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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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:
LadyClariceCannockMonty · 20/05/2013 13:36

'Just because you don't hoard books doesn't mean you are empty-minded.'

I don't think anyone is saying that. Some people just like books, whether as objects, for the memories, for the emotional connection ...

LaQueen, no one has ever done anything as nice for me as writing in my book Smile but I'm totally with you on the sentiment.

hackneybird · 20/05/2013 13:38

Ladybeagle yes I'm being judgey in saying that 'there is something wrong with a house without books', but I don't care. I also don't think that having books on display is necessarily commensurate with wanting to show off and be clever. I happen to like the aesthetic. I love the appearance of rows of books, and the warmth they bring.

I don't really care so much what sort of books they are. As another person up thread says, a book collection says so much about a person. A friend of mine isn't a massive reader, it's just not her thing, but she is very well travelled and she has a lovely collection of travel guides. I love that and it says so much about her and who she is.

I think it's a great idea to have a well curated collection of one's favourites, whatever they are, but to pass on books that don't inspire.

dexter73 · 20/05/2013 13:44

LadyClarice

"houses with no books or pictures on the walls seriously freak me out. My DFIL always says 'empty walls = empty minds'"

"empty bookshelves = death"

"I think there is something wrong with a house that doesn't have books on display"

"A home without books is a body without soul"

BeCool · 20/05/2013 13:49

Get rid - you house will be a lot less dusty for a start.
I keep non-fiction books of interest to me & cookbooks - just 2 shelves.
And 2 shelves of childrens books.

Novels are now all gone - they are either on kindle, or read and circulated back into the world asap after reading.

amazingmumof6 · 20/05/2013 13:53

for or against ladyclarice ?

LittleBoxes · 20/05/2013 13:54

I hate the idea that people might think I only fill my flat with books to impress other people. For me books are an emotional thing, not an intellectual thing. I can spend ages gazing at the spines of all my old friends on the shelves. It's hugely comforting just to know they're there. And I know exactly how many I've got because I've got software to catalogue them all!

I think it's other hopeless bibliophiles like me who have the more visceral reactions to the idea of getting rid of books. It's actual horror, not judginess Grin

LaQueen · 20/05/2013 13:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LaQueen · 20/05/2013 13:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dexter73 · 20/05/2013 13:58

Having lots of books isn't showing off, just as not having lots of books isn't soulless/wrong/empty minded. It's just a personal choice on what to use your space for.

ubik · 20/05/2013 14:02

I'm guilty of buying a kindle book - and then buying the hard/paperback version because i want it in it's entirety. The kindle just isn't good enough, I want the actual thing - can you get therapy for this?

I have some very old 'Three Musketeers' books my granny won as a prizes (she was v clever, grammar school girl forced to leave at 15 as her father didn't see the worth in educating girls) and some lovely old fairy tales with illustrations by Cruikshank.

I love books. I couldn't care less about decluttering.

ubik · 20/05/2013 14:02

sorry 'its'

telsa · 20/05/2013 14:05

I have thousands of books - part of my job I guess. I can't imagine not having every wall full of books. I hope that as the children get older, they will pick books off the shelf (lots of art books, philosophy, novels, poetry etc), as I did at my parents' home and develop passions. Can't do that with a Kindle (old stuck in mud, me!)

We do have periodic culls though to fit the new ones in - but there are some I have had for decades and would never shake off.

specialsubject · 20/05/2013 14:09

big big cull after 3 moves, and I am now down to three medium sized bookcases of stuff that gets read repeatedly.

and I have an excellent local library - what a brilliant concept, grab a book just because it looks like it might be interesting.

if no books (of your own) what do you do in the bath? :-)

HmmmIwonder · 20/05/2013 14:16

Get rid of some, you must have some rubbish ones in there (hiding those Dan Browns..?), just to make some room but don't throw them all out! Your kids/grandkids/ friends might spot something they really fancy and you'll feel totally justified in keeping them.
I threw out a load of books I had at university and i'm not kidding you i still wish i hadn't (and that was a good while ago!).
Mind you, it's probably worth remembering they really don't last forever. I had a copy of On the Road from the 60s, that my dd wanted to read simply because of the cool cover, but when she picked it up the spine disintegrated and the pages all fell out. She never did get round to reading the shiny new Penguin version i bought her to replace it..!

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 20/05/2013 14:29

dexter, yep, you're right. It's a fair cop. Grin

I'd still say that the overwhelming pro-book sentiment on this thread seems to be 'I love them' rather than 'You're stupid if you don't have them'.

girliefriend · 20/05/2013 14:34

My dad collects books and when we were younger at least one room in the house was given over to his books. If anything this put me right off keeping books and now when i finish a book I think 'will I want to read this again?'

If the answer is no then it goes to the charity shop

If yes then I keep.

I like the idea of passing books on and as I get most of my books from charity shops it sort of feels like it goes full circle.

dexter73 · 20/05/2013 14:38

LadyClarice - Luckily most people don't think like that but I was just drawing attention to the ones who do! Most people love books. Just because you don't keep hundreds in your house doesn't change that.

scarecrow22 · 20/05/2013 14:41

I have got I'd if maybe half my books in the last two to three years. I find it easier to weed then a few shopping bags at a time - I get tougher and braver each time Smile

flatmum · 20/05/2013 14:44

No I don't anymore, not since got a kindle and tablet. All the childrens bedrooms and the playroom have lots of chidlrens books in and there are some recipe books in the kitchen and technical/craft books in the office - but all fiction has now been sold on Amazon marketplace or given away. I don't miss them at all and it is great to have more shelf space and less cluster.

It does make me laugh when people on here say that people without obvious books on display in their living spaces are uneducated/uncultured/thick. I read every single day without fail (can't sleep at night without reading), read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including a lot of technical stuff for my job and have BSc and Masters from 2 RG unis. I do see their point about people who don't read at all but I dont think you can judge it by visible displays anymore.

QuiteOldGal · 20/05/2013 14:48

YANBU

I have culled a lot of my books as I have a kindle.

Unfortunately DH likes to obsessively collect old books of his favourite subjects and directly there is a small space on the bookcase another book appears. The thing is as a lot of them are from bookfairs and old book shops they take on a bit of a musty smell but nothing will make him part with his books so I just have to keep it managable.

He also insists on keeping them in the living room, I have suggested putting them in the boxroom but I think he likes to admire them Confused

carlajean · 20/05/2013 14:50

haven't got time to do whole thread but helium heart comment on 'visible passport to intellectality' is spot on. I used to think that visitors would look at all my books and think how well-read I was but realized they don't care. such a liberation.

Jux · 20/05/2013 15:13

When I met dh he had about 1000 books and I had about 2000. Then mum moved in with us and I have now got all hers and dad's books too. Then my brother died and all his books are here. DD, meanwhile, was getting older and needing more books too.

I reckon we've probably got about 10,000 books in our house now. I have probably read most of them. About 1000 are reference, and we probably have 20 different dictionaries and I know we have at least 2 complete sets of Encyclopaedias. There is no way I would get rid of books. We actually need a separate house for them though. Grin

And right now, dh is saying he has run out of things to read!

StoicButStressed · 20/05/2013 15:21

YAN - def notGrin BU if, having decided TO get rid of your books you give them to a charity shop.

But for me, I just couldn't (with exception of very child/age-approp ones that my lovely DS's have grown out, but even then with the exception of 'special ones).

I love books; love reading; love that ALL of my 3 boys are voracious readers; and love the fact that, to all intents and purposes, we do actually have a library in the houseBlush

DS3 (11, 12 very soon) and I have a l'il ritual of every 6 weeks or so going to the kids cinema club in a really sweet cinema in a town near us, then walking to Cafe Rouge for (cheapest poss!) lunch but only AFTER we have been in all 3 charity shops on the way where he will have £x to spend - and that is ALWAYS books. So I'm grateful you give them to charity shops IF giving them away (also as he tries to make sure he spends his money in the Cancer Research shop as his Nanny/my Mumma died a little over 3 months ago from that, so him getting books aside, is a vital source of income for those charities).

But no, I couldn't ever get rid of my/our books and one of the mantras someone else told me re DCs and books is ingrained in my brain -

"If you have great manners for others but also enjoy your own company; both of those and a love of books mean you can go anywhere in the world and enjoy yourself" Smile

MisguidedAngel · 20/05/2013 15:53

"There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more ..." (The Smiths). When I met my current OH and went to live on a boat I gave away/sold a houseful of furniture, kept books, pictures and ornaments in storage and eventually gave them away too. I only regret the books - they were a 25 year collection and like a time line of my life. Now we live in a house and I've got books everywhere again. I have a core of old favourites, classics and reference books and loads more that I will probably just read once and give away - or promote to the keepers.

I love visiting people who have lots of books, I can hardly keep away from the shelves especially if they have interesting esoteric reference books. Can't get on with kindles, but I think they must be great for holidays.

MNHQ
OliviaMMumsnet · 20/05/2013 16:02

I read somewhere you need to make room in your bookshelves for more knowledge to come into your life
Bit woo but I like the theory and now cull with abandon.