If I didn't like a book I'll sell it. I don't see any reason why it should take up space that would be better for a book I actually like.

100% agree!

Eh, I saw the controversy and people were definitely overly freaking out about it. I think a few people mentioned that folks were acting like Marie was going to come to their house and throw away all their books! XD Also, some others (or maybe Marie?) gave context...apparently in Japan, a lot of books (I guess things like light novels, manga, etc.) are printed on cheap paper and after a while they apparently just disintegrate? I think that's where she was coming from.

Anyway, I have a degree in a technical field, so while my science, math and engineering books don't necessarily "spark joy" in me (I don't get excited about differential equations, for sure!), it's in my best interest to keep those books in case I ever need them or go back to grad school. I wouldn't get much (if any) money for them now since they are probably 10 editions past my copies now - that's the racket in the scientific text field...mostly same material but new editions every year or two, but I'd definitely feel bad just throwing them away. If I couldn't get any money from a used bookstore, I'd donate them to the public library bookstore, or try to find an artist that wanted to do some art with it or try to recycle them before just throwing them in the garbage.

That being said, I am going digital as much as possible, because I definitely don't have room for many more hard-copy books. I'm also a *very* heavy library user, so I buy few books these days, anyway.

I prefer dead-tree books, but I don't like storing them! The library books that I currently have are riding around in the front passenger seat of my car right now. XD

Ive been a huge fan of Marie Kondo for years... way before she started “trending” and there are people that rag on her for everything. I completely agree when you say people are overly freaking out. You can’t keep every single book... it’s just not possible. I love books hard core but i only have one bookcase of the ones that spark joy for me. All the others are at the library available to check out at any time I want.

I read her Spark Joy book several years ago and she offers more advice, like how once you've read a book, you know the story. And that does help.
What really got me to purge was having flooding (no damage, thank goodness), but the majority of my library was on my bed and having to put everything back in order...that helped me get rid of entire shelf's worth of (mostly paperback fiction) that I honestly wasn't going to read again.

So glad you didn’t have damage! There is nothing wrong with keeping books that you love and passing others on.

Perhaps I am a bit of a hoarder in some ways, but only with books I like or have bought* and plan to read. However, I have no issue at all getting rid of books I didn't like or no longer want. I either pass them on to friends of family who I think might like them, or I donate them.

As for Marie Kondo, I think that whole thing was a huge overreaction. She never said you had to get rid of all of your books, but people acted like she did. The whole uproar over it was silly.


*That may be my actual problem...buying too many books, lol.

That’s good you donate and pass on!

I get defensive when people pick on her. She has helped me with making my house so much more comfortable to live in. People piss me off when they bash her. I just want to scream hold onto all your shit...who cares, just don’t cut down people who don’t want to live that way. You can’t take stuff with you when you die so why leave it for your family to clean up?

If I didn't like and have no plans of rereading it, or if I bought it and decided I'm not going to read it, there's no need for me to keep it, right?

I think it's understandable to be defensive. I don't see the need to bash her. If you don't like her suggestions and advice, don't follow them, simple as that.

I mean, I like having the things I collect around me, and perhaps I have too much. But right now, it makes me happy. But I would never cut down or denigrate anyone who felt differently. Why would I? They need to do what makes them happy, just as I do.

People get in an uproar over the silliest things.

That is so true. The internet makes it 100 times worse by giving those people a platform.

Absolutely.

I am a bit of a hoarder in some ways, but only with books I like or have bought* and plan to read. However, I have no issue at all getting rid of books I didn't like or no longer want. I either pass them on to friends of family who I think might like them, or I donate them. same here!

:)

LOL No. Not well.
Once I went through all my books to sort and organize them, but I ended up only giving away a box of them. And kept about 3 bookshelves worth. [cough]

On the other, I love Marie Kondo and her book, The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story, is on my to-buy list.
I think it's great advice for people like my LH who has books but doesn't really read them. Audio is more his thing. LH could give up all but a handful of books and be unphased. (The horror, right?)

Personally, I am not a hoarder but a categorist. I have books that are pieces of art, books that are memorabilia, books I read over and over and over and over and books that I have because I write. Etc. I think a purge now and then is alright, because if not, things happen. I have literally been pinned to the wall by a misguided bookshelf or gotten buried in my books. Yes, ouch. Most advice (and books) aren't universal. There are books today that I had no interest in 10 years ago and vice versa. <3
It takes all types. :D

P.S. The fact that there are no scales on that dragon's skull is giving me goosebumps. ^^;;

Edited 2019-03-17 07:54 am (UTC)

I'm more like you I think! I keep books for different reasons!

I think the dragon is wearing a "lightning skull" on top of his head! (for the candles) ;-)

Yes! Books are universal and er diversal. ;p
Plus I have an entire shelf and a half of kids books, new and inherited. Mwaha.

I can live with a candelabra hat. ^^;;

First, I don't like Marie Kondo as I don't like all the "life coaches". It's a completely personal opinion of course and I don't judge people who like her and find help in her books. Still, like most of you, I think the reactions to her advice regarding books was excessive and disrespectful!

As for the advice itself, I'm not completely ok with it... I think the reactions were sparked because she treats books like she treats other utilitarian objects. A book is not a Tupperware box! For me, the problem is that, for a lot of people, books have another meaning that just being "useful".

I particularly like this part of the Guardian article: "Our book collections record the narrative of expansion, diversion, regression, terror and yet-to-be-discovered possibilities of our reading life. This is why, on entering your living space, people immediately migrate to examine your bookshelves, rather than rummage in your cutlery or sock drawers."

I have books I'll probably never read again but I keep them because they are memories of a moment of my life, I have books I keep because there are gifts, I keep books because I think they make sense in my collections, I keep books because they spark something (not necessarily joy).

Of course, I have the luxury to have some space to keep them. I've also made a big sorting when I changed my bookshelves last year and gave around 20 books to an association. Why these ones? Because they hadn't any meaning for me. It was mostly booked I bought for my lessons when I was a teacher or books I had to read at school.

Yup, like me.

I like that line about people gravitating to shelves. Someday I shall have my own in house library.. <3
I think I gave the same number away in my last purge. Maybe less. Lol

Here's a twist on the question then, Are you a hoarder if you have a bunch of books you have yet to read? :0

I'd like to be a book hoarder, but sadly I don't have the space for many books:(

I used to be, but with age came the wish to downsize, which meant getting rid of the over 2300 books I owned. I’ve managed to let go of about 500 of them so far. It’s a slow process. *g*

OMG! How many shelves was that? :0
<3

Right now I have twelves 2-foot wide bookshelves. Four have six shelves, eight have five. I used to have three more five-shelve bookcases. So while I used to have 79 shelves, I now only (!) have 64. :-)

I am definitely a hoarder.

That said, over the last two or three months I've been having an epic clear-out in my bedroom to make way for new furniture and move things around, so I have forced myself to be ruthless and have charity shopped a lot of books that I have no intention of ever reading again.

Most of the time, though, I just accumulate books (and other stuff, to be honest), and have to occasionally force myself to have bouts of getting rid of things.

(https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/aeris444/20826437/414521/414521_original.jpg)

i don't agree with her system when it comes to books, but i do think people are overreacting. i understand where she's coming from in keeping what sparks joy/is important to you but i, personally, wouldn't part with my books willy nilly. i think what it boils down to is the kind of reader you are - a collection might not hold importance to a casual reader compared to an avid.

every few months i go through my collection and remove any book i didn't finish or didn't like. i'm not someone who rereads books but i keep the ones i loved, hold fond memories, collections, and classics. i donate my books to a local charitable shop, so they can go to someone who will appreciate them more than me.

I heard about the controversy with Marie Kondo. but to be honest, i've been a bit like that for years. Hubby was in the military and we didn't keep anything we didn't need because it was a hassle to pack it all up and move it every few years. I like being fairly minimalist. There was a point when we were pretty settled for 10 years and my book shelves just bloomed! So I do have the capacity to be a hoarder. Then we moved again to our own house and knew we had to downsize. Hoarding cured!

I hoard in other ways though. Favourite actor... i'll snag every picture on the internet! and all their work. I becomes a challenge to collect it all. I consider myself a completist rather than a hoarder there though.