I have a confession to make – I enjoy decluttering my bookshelves. There’s just something about seeing a clean, no-nonsense bookshelf with all my books lined up in a row that pleases me.
Do I wish I had the library from Beauty and the Beast? Of course. Do I dream about one day having walls of bookshelves from floor to ceiling? Yes.
But I don’t live in a castle. And I don’t live in a home where I have big empty walls that I can fill with bookshelves. Right now I live in an apartment with very minimal space.
I have a lot of books. And sometimes I run out of space for all my books.
My books always seem to appear on my nightstand, on the floor, on the side table, in my bag and stacked in front of the bookcase. I put books in a pile only to find myself moving that pile from place to place. During the day the pile sits on the couch. After work, when I relax and hang out on my couch, the pile moves to the bed. When I go to sleep, I move that pile back to the couch.
There are books stacked on top of books in my bookcases. Sometimes, I feel like I’m playing a game of Tetris to try to fit books into all the nooks and crannies.
Sometimes I wonder, where did all these books come from? I have books that I’ve read and want to keep, books that I haven’t read, books that I’m going to read, books from the library.
So every 6 months or so I’ll go through and cull my books, getting rid of those I won’t read again or won’t read ever.
I never feel guilty because I know I am passing on books to other people who will love them. Giving books to people brings me joy.
I find that giving books away is a great way to give my books a new loving home. I like to donate them to thrift stores or leave them in little free libraries. I like to give them to indie or used bookstores. I will give them to friends to read and let them keep the book when they are finished or they can pass it along to someone else.
I just want others to read the books that have made me happy and I hope that all my books will bring delight to other people.
Of course, like I said, it doesn’t hurt that when I am finished decluttering, my bookcases are all clean and well-organized. All my books are in alphabetical order by author and I know where everything is. I like it when things are neat and tidy, which is how my bookshelves look for at least a couple weeks until I start filling them up again.
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