To ask how many books you have?

[Merryoldgoat]

I’m trying to declutter my house which is slow going but I’ve reached the bookcase.

There are a good few books I’ll never read again but I feel funny about getting rid of books. Why is this?

Do you keep yours and just get more and more bookcases? Or do you keep thinning them down.

YABU - send them to the charity shop
YANBU - get more bookcases you heathen.

About a thousand - I cut them down by nearly half when we moved house recently. I got rid of anything disappointing or meh, or duplicates, things I was never going to reread, and made my sister take a share of our childhood books she’d moved to mine when she was moving! I usually read literary fiction and one third of that tends to be blah. I do have a kindle but haven’t used it in ages. I used to read genre fiction on it but kind of went off that so stopped bothering with the kindle. I like the covers on literary fiction. I also think a house looks empty/unfriendly with no books.

I would have guessed at 600ish but I've just done an estimate of the ones in the lounge and that came to 220 (mostly unread). There must be at least double that in the dining/play room plus office, kitchen, bedroom and the kids bedrooms so perhaps closer to 1000.

Like a pp, one of my favourite hobbies is browsing charity shops and second hand book shops and I can easily come back from a shopping trip with 20+ books. That's just reminded me, I have about 40 books in a cupboard to take to Barter Books where you get about a £1 credit per book to spend on more books!

about 4,000+ and we built a library when we moved in - fortunate enough to have the space... also have shelves in the loo / in the music room / in the kitchen / etc.

however, an ancestor used to have a house with a library in each of the three wings (North library / West library / East library) - I continue to dream!

@BrilliantBulb here’s one tidy one and one in the playroom that I’m slowly reclaiming from the DCs!

Taking books to the charity shop is too tempting - I always come back with more than I've dropped off because their book section is brilliant.

We probably have around 600 books in the house, because my husband fitted shelving round our chimney to fit in favourites, his art books and a rolling stock of currently wanting to read books. We do clear out regularly and donate. I don't think it does to stockpile loads of book you don't necessarily read, and tbh I am trying to cut down my consumption by using the library lots more!

About a thousand. I got rid of about fifty a few years ago and now I want them back!

I've kept a few childhood books, autographed books and recipe books but gave away or ziffited the rest when I moved.

We have thousands. I dream of a dedicated library.

I don't enjoy reading books on a kindle, so that's not a solution for me.

I cull a little bit all the time. I also 'retire' books to the attic. But in reality, we're reliant on our parents houses to store a lot and that probably isn't ideal.

We have around 16 tall bookcases double stacked plus the odd inconvenient pile that dh ignores until he trips over it. I struggle to get rid of books but it's got ridiculous. Too many I'll never reread or just haven't got around to reading in the 1st place.

Just cleared out my cookery books as I had around 60 of those yet either cook from memory or use the internet. I've kept just under half. Next up is the baby books and then craft books. Fiction last because last I tried dh kept finding me reading in alcoves.

Apart from some sentimental copies, I give away books once I've read them a couple of times but recently started using a kindle. I've read a lot of books but dont have many!

I got rid of all of my books except some sentimental ones that I was given for birthdays etc and have messages inside. I have a kindle and now very little time to read anyway as I'm on mat leave with my second dc.
The kids have lots of books though.

Probably about 40 waiting to be read, I pass my books on to my grandmother when I've finished with them so they don't sit about for long. Then she passes them on to her sister who then passes them onto someone else. I only buy new when I really want to read a book by a particular author or I happen to be passing The Works - usually I buy them from the charity shop.

I resisted getting a kindle for a long time but I used to use half my holiday luggage allowance on books, dh insisted on getting me on and it's great.

I meant to add - you should pass yours on too - no point in all those lovely stories sitting there not being enjoyed.

If I'm struggling to get rid of a book, I have a look to see how much it woukd cost to replace if I regret it. Most are available second hand for

I use both kindle and books. I use kindle for novels and non fiction that i read front to back, but 'real' books for those dip in and out of e.g. cookery books, photo books, text books. I also have an insane number of adult colouring books (useless on kindle!)

I have far too many books, I try to clear out every so often, but they creep back.

I have a large bookcase full now as we have moved house in the past 2 years and now have more space. I have a kindle as well and both DC have a small bookcase in both of their rooms (pointless dust collectors as neither like reading)

I hate the snobbery on mn around not having books though

I keep my books as I love reading. Although I'm wary of ending up like my grandparents. Not only did every room have at least two bookcases but when they downsized we found books in wardrobes, cupboards, under the stairs, in the attic. They were everywhere so they did get rid of a lot then. So as long as I don't get that bad I'll just keep buying bookcases.

Not enough is the only acceptable answer. I still feel sad about books I've donated to the charity shop in the past.

I've just done a very quick estimate and reckon we have about 6 or 7 thousand books in the house. We do have a library, but bookshelves have also encroached into the hall and bedrooms.
Most of the bookshelves are double stacked.

My husband has a kindle, I still read real life books. I think we probably have around 400 books. It sounds more than it actually looks on the shelves. There is a bookcase/shelf in more than one room.

Loads and loads, we've just moved house and for reasons which are way too complicated a lot of stuff went into storage first - there were 28 boxes of books and this was after a good few dozen went off to Music Magpie and charity shops.
There's some I've read lots of times and will go back to, DD loves a good series and wont' get rid of anything either. I do have a kindle for things I'll only read once and use the library as well but we are running out of shelf space again!

I struggle with this. I hate getting rid of books, but am not a big rereader so I have what essentially are souvenirs of the reading experience that I can’t part with. Kindle is not an option as I don’t enjoy it really, so only used for holidays and impulse purchases.

I’m a big fan of coffee table and graphic non-fiction books (the ratio of Thames & Hudson books to others in one bookcase is so high that I look like I have an employee discount) and am fine with keeping and displaying those as they are meant to be books you live with, dipping in as the urge takes you. Also fine with yet-to-be-read books, which I see as like having a nice full fridge. But the others trouble me!

I keep non-fiction books. I have a thing about collecting philosophy, sociology, criminology, psychology related text books and I keep those. I also keep classic fiction books I will reread or are nostalgic to me such as Harry Potter, Lord or The Rings, Discworld, Poirot... I get rid of fiction books that I won't read again, usually crime-based novels, or ones that don't hold any special place in my heart (the type you read once and forget, holiday easy-reading thrillers and the like)... I figure, if I want to read them again some time in the future when I've forgotten the storyline and stumble across the title, I can get them again for cheap in a charity shop, Amazon used, or Kindle.