AIBU to replace most of the books we throw?

[OMGInShock]

We're moving soon and DH wants to cut our bookshelves to a minimum. He says we should throw all the paperbacks as no one will ever read them again.

WIBTotallyU to agree but then buy them again on my e-reader? I've a massive collection of Penguin Classics like Hardy, Collins, Dickens, Austen, Brontë etc and I get his point, we're unlikely to read them again in their current format - small print, book so not practical to stuff in a bag or read in the evening. I kind of think we should keep them for the DC but the language is quite tricky for non-native speakers so I think DC would be more likely to read them on an e-reader as there's a dictionary function.

It would feel wrong not to have the "classics" in the house!

YABU - waste of money, throw* anyway, no one will re-read.
YANBU - should always invest in books and have the classics available!

*throw as in try to pass on / donate, not recycle unless no one wants them.

I wouldn't get rid of the books in the first place.

That is also my default setting. But we are moving to somewhere with less storage and we have to make some space.

We currently have 6 floor to ceiling bookcases in the cellar and the DC each have two floor to ceiling ones in their rooms, DC1 has some shelves double stacked and DC2 also has a half-height bookcase. We have one half bookcase in the living room. So we will not be without books. I won't throw any of theirs.

Well you can get a lot of the classics for free or very low cost for ereaders so that will be a good compromise.

I love a real paper book....for me personally no kindle/e-book would cut it when it comes to reading.

If you do decide to get rid and have time to do so find a good home for them instead of binning...free sites/second time around book store, be ashame to throw them away.

Me neither. It would be like tearing my own heart out

I wouldn't throw them- a house without books looks bare to me.

Depending on the age & condition the Penguin Classics & similar might be worth something.

I've a shelf of old hardback Angela Brazil's that I picked up for a song - each one is worth over £100 & some over £500.

I donate books we’ll genuinely never read again but wouldn’t get rid of classics. Why are you doing it?

If you don’t have a choice, so be it, but it would be a bit crackers to then buy them all on your. E-reader. Just replace them as and when you want to read them. But better still, keep them.

We moved two years ago and were very ruthless about books. We sorted out any that we didn't think we'd read again and took them to the Oxfam Bookshop.

We now have a one in, one out policy which I'm not very good at sticking to......

Most of the classics are available free on e-readers. DH and I both read a lot and DH prefers his Kindle because he can adjust the font when his eyes are tired in the evening. I prefer proper books but agree about old paperbacks having tiny writing.

The only chance I get to read now is on the kindle app on my phone. It’s so much easier for me. I think it makes sense to have the books you love on a format that is easiest for you. Many people have books on their shelves they’ve never read. Books aren’t for show, they’re for reading so do what ever encourages you to read more.

We have some books but I don't see the point of having something not used to me a book is not the same as an ornament, so if we are not going to read them I am not sure what is the point of keeping them

But we love reading

Classics can go to oxfam.

But I'd be keeping as many as possible.

I have 3 floor to ceiling bookcases and am currently having a cull. I'm rereading and getting rid of the ones I won't read for a third time.
This is simply because I have a large incoming amazon wishlist!

I can't throw away books.
Keep them all!!

Op could you donate the books to the library or charity shop?

I got rid of all my Penguin Classics recently because the font is too small for my eyesight now. If I cannot read a book I would rather give it to someone who can.

I am replacing them slowly with beautiful hardback editions with slightly larger print. It means I now have an answer for “what would you like for your birthday” for the next few years. My adult children are very happy about this.

Get rid, OP, then replace them in whatever format works for you.

One book you should get is Marie Kondo life changing magic of tidying. Once you've read that then sort through your books again.

We have thousands of books! I'm an avid reader & don't read crappy 'holiday style novels'

I regularly go to my bookshelf to find a book I know i have & when I open it i see i bought it or it was given to me in 1988 or similar...these books have kept me company for many many years

I would never ever give them up! I'd rather be in a house with no furniture than a house with no books.

I read every single day & i reread books as well as read new ones. I'm on a very specific, quite niche track of pursuing a particular subject now & have been for well over a year & it shows no signs of abating & I'm obsessed & v happy!

And the area I'm interested in is from the cannon of classics.

I love that my dc are surrounded by books & that they see both me & dh reading daily. It's part of the fabric of our lives & v different to how I grew up.

I realise people read on devices but personally I'm not into that at all. Nothing beats the feel (& smell) of a book for me.

I find houses without books sterile. We have books (on both shelves & in stacks) in every room & a library in one room

I really don't understand the mentality of never throwing books away, as though they are holy relics.

If you're not going to reread them, or if they are non-fiction which is out of date, why keep them?

I've found that some free/ 50p editions are badly formatted - no chapters or index - and very annoying to read on the Kindle as a consequence.

Get rid of them. Books are dust collectors, sat on shelves that on one ever takes off or reads again.

Join a library. Cheaper & less clutter.

I'd get rid of my husband* before I got rid of my books.
*I don't have a husband, but hypothetically.

Currently downsizing, DW wants me to throw out all my books, compromised by taking a fair few paperbacks and some hardbacks I either didn’t read or really struggled with so wouldn’t read again to charity shop,refused however to dispose of them all, I hate getting rid of books, e-readers just aren’t the same

I have put a lot of well-loved classics that were getting decidedly tatty - too tatty for the charity shop - on my Kindle. As a pp has said, if the copyright has expired they can be extremely cheap to download.

TBH I have reluctantly come to prefer reading on my Kindle, largely because I do much of my reading in bed, and it’s light and easy to hold, with no bedside light needed. Plus of course the adjustable font.

We still have plenty of crammed bookshelves though!

If you keep physical books or buy any in electronic format do so for yourself. The DC might or might not decide to read certain books and might or might not listen to your recommendations!

I think it’s sad when books sit there for years unread give them to someone else to read. Why do you want to re buy them if you’re not going to read them? Is it a snobery thing?