how they want to present to the world though. Usually they are trying to look intellectual.

“Virtue signalling”? Right, that’s your requested discussion harpooned really, if you can take such a view.

I am one of the biggest book lovers I know and I am very attached to my books...

You’re really not, though. And I suspect you don’t know any real book lovers.

Team dh! I never throw away books. DS is reading copy of toms midnight garden that was mine at same age.

Can you do a mix of replanning storage and putting some in boxes in a cupboard? 50 each is barely any.

I honestly don’t think it’s about how people want to present to the world - at the risk being stereotypical, lots of book lovers are quite introverted and therefore many aren’t frequently inviting guests into their home. For lots of people a house full of books really isn’t about signalling anything to anyone else - it’s about what you want to surround yourself with. Plenty of people have articulated that feeling on this thread.

And different people find different things beautiful. Plenty of people find ordinary paperbacks aesthetically pleasing - I don’t think that’s unusual, given the posters you can now buy with the covers from old penguin classics.

It is very stereotypical to think of book lovers as introverts. Regardless, I don't think people who are very keen to display books all over their house are more "book lovers" than those that don't. I read a lot of books and have probably read one to two thousand in my life time but I that doesn't mean I need to keep physical versions. People in my family have English literature degrees so probably meet the definition of book lover and while they do read physical copies and have a fair few in their houses they certainly take a lot to charity shops.