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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to give all my books to the charity shop?

245 replies

Boomba · 19/05/2013 22:31

I'm fed up with all my clutter. I'm not really a hoarder, but very short on time and want to streamline so I can keep clean and tidy.

Ove got loads of books. In the sitting room 2 bookcases stacked 4 deep on each shelf.

I don't have time for reading anyway ant more. I've got a kindle

I feel strangely attached though. And a bit sad, that I don't have time for reading

Do you keep your books??

OP posts:
noisytoys · 19/05/2013 22:33

Get rid of them. You will feel liberated and free from the clutter and enjoy the space Smile

LittleFeileFooFoo · 19/05/2013 22:33

YANBU!

I used to keep masses of books. I now have only those I really want, about 25 in total. The rest of my "collection" is in good hands at the library!

It's liberating to get rid of clutter and books only keep gathering dust.

And I love books, how the smell, feel and all that, but keeping them is no longer necessary.

McNewPants2013 · 19/05/2013 22:34

How can you not have time to read but can read books via a kindle.

I can't give away my books, in the year I have been reading I have collected loads and arranged by colour so my book case looks lovely

MrsVamos · 19/05/2013 22:37

Firstly, YWNBU to give your books to the charity shop, so that people like me can buy them, if I don't already have them !

But. I couldn't do it. I have in the past done a couple of book swaps, friends and relatives I would swap big bags full of books with, and now I bitterly regret it.

I kept certain favourites, but I wish I hadn't swapped. You know when you have a good book but can never remember the title, author ?

It grates on me. I have loads of books, and add to my collection by going to charity shops. My DCs love rummaging for books too, we are a family of readers, apart from DH.

I have a feeling we are perhaps also book collectors. Smile

HeliumHeart · 19/05/2013 22:38

Get rid! I realised I was hiding behind my wall of books as some kind of visible passport to my intellectuality ;)

Went through the lot and got rid of all fiction plus all useless non-fiction. Drove the lot to the Oxfam book shop at Victoria and felt completely liberated. Over a thousand books - what was I hanging onto them for???

Original poster
Boomba · 19/05/2013 22:39

I don't have time to read the kindle either! But I mean, if magic were to happen and I gained time...I could use my kindle Grin

See, my bookcases don't look lovely...they look toppley and dusty

I think I would feel liberated, just not sure I can do it. Maybe if I bagged them up without looking at them...

OP posts:
KansasCityOctopus · 19/05/2013 22:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dilidali · 19/05/2013 22:39

I gave away all my book to the library, bar the ones I really love and actually re-read. After a comfy bed the next thing I need is a sofa, a bookcase and a lamp. I would never get rid of all of them.

Dawndonna · 19/05/2013 22:41

I could not do it. Over 3,000 books here.

Original poster
Boomba · 19/05/2013 22:41

I keep thinking, I'm keeping them for dcs...but dd1 ain't gonna be a reader!

Yy, to the visible intwllectuality Grin Blush

OP posts:
AudrinaAdare · 19/05/2013 22:42

I don't ever think of books as clutter, unless they are the Twilight series or Fifty Shades of Shite. I prefer to think of bookcases in every available space as additional insulation Wink

LadyBeagleEyes · 19/05/2013 22:43

Do it, keep the ones you loved and may read again.
You have a kindle, you don't need them.

RescueCack · 19/05/2013 22:43

Do it. I did. Such a relief. We actually freed a whole room up and got a lodger. Those books were costing me hundreds per month put that way! I use a kindle and the library. We still have one wall of books, and one other bookcase, but that really is plenty.

KansasCityOctopus · 19/05/2013 22:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lurkerspeaks · 19/05/2013 22:44

I keep the ones I really love and (embarrassing admission) those are mostly low brow fiction. Comfort reading.

The rest I gleefully hand on to friends/ the charity shop. I also get a lot of books back that way which is great.

I have a kindle but I really don't re-read much stuff so apart from travel I don't use it much.

My aunt and uncle are literally drowing in a lifetimes worth of books. It is a big inspiration to keep on top of the situation!

GoblinGranny · 19/05/2013 22:48

I have many that I keep and many that I take to the charity shops. And a kindle.
Of course YANBU, if that's what you want to do, do it.

Xmasbaby11 · 19/05/2013 22:52

Whittle them down!

SomeBear · 19/05/2013 22:52

I've cleared my book collection right out down so it only contains books I love, will read again or will want to share with my DCs. After a decade and a bit of marriage, I've also managed to get DH to admit that some of his books were past their best. We seem to move every couple of years and to not have to carry 30 boxes of books again is very liberating. I have a Kindle, DH listens to audiobooks so there is no need for real books. I like the way full bookshelves make a house into a home, but it looks like they are going the same way as record shelves and CD racks.

teenagetantrums · 19/05/2013 22:54

I got rid of all mine, there were hundreds we live in a tiny flat and was fed up with dusting them, I have a kindle now and use the library, if anyone buys me a book I read it and pass it on.

SirBoobAlot · 19/05/2013 22:58

I can't get rid of books. I just can't do it. My house is like a freaking library, there are books everywhere. I have a full book case, shelves on my desk, my chest of drawers is also covered, there is a stack on top of the cushioned box, three cardboard boxes full under the bed... And I've had to convert the single wardrobe full of shelves into a book case too Blush There are also random piles in pretty much every room...

Think I might have a bit of a problem Blush

DON'T DO IT OP! The books need you!!! Grin

SirBoobAlot · 19/05/2013 22:59

Oh... And I have a kindle as well. Doesn't stop me buying books though Blush

MegBusset · 19/05/2013 23:01

I did this about four years ago, when we moved to a tiny house with no storage, and had two children - had over 1,000 books and gave 90% of them away. It was tough but actually quite liberating, it really made me concentrate on choosing the books I loved the most. I Freecycled them and like to think of them all finding their way to new homes!

Now we're in a bigger house I have got four bookcases and the book count is creeping up, but finances have been tight lately so I've been using the library rather than buying, again quite liberating. I gave away my Kindle though, couldn't get on with it at all!

Numberlock · 19/05/2013 23:02

Having palpitations at the thought of getting rid of books!

atacrossroads · 19/05/2013 23:03

I did this two weeks ago - MASSIVE relief but took me 3 years to do it!

Numberlock · 19/05/2013 23:04

Your house sounds like my idea of heaven SirB.