Going away to college...

[Mandy]

Oh, that would be a tough one. I guess I'd take 20 out of my pile that I hadn't read yet and I've got a big pile of haven't read yets. If I had to decide between books I had read that would be hard. I'd try and take a bit of everything, bit of crime, romance, non-fiction, et cetera, so if I felt like a particular genre I'd have it there. I must say I'm not in the habit of re-reading books, I've only ever done it once so definitely the books I hadn't read. Good luck!

[Chloe]

Take books that you would recommend to others. You will acquire a new to-read stack really quickly from your new friends and all the endless class reading, so I wouldn't worry too much about running out of reading material. Having some of your favorites on your shelf is a great conversation starter and a good way to figure out who your fellow bookworms are in the dorms, and being able to pass your favorites around to friends is priceless.

/$0.02

[Sean]

Don't bother taking any books you've already read. Take small, lightweight paperbacks...and save shelf space. Textbooks take up available areas.

As far as recommendations: Grab a couple classics (to make people think you're smart).

[Elizabeth]

I recomend you take books that you haven't read and will be "light" reading. In my experience, trying to read "heavy" stuff, the stuff that I really have to focus on to enjoy isn't enjoyable in college, because after you do all the required reading for classes, the heavy stuff makes you burn out faster.

[Matthew]

One more encouragement to keep it "light" for books you have yet to read. Also bring a few books you would like to recomend to others, its a great way to get to meet people, but dont expect to ever get the book back so dont bring any precious ones. Also think you should hold off on bringing books out untill you buy your textbooks, they will take up most space, and if you are like me you will be taking full advantage of sales and cheaper prices at the University Book Stores on fiction etc. Good luck.

[Chriss]

What, you can't buy books when you get there? ;P
Seriously, though, unless you re-read something a lot, or unless a book is a really good resource for what you're studying, or you have a reference book you think you'll need, I wouldn't take any. I didn't pack any books when I went off to college.

[Llama]

Man, I had so many books with me. I took a few of my favorites that I re-read all the time, which was good because you get so busy sometimes you don't want to read somethings new and get ingrossed in it and neglect your studies. Of course I also bought of ton of non-school books as well. They had great used book sales outside the bookstore a lot.

[Sean]

Come to think of it--if you're going to a larger school (or even a decent smaller school), there will be a second-hand bookseller within a short walk of campus.

Don't bring any books...just start a new collection once you get there. ;)

Second-hand stores are beautiful because you can collect cans on the side of the road and find enough for pocket change to get a decent read from a second-hand store.

...And in college, at times, that may be necessary.

[Charity]

I suggest taking advantage of the library. Colleges always have amazing libraries!

[Sean]

In my time, I've attended five colleges (UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, Winona State U, St. Mary's University of Winona, and UW-LaX)...none of them had anything that I'd consider "light reading" in their libraries...just a bunch of heavy, deep texts and non-fiction reference.

And if you're wondering, yes, my student loan debt is crushing me...

[Lynn]

I have three full bookshelves worth of books I keep dragging along with me everytime I move. I'm getting really sick of it too, so I'm selling or donating all of the books that I haven't read yet (that's what libraries are for) & really thinking twice about what's left. I did have approximately 6-8 boxes of books, I want to slim that down to 3. For now anyway. :)

[Jessica]

If your attachment to your favorite books is more towards the books in general, and not your particular copies, then I would recommend becoming very well acquainted with all the libraries in your future college area. You can use the library's website to have a steady reserve list of your favorite books sent to your closest library to cater to your book needs.

Or, if you have friends that you are going away to school with, or have a college freshmen forum for meeting your future fellow Freshers, then you could set up a group library in the dorm. Find out what everyone’s favs are and create a dorm library list. Then each person can bring a few off of the list to contribute.

If you want to have your own copies, and your hesitation for getting repeats for your college housing is the cost of re-purchasing them all, then I have a cheap recommendation. I don't know where you are located, or are soon to be located, but San Diego libraries sell books for 25cent to 2$. There are designated sale days or an everyday sale area where you can purchase books of all kinds that were donated or cycled out of the library system. You could do a combination of the first and third, use the library’s stock to revisit your favorites until they come available at the books sales.
Perhaps the libraries in your college town do similar fundraising schemes.

Hope this will be of some help. Good luck with finding a solution that best works for you, as well as with your upcoming collegiate studies.