Space v. stuff: volume 1, books

All of the above!

Thanks for bringing this up, boomer. I've been thinking about a major book purge myself. I have so many that are hopelessly out of date.

i loved having stuff, but i had too much, in the last few years i've pared down considerably, digitized cd's and dvd's and sold or traded most of them off, books, i'm probably down to a hundred or so*, donated them to various sales helping out local charities



*not including graphic novels, got a lot of those

I did a big book purge a few years ago, mostly reference books that the internet made redundant. I kept all the beautiful gardening, art, architecture, home design etc type books. I kept a few novels and collections of short stories I read again from time to time. I got rid of 2/3rds of my cookbooks and only kept the ones I really like to open and use. I love having the extra space, especially in the kitchen - where I once had the cookbooks I can display some of favorite dishware and a small painting I never had wall space for.

this is a dangerous topic, I know from experience.

I sold over five hundred books some years back. Stopped buying them. But there are some books I will save forever whether I plan to read them again or not. The words and the images they evoked, the feelings I experienced, the ideas they relayed are a part of my life. Some things deserve to be saved just because.

You know I like to live dangerously, dys!

I'm glad to know I'm not facing this alone, so thank you all for chiming in.

I'm hoping I'll feel like Green Witch feels about her kitchen after this purge and not just lonely for books.

It feels kind of good sorting though stuff and getting rid of a lot of it.

On another thread I talked about a teacher occassionally slipping me a book and how cool that was. Today I came across two of them, meaning I've had them for 30 or so years: "Concerning Dissent and Civil Disobedience" by Abe Fortas and "The Future of an Illusion" by Sigmund Freud. What kind of kid must I have been for teachers to hand me those books?

A precocious one, obviously! (Which doesn't surprise me.)

GAHHHHHH!!

It's hard getting rid of things. Books are heavy!

I've managed to narrow them down to fit on just a few shelves which will rid my hallway of three very large, not very pretty, bookshelves. Mr. B thinks I've lost my mind.

Its nice to have such immediately visible progress on a project though. It feels great to purge stuff.

All of the above, plus I'm afraid I'll regret it someday if I get rid of them. Mostly the latter.

Actually, I wasn't precocious. And I was just a mediocre student for the most part. I rarely bothered to show up. I don't know why they gave me these books and at the time I never thought to ask. I need to go back and reread them and consider what might have led to me receiving them.

Yeah, regret. I worry about that too.

But I don't regret the last purge and really can't even remember what I gave away. It was a much bigger purge than this one.

I think we should have a wake for the Boomer's books no longer with us.

A wake, or social as referred to in Canada, is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased BOOKS, with the BOOK present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a LIBRARY.

The English word "wake" originated from the ancient Indo-European root "wog" or "weg," meaning "to be active." This evolved into several meanings, including "growth" ("vegetable"), "to become or stay alert," and "watching or guarding." The third also evolved into the word "watch," and it is in this sense that people have a "wake" for someone who recently died. While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is "become or stay alert" meaning, a "wake" for the dead "harks back to the antiquated "watch or guard" sense. This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up." In many places, a wake is now synonymous with viewing or funeral visitation or Visiting Hours. It is often a time for the deceased's friends and loved ones to gather and to console the immediate family prior to the funeral. In Australia, New Zealand, and northern England, the wake commonly happens after the funeral service in the absence of the body and is often "wet" -- which is to say alcohol and food are served and, as a result, the wake often resembles a party for the deceased as well as being of comfort for their family. In this way it follows the model of the traditional Irish wake, although there is a long tradition of feasting and celebration connected with funeral service amongst the Māori of New Zealand that predates European settlement.

I have not missed nor looked for a single book I purged. I can't even remember the majority of what they were. I did give the atlases to an artist friend and she used them in some collage she was doing, so some sort of live on in another form.

I'm a re-reader. I've purged several thousand books in a couple of rounds. I've also re-purchased books that I'd purged. I finally learned to trust my instincts about my plans to re-read some books. I do re-read.

Ever so often, I give a stash of books to our local library. They always appreciate "new" books and this way, I can re-read them, should I choose to. So my books
are never far...

At some point in college I had to sell a bunch of books that I had bought. I was pissed and vowed never to do it again, and have since re-purchased lots of those books.

The problem is, I never read hardcopy books anymore - I pretty much ONLY read books on my Ipod touch. It fits right in my pocket, I always have it with me, and I have more books on there than I could possibly read in a year. It's been over a year since I opened any hardcopy book. I don't really have any intention of reading any more hardcopy books.

But I have something like 1500 fantasy and sci-fi books, mostly paperback. I can get most any of them for free on my Ipod whenever; so, why not get rid of them?

Still hard to bring myself to do so. Even if it is logical I'd feel like **** while doing it. But they take up a lot of room!

Cycloptichorn

It does!

We have to do another wave of book purges... we do one every couple of years. I think paperbacks that are not aging well (spines crack when you open them, that sort of thing) and are cheap to replace will be the main victims this time. Most other obvious stuff has already gone.

I definitely re-read and definitely love it when we run out of library books and can set the kid loose on our shelves.

I love purging in general though, whether it's clothes or toys or books or even just organizing my desk.

Powell's usually pays pretty good for used books but I need the Goodwill karma this time around.

I've discovered that I'm also purging an amazing amount of dust so this will be a good move for allergy boy.

I ran out of boxes with a lot of stuff still on the shelves so I've had ants in my pants most of the afternoon. I hate having to stop once I get going.

most of what i keep are the re-reading sort, can relate to having to purchase again a book i've purged, and not being able to buy some