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.

Thousands - we have a library with a dining table in rather than a dining room and then floor to ceiling bookshelves in 2 other rooms plus shelves on the stairs.....

I only buy fiction on my Kindle now so am in the process of decluttering one shelf which has all my novels on. I also cull my cookery books on a regular basis. I'd be really interested to know if anyone has found a good way of selling fiction and cook books!

I had to give lots of books away twice owing to a lack of space. Left to me would fill two book cabinets.

This is a great thread for me. We have hundreds of books in two languages. English, our mother-tongue, and the language of the country where we live. The foreign-language books are easy to get rid of, because of abundant supply in the second-hand shops but the English I find incredibly difficult to toss/donate. We have a good second-hand shop with a good range of kids and adult English books, so I keep them to read, for the kids and any future guests who want to read English. My quandary is how to get rid of the English books. I really, really want to. I have culled little bits but I have great collections of authors and interesting subjects and, sigh, I just cannot. Any tips?

I have about 2500 books on my kindle... and that's excluding Kindle Unlimited books which are designed to pass through my life rather than staying permantly (if I really like them I will buy them on kindle). I used to have all physical books but then I moved house about 10 years ago and it was ridiculous, so when I unpacked I was really vicious and culled lots. There were about 100 which I couldn't bear to part with so bought them on kindle over a period of time.

I love books, I read 4-5 a week and live in fear of Being Somewhere Without A Book To Read (and have passed this onto my children, both of them have kindles too), but I have much better things to put up in my house than bookshelves... My husband doesn't read at all but won't get rid of books, so we have bookshelves of all of his books which aren't looked at. I am banking on the fact that he doesn't actually know what he's got and am culling them stealthily...

@gardeninggirl68 - kindles are useful (fir travelling) but they're not books. It's just not the same.

Christ I’m no closer to deciding. I’m just shuffling stuff around!

I have never got rid of a book!

I've made a point of getting rid of fiction once
read. My dh only reads non fiction so keeps most of his ' for research ' seldom opened again
I'm crazy for buying book, last week bought the Richard & Judy autumn choice ( 6 books ) and also 12 physical books from Amazon , so total 18 , to add to my bedside like of around a further 20 , so fiction wise about 40 then cookery .

Keep the ones you will reread or use for reference...donate the ones you don't use. Don't understand how anyone like an electronic device to the feel, smell and comfort of a real book but don't get buried by books....it can happen very easily.

Over 1000
Many are very old & most are not available via kindle etc.
The majority are related to ancient historical study.

We have in the region of 2000, these cover fiction, non fiction, art books, hobby related books, the baby's books, and a small collection of graphic novels.
I usually only get rid of thriller type books as I wouldn't read them twice, they would go back to the charity shop as I would not usually buy them new or would have been from the library.

I have around 100 unread, and have been trying to buy less/ask for less at Christmas.

Too many to count, but over 500! Some over 100 years old, some rare editions, some complete sets Etc. If I go away and buy paperbacks to read, I normally don’t hang onto these (unless I’m going to read them again) but I’ll add to the collection when something good comes out (the Thursday Murder Club has recently been added).
I had extra deep cupboards built in my bedroom to accommodate shelves of books at the back, and have two bookcases, one large, one small, in the lounge and dining room.

So I have a cull every few years. My primary question to myself is will I ever read this again, if the answer is no then it becomes a question is there any genuine sentimental reason for hanging on to it ie. it was a gift or it's a particularly lovely volume or it's one I want to lend to people. If it fulfills none of those criteria then it goes to the charity shop. If I'm not going to read it again there is no point. I seem to go through cycles and build up full sets ( I read a lot of fantasy which is bad for this). Every few years I know the passion for that author may have wained so I pass them on. I do often keep the first one in the series so I have a reminder on the shelf of something I really enjoyed and it's there if I want to investigate them again via the library or kindle. If you don't pass them on the odds are they will get dumped when you die. I worked for a charity sorting collections as they came in and much went for pulping. Pass it on whilst it's still fit to be read again. I still have a lot of books but this keeps it down to a dull roar. Thank the book for the pleasure and pass it on! Good luck.

Never counted them, but must be over 2000, plus kindle books. And that's after we got rid of loads last year.

I don't like getting rid of books.

The living room did look like a library, but a couple of years ago (pre-pandemic!) we rearranged the furniture and spread the bookshelves out through the house a bit, so it's not quite so libraryish now.

KINDLE : ‘Mental floss’ new books and interesting 99p offers to read on travels. Back up children's classics that I bought in case of travel trouble.
Also KINDLE : Some very traditional/old reliable cook books for ref. when travelling. Also some that were on 99p offer where I may also have a physical hard copy on my cookery bookshelf. Also weird community collaborations and odd squad titles that crack me up. I have wandered some alleys, ginnels and rabbit holes on amazon titles that were like catnip to my inner book worm.
COFFEE TABLE books: beautiful and interesting books that I switch every couple of months. Usually art galleries, museums or architecture with beautiful photographs.
I have AUDIBLE on i pad for car journeys across the UK when alone. Scandi-noir, murder - I must have a word with myself about this.
Physical BOOKSHELVES. Hundreds of cookery books grouped by authors in the main. Some odds/specials grouped by type of cuisine. Then staple classics like “ how to do everything “readers digest, enquire with in - a tome that is very useful for everyday life and Mrs B. live in their own wee spot with the dairy cookbook and good housekeeping US and UK versions along with more all rounders of that ilk.
STUDY bookshelf has children's classics, some beautiful folio editions with amazing artwork. Glossy car books and modern and vintage books about mountaineering and associated topics. Atlas and map books.
I live in a holiday village that has a bookstand for fundraising for one of the village halls by selling your old unwanted books. So when our paperbacks needed to go they were donated to this cause. I love listening to kids picking a book/s as their read, for some families its a holiday tradition to get something on the first day of stay. One teenage girl said she has a little box with all her books from her childhood holidays kept safely.
So the short answer is 1000’s but I try to control hoarding tendencies by using kindle for those that are ‘ in transit temporary entertainment ‘or if these were real books there would be no baggage allowance left. I could not imagine a life devoid of physical books.

We do the occasional cull - we usually end up with 5 or 6 books to send to the charity shop. Out of 5000+. Bookshelves in every room aside from the bathrooms!

There is a Japanese term, 'tsundoku' for the practice of buying and then not reading books. If you then Google 'Tsundoku benefits' you can find articles on how this a good thing, as it keeps your mind open to new knowledge.

Yes, it is possible I have grabbed onto this term and accompanying vague-science to justify my 2500+ books.

I've just spent more on bookshelves than we did on our last car. Has doubled the amount of shelf space we have. I'm thrilled with them.

I had thousands. Have sold or given away most now and have just a small 4 shelf bookcase. Kindle all the way.

Hundreds but currently donating nearly all of them. We both use kindles so the collection hasn't changed for years, so is kind of just gathering dust.

I love books, I love reading, but for me it isn't about the physical objects at all. But I don't really get sentimentally attached to stuff in general.

Also, having a massive 'to be read' pile would completely stress me out. I keep a short list of books I want to read on goodreads, but don't buy one until I finish the one I'm reading.

I couldn't give you an accurate figure but I know it's into 4 figures. However the honest answer to the question is 'not enough'. Books make me happy. Empty bookshelves make me sad. I've given away one non textbook in my life (and not many more of my textbooks) - it was a book that I disliked so much it made me feel angry Still took me over 10 years to pass it on.

physical zero now. did have loads though

eBooks/ epubs types thousands. I use play store books on my phone where you can get many free or 99p and an app to read books that ive downloaded from the internet to put on my phone

I've got lots; we have four free standing book shelves in our living room filled with books. I love them; so does my husband.

If they bring you joy keep them, if not, distribute them to friends and family

Thousands. We ended up building an extension so we now have a dedicated library, though we still have bookshelves around the rest of the house as well!

I've probably got 400-500 books in paper form & maybe 300 Ebooks between Kobo & Kindle.