Books Challenge
This decluttering challenge was definitely a project that needed to be broken down into phases.
Prep Work-what are you going to do with the books you’re not keeping?
Fiction you’ve already read
Fiction you haven’t read yet
Non-fiction (the toughest one for me)
Prep Work
It’s easy to get stuck on he first step, but this one is more about mentally preparing for the end. What are you going to do with the books that you’re setting free? Here are some ideas. Test run a few and see what’s most convenient or fits in with errands you already have.
Little Libraries: they look like oversized bird houses with plexi-glass doors, built and maintained by book-loving citizens. There’s a take-a-book-share-a-book policy, but it’s okay to only share and not do any taking.
Friends of the Library associations: check with your local library, or just google your town and Friends of the Library. They sell used books to raise money for the library.
Goodwill and other thrift stores: I really hate the obnoxiously hard-to-remove price stickers goodwill puts on their books, but if you’re already dropping off donations periodically, this could be an easy option.
Sell them: Most towns have at least one used bookstore that will buy or offer trade credit for your used books. I can’t recommend selling used books online unless you have some special rare titles. The amount of shipping supplies required is way more hassle than it’s worth.
Gifting. A gift-centric holiday season is approaching and books make excellent gifts. Even used books.
Sorting
When I tried to start the sorting process I couldn’t make muster up the energy to empty an entire bookshelf and sort piles around the room. Modify for how much energy you have. For fiction, I think it’s easier to leave them on the shelf, unless you want to categorize by genre. Just go through title by title and ask yourself if it’s a keeper or time to let it go.
Fiction You’ve Read
We’re going to start with fiction, any novel or collection of short stories, that you have read in its entirety, ask yourself if it satisfies one of these four KEEP REQUIREMENTS. Do you...
plan on ever reading it again Do you have a comfort book that you’ve read over and over? I’d love to know what it is, hit Reply and I’ll add it to my reading list.
have a strong sentimental attachment to it. If this applies to every book, rank them and only keep the top 20%
want to keep it for your family or roommates to read, sharing is caring.
think it’s such a gawd-damn amazing book that you want to keep it around to cherish it’s amazing-ness and maybe lend it to someone, or give it away as a present someday, but not now.
If a book doesn't fit in one of those categories, it’s ok. Somebody else will enjoy reading it soon.
If a book doesn’t fit the requirements it goes in the Moving On pile. Feel free to take a break of five minutes or five days. The goal is to get comfy with keeping your book collection to a manageable size, which takes time.
Fiction You Haven’t Read
There is exactly one question to help you let go of books you haven’t read. Do you still want to read it? For reals though. Sometimes our acquisitions are aspirational, especially if you like to browse thrift stores and Free Libraries. But again, is your answer, “meh, maybe if there was nothing else to read”? There’s always something else to read. Let It Go.
What if the book was a present? Do you want to read it? If you don’t, it’s ok. There’s no law that says you have to read it just because someone gave it to you. I’m sure the person was being thoughtful, but if it’s not something you’re interested in, and it's not unusually valuable, you can let it go. Give that book away so it can be enjoyed by someone else. **Probably a bad idea to regift it back to the giver, unless you’re trying to make a point.
Still unsure? Does the idea of reading this book feel a little like homework? Let it go! We’re still talking about fiction here. If we were sorting non-fiction, I don't mind the homework feeling, but fiction is supposed to be a magical portal to new experiences. If that experience sounds like a boring slog, you don’t have to do it.
That's it, that's the whole "sorting your non-read fiction books" plan. After you clear out the meh, when you’re ready for the next book, it’ll be so much easier to find something that makes you excited.
Non-Fiction
I was expecting this section to be much harder than sorting through fiction, but it turned out to be more fun. Staring at the bookshelf, hoping a plan would emerge wasn’t working. I had to just do it, and that meant taking books off the shelves. Sometimes you need to hold something in your hands to assess how much value it’s bringing to your life. Sorting by subject matter and seeing all the piles on the floor around me, I could start to see the themes emerge, and how mine and my kid’s interests have evolved over time. As far as eye-opening, self-reflective, organizing journeys go, 10 out of 10, highly recommend!
Memoirs and Biographies
These are the closest in format to novels, so let's give them the same keep criteria, which is simply, do you still want to read or reread it? If not, that’s okay. My main exception to this rule was books written by or about people I actually know. Now, if you’re an author, and you’re in community with other authors, this could be a large number of books. You might need a purgatory pile. Maybe there will be shelf space in the end, maybe not. They need to wait and see.
Cookbooks
Easy question, have you opened it in the last 5 years? Is it a family heirloom? No? You can let it go. Especially if it’s about a specific diet that you are not following and maybe wasn’t as healthy for you as it claimed to be. A lot of folks, myself included, keep their cookbooks on a separate shelf nearer where the cooking happens. In which case, you can save this category for its own decluttering session.
Dictionaries and Thesauruses (thesauri?)
Have you opened them once since you upgraded from a flip phone? Unless it’s hugely sentimental, or was deliberately acquired for its bookshelf aesthetic, you can let these go, or pare down the collection to one really good one. I just had to look up pare vs pair, which took exactly three seconds. If the internet doesn’t exist someday in the apocalyptic future, I’m not sure anybody will care if I use pair instead of pare.
Everything Else
There are so many categories of books. This is like my sorting dream. Seriously, you can pay me to come to your house and sort your books for you. (my business website is in the footer) One book at a time, take it down, determine its subject matter, start a pile. Next book, same topic or a new pile? Repeat methodically all afternoon. If one pile gets too big, pause and sort the pile. Tons of books on health? Get more specific about your categories. Health can get broken up into exercise, diet, diseases, disability, etc.. Beware of getting distracted by reading books you forgot you owned, that just means you’re still interested and maybe it can be reshelved in a more prominent position later.
How to know if it’s time to let go?
Well, the biggest question is, are you or your family still interested in this topic? Let’s say you have a bunch of books about tennis, but the family tennis player has left for college and isn’t obsessed with Serena Williams any longer. It’s okay to let those go. If you’re feeling sentimental, keep one. Decluttering books is an ongoing cyclical process. This isn’t a one and done job. More books will come into your life and more shelf space will need to be freed up. If you’re not ready to let go of all the tennis books in this round, maybe you’ll be ready in 6 months. Think progress, not perfection.
What you’re keeping
When you’re ready to reassemble your library, reshelving by topic might not work. Size is a big consideration. Oversized and odd shaped books might need to go together on a bigger shelf.
Consider your priorities for the most eye-level or easily browsable shelf. I want to finally get around to reading some of those memoirs I’ve been holding onto for ages, so I put them all together in the most prominent spot, next to some non-book sentimental items.
I think it’s also a good strategy for fiction books you haven’t read yet. You don’t have to if it doesn’t work on you shelves, btu I love the idea of those being all together and easy to find.
Now’s your chance to throw in some decorative bookends, fake plants or candles (please don’t light them right next to the books!) Books are beautiful on their own, but bookshelves make great spaces for other special things. Have you read my post on altars…
That’s everything I have to say about organizing books. I hope you’re feeling the lift from lightening your load of stuff.
Happy Sorting,
Megan