What do you do with your books after you have read them?

[Karl]

I have a nice collection and was wondering how to sell them in one fell swoop locally (Not looking to sell here!) Has anyone done something similar? I think there are quite a few books that people would enjoy and I would hate to toss them.

[David]

I had close to 1000 books at one time, but as I slowly closed in on the end of my life, I decided I did not want to saddle my kids with disposing of them.
So what I've been doing is once a week I take around 10 to the library and another 10 to the local senior citizen center for them to sell (along with just about anything else you could image) to generate money for their programs.

[Karen]

I loan them out to members of my in person book groups.

[Loretta]

I donate some of my read books to my library. You can also donate books to Thriftbooks.com.

[Maria]

I keep some and give away the rest, ether to friends or at book swapping places.

[Nadine]

Up til now I try keeping them. But I try not to buy (as many) paper books anymore because I don't want to have to give them away... I already gave a number away to the reading box in our community (a box where everybody who wants to read a book can take one, and replace it with another)

[Lisa]

I use the Libby app now to borrow kindle books, I have no room to store them anymore. Or if I want it sooner I will buy the e book.

[Tammy]

I either keep to reread or donate to the library and a local thrift store that uses profits on the community.

[Karen]

Has anyone tried sellbackyourbook.com? I got a flyer in my last online order but I have not tried them. At one point Powells was taking back used books, but I never got enough of what they wanted to sell to them.

[Gary]

Hi Karen, I have used sellbackyourbook.com to get rid of old textbooks and some novels that I have no interest in reading again. You have to enter each ISBN number so if you have a large number of books, it might take some time. They do have a minimum dollar amount ($7.50) to qualify and don't take all books. Overall, I was happy with their service.

[Donne]

Most of them, I return to KU or the library. Most of the rest are either NG books or books that I have purchased online and all of those sit in my Kindle library.

For many years (decades), hubby and I, who are both avid readers, had A LOT of hard cover and paperback books. However, when Covid hit and we both started working remote, we needed space for two separate working spaces (separate rooms). We donated most of our books to the library. These days, we each keep our own electronic book libraries.

[Carmen]

I donate them to the local library and charity.

[Erica]

I read on a kindle and have an awful habit of deleting any books I disliked after I read them. Even if I read 3 pages and hate the writing style- delete..

[Nicole]

If they are from the library, I return them. Some I keep. Some I give away and some I sell, just depends on the book and how much room I have (if I want to keep it).

[George Stenger]

I donate to the library or Goodwill.

[Dawn]

I have sold many of my books because I had too many of them. I still have boxes of books. Now I only buy hardback books I want to keep -especially my favorites. I e-read most of my books. I love my kindle and the Libby app.

[Ayesha]

I just borrow them from my library.

[Andrew]

Put them back on the shelf or (mostly) take them back to the library.

[David]

Give them to friends.

[ᖰhiᖱeɭia]

Delete them. 😂

[Pamela]

I have a regular chain of transition — books I pick up (and most these days come from my local Friends of the Library bookstore where I volunteer) are forwarded to either my sister or my cousin. And they do the same. We box them up and ship them out media mail about every two-three months.

Anything thing I don't want to read or have read and feel that the others won't be interested in, I take either to the library or to my favorite used bookstore.

[B needs coffee]

I reread the ones I choose to keep and donate the others to our local used bookstore.

[Keisha]

Started to sell them a couple times at the end of each year but decided to keep all my books! They are precious to me

[Gem , Moderator & Admin]

I don't buy many books anymore, I get them from the library so they go back. I did recently see the Penguin Classics with fabric covers and one day when I'm rich 🤣I would love to have all of them.

[Sylvia]

Occasionally I sell or try to sell some, but not often. My mom and I share books, so she ends up with some on her shelf and I end up with some others. Any that we have both read and don’t want to keep, I donate to my local, family-run used book store. They will buy certain books so, while I could take those ones in and ask if they would buy them from me, I usually just donate them instead. I do have many books though that I don’t want to get rid of. I am also part of a book club and we often lend out books to each other, especially because we all tend to like thrillers!

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

Sylvia wrote: "Occasionally I sell or try to sell some, but not often. My mom and I share books, so she ends up with some on her shelf and I end up with some others. Any that we have both read and don’t want to k..."

I've sold a few books on sites but it's been a long time. My library won't take all books so I take them to a used book shop but sometimes they don't want them either.

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

ᖰϦɨᖱ៩ɭɨ♬ wrote: "Delete them. 😂"

I need to work on my kindle.

[Carl]

I usually pass them on to another person.

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

I just found this the other day - Books on the House - which takes books, new and used, and distributes them for free.

https://booksonthehouse.org/

[Donne]

Well.....hubby and I donated all of our books, except for a few treasures ones, to the local library many years ago. Since then, other than a few on a shelf, all of our books are sitting in our Kindle library. We go through those about once a year and pare down the "read" library.

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

Donne wrote: "Well.....hubby and I donated all of our books, except for a few treasures ones, to the local library many years ago. Since then, other than a few on a shelf, all of our books are sitting in our Kin..."

Will your library take all your books? Mine has parameters about published dates and other things - they won't take older books even if they're considered classics.

[Charissa]

If I liked the book rather well, it goes into my personal library. If not, I pass it on to neighbors or ship it to the library.

[Carmen]

I donate them to the local library or to a charity shop!

[T.D.]

I save the ones I really enjoy or ones that will be used as research for my own writing. The rest I donate. Lending libraries are great for this, as is the local library

[E.E.]

I usually hang on to my books if they leave a mark on me especially the dark and twisty ones. Mysteries and thrillers tend to stick with me long after the last page.

Speaking of which, I just finished my own psychological thriller, Little Girl Lost, about a missing child and the secrets of a small town. Some readers told me they couldn’t put it down and some said they had to sleep with the lights on. 🔦

Little Girl Lost Do you keep books like that on your shelf forever, or pass them along once you’ve read them?

[Pippa]

I have a sudden yearning to go up in the loft and search out the books I read (maybe) 30 years ago. There are some well-worn Penguin classics up there, and although I now have most of them on Kindle, I'm hankering after that physical connection.

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

Pippa wrote: "I have a sudden yearning to go up in the loft and search out the books I read (maybe) 30 years ago. There are some well-worn Penguin classics up there, and although I now have most of them on Kindl..."

I have friends who reread books but I usually don't. I have a few old ones on my shelf but I generally don't keep them. Sometimes I'll skim back over one if a group is reading it but once I know the ending it's just not fun anymore.

[Kevin]

I went through a few phases of donating or selling them to Half Price. Now I mostly keep them or lend them to friends and family.

[Gwen]

I am the volunteer director for Georgia SPOT Society. We help pet owners to spay and neuter their cats and dogs, who otherwise cannot afford to, so I sell my used books and donate the money to Georgia SPOT Society. I feel it is a double win. The book goes on to another owner to share the story, and we help the pet overpopulation. I also the proceeds of my owns written books and journals to SPOT. gwenkellyauthor.com or check out on Amazon.

[Reed]

I give some of my books away or I keep the rest

[Јордан]

Lateley, to be more precise, since my shelves are out of space, I've started exchanging books and buying more digital.

[Јордан]

What I'm interested in is "what do you do with your books after you have read them"!

[Karin]

What I do with most of the books I read after I read them is to return them to the library. I buy only a tiny percentage of what I read. As for other books, if I don't have space I donate to Friends of the Library or once in a while take them to a used book store that will give 10 percent store credit of the cover price for any they think they can sell.

[Bruce]

Either 1. Keep (most, but not all). 2. Sell, but only if they’re in good enough condition, and I can make a profit after packaging and shipping costs. 3. Donate.

[Ann]

Iv had so many physical books over the years they were in boxes ,clear tubs. In the end I got several boxes out one day layed them all in my hallway. And went through the lot for donation. I got rid of about 6 bag fulls of books I no
Longer needed // wanted. A lot went to an Auntie. Some went to my neighbour s.

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

If we could all get together we could open quit the library with our used books.😊 🍷 📚

[Vasyl]

I usually keep the ones that made me feel something — fear, hope, or faith. The rest I donate.

[Vasyl]

I tell myself I’ll donate them… but they somehow keep multiplying on my shelf 😅

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜, Moderator]

😅😅😅

[Vasyl]

I usually keep the books that made me think deeply about life, fear, and faith — those I return to from time to time. That’s actually what inspired me to write Be Not Afraid, a spiritual thriller about the thin line between light and darkness.