What do you do with your books?

[Karen Leslie]

In the past, I was in a book club (double day book club) and I used to have alot of books, but it was so many books, I found it very hard to store them. My daughter brought me a kindle fire and now I just get them on my kindle and I don't have to worry about having to many. I gave the other books (boxes full) to my son who prefers to read hardback books. I kept some hardbacks but I found that the kindle is much more easy to have. I can carry all my books with me where ever I go.

[Donna]

Karen wrote: "In the past, I was in a book club (double day book club) and I used to have alot of books, but it was so many books, I found it very hard to store them. My daughter brought me a kindle fire and n..."

I love my hardbacks too and lovingly keep on my shelves - but hard to carry and take up so much space! I cant recall the last time I bought one. I have a Kindle too but find it easy to "forget" about a book when it's invisible on my Kindle :)

[Jenn]

I buy hardback books and download some on my NOOK. I still love the look, feel and smell of a new book. I'm also impatient sometimes and want a book immediately so I will download it. Plus, e-books are cheaper.

[John]

I do keep my the books I have enjoyed the most but do also hoard books and must have a clear out so charity shop will be getting a visit soon and the library if they will have them.

[Anita]

Anita wrote: "I share my books with my mother who has similar reading tastes...then they go to the local library where I work. If the books are in demand and we don't have it at the library, it is catalogued. If..."

You could also make a Christmas tree out of books...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...

[Tracy]

Anita wrote: "Anita wrote: "I share my books with my mother who has similar reading tastes...then they go to the local library where I work. If the books are in demand and we don't have it at the library, it is ..."

We did something like this back in the 60's when I was a kid. I thought it was so awesome, almost magical, when I was 6 years old :-)

[Tracy]

I built an oak bookcase recessed into the wall of my den.6'8" by 2'6" and that filled up pretty fast. There are 180 books in this bookcase. Rescued an old bookcase that I grew up with. My Father was moving and he set it out for garbage pick up. I took it and stripped the paint off and underneath it was made of Cherry so, I bleached it and re-stained it. That one holds another 100 books. I also have 3 other units that hold 40-50 books. I give away a lot of books but only because I get joy out of doing so, not out of necessity.

[Bryan]

Since I switched to Kindle, my books are now in boxes and stored in a garage. I have a dream of eventually having a house with an office and I will have bookshelves galore around me, filled with books. But I seldom by print books anymore.

[Heidi]

Bryan wrote: "Since I switched to Kindle, my books are now in boxes and stored in a garage. I have a dream of eventually having a house with an office and I will have bookshelves galore around me, filled with b..."

Me either. I have over 350 books and have maybe paid for about a dozen of them. (I have a couple of websites that offer daily free books.) It has introduced me to several different authors that I never would have know about. I also like the fact that I can borrow books from the library on my kindle without even leaving the house.

[Marja]

I've got five bookcases full of books. I don't throw them away, but sometime back a house I was living in was flooded and I lost a lot of books that were packed away. I didn't have room for all of them in that particular house. Not a fun way to weed through the books.

[Tracy]

Heidi wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Since I switched to Kindle, my books are now in boxes and stored in a garage. I have a dream of eventually having a house with an office and I will have bookshelves galore around me,..."

I agree about the library downloading but, Life of Pi for example has a waiting list of 26 people on our library site and if they all keep it for the full 2 weeks I would be waiting a year. Our library cooperative only has 81 history books. I asked about this and I was told certain authors don't want to participate.If my nook was as big as a trade paperback, I might feel the same as others but, to me, it is like reading off of a flip mini notebook. Nice to have as a accessory to my books not to replace them.

[Bill]

I've got bookshelves throughout the house containing my books. The missus does the basic organizing as she likes to mix and match, books, photos and other items. I love sitting in the computer room, in the chair in the corner, beside shelves of books. We had floor to ceiling built-ins installed in our lounge; there are various series contained on the shelves there, plus a few antiquey books I've slowly been collecting. I do have to periodically vet and exchange books at the local used book store, but I still must have over 1,000 books in the house. I haven't joined the e-book thingee yet and hope I never have to. I'll just keep my TBR shelves full and that should keep me occupied for many, many years.. :0-)

[Lynnette]

I have a Kindle that I got free, and I keep loading books on it because I can get them free, but after having it for almost 6 months, I still haven't really found it to be all that appealing and I'm still buying more books to figure out where to put. I prefer that "real" book that doesn't require a charged battery and won't "lock up" on me :)

[Afsana]

I have 300 Plus books on my tbr and over the same read. My books are over a four shelf bookscase, 2 deep and 2 high, another bookcase, a smallr bookcase near my bed 2 childrens toy stoorage boxes worth of books as well as 5 draws of a storage units. furthermre I hae a cardboard box of books and a bookshelf in my daughters room

on occasion I get rid of books that I know I don't want t read again, where they were light fluffy reads the first time and by reading them a second time will not be so fun. I give the books that look like they haven't been read to the library and the rest to charity

I have contemplated getting a kindle or some such reader but that would mean getting more books and then what would happen to unread books on my shelf

[Ana]

I love to read but I also love to collect books. One of the smallest rooms in my home I took as a little library. Even if I don't re read the books I hate to part with them. I do a lot if lending but I keep track of every book.

I do have a kindle and I love being able to carry more than one book around since I read every chance I get. Only problem is that I once I read a book on my kindle I can't put it on one of the shelves. So for now I just remove the ones I've read from my device and keep it on my cloud.

[Teresa]

I have 12 bookcases because I just can't seem to get rid of any. Sine iam a teacher, I also have loads of them at school. Books were taking over the house, so my husband bought me a NOOK. I have over 20 books on it, but they all fit nice and snug in my purse.

[Lance]

I keep my non-fiction and support my local used bookstore (Bookman) with my fiction. That turns into a closed feedback loop, since I take store credit and use it to buy more books.

My father has kept what looks like every book he's ever read. That may be what drove me to weed constantly.

[Sandi]

Anita wrote: "Anita wrote: "I share my books with my mother who has similar reading tastes...then they go to the local library where I work. If the books are in demand and we don't have it at the library, it is ..."

What a great idea! The Book Christmas Tree was really great. I may do one at home next year. It would also be a good book drive; wrap a best seller after you've read it and add to the tree. Love it!

To see the tree, go back to Anita's 12/9 post for the site.

[Sandi]

My husband keeps telling me to download to my Kindle instead of buying fiction (cookbooks, art, photography excluded). I spent 30 years working for IBM and know that glitches can happen. The book on my shelf won't disappear, but Kindle? Is it possible to store Kindle books on your hard drive? If Kindle ever went belly up what happens to your archived books? Working with computer technology I know the risks and I don't want to lose my books. Any solutions out there?

[[deleted user]]

I have a bookcase full of books in my sitting room, some boxes of books in my attic and of course the ever expanding pile beside my bed!I tend to keep a lot of books, especially if I think I'll read them again. Sometimes I will give away boxes of books that I will not read again, but on the whole I keep most of my books. :-)

[Afsana]

Sandi wrote: "Anita wrote: "Anita wrote: "I share my books with my mother who has similar reading tastes...then they go to the local library where I work. If the books are in demand and we don't have it at the l..."

I looked at the pic and it was great. I hadn't looked at at first because was afraid that books had been defaced to make tree

[Jessica]

I am a book keeper, I rarely get rid of books, even when I know I probably won't read them again. But when I move out next year I won't have room for them all anymore, so I am going to have to get hard core and sort through them all at some point!

[Lisa]

I am a hoarder, too, but the thought of moving in a couple of years has me scrambling to keep only what I know I want to move. As a book reviewer I get tons of copies when I can't get e-copies. I just donated a bagful of new-ish ones to the local library; I give them to people I think will like the genre, and I use them as door prizes at my conferences and signings.

[Edda]

If I know I'll never read the book again, I donate it to animal charities

[Diane S ☔]

Some I pass on to friends, some to my daughters, some I donate to the library and my faves I keep.

[Sandi]

We are in the process of going through our books and admitting we probably won't read them again. We'll offer them to friends and family, then to a charity. Unfortunately, now there's space for more books.

[Lynnette]

Sandi wrote: "We are in the process of going through our books and admitting we probably won't read them again. We'll offer them to friends and family, then to a charity. Unfortunately, now there's space for m..."

Unfortunately?!?!?!? LOL!

[Taylor]

Hi all, I'm Taylor, new to the group. Looking forward to meeting new friends and reading great books!

I used to have about 200 books, but I didn't have anywhere to keep them, so I had to donate them to the library. I have the Kindle now, and I rent from the library!

[Tracy]

Lynnette wrote: "Sandi wrote: "We are in the process of going through our books and admitting we probably won't read them again. We'll offer them to friends and family, then to a charity. Unfortunately, now there..."

+1

[Angelo]

I'm actually a terrible hoarder. Or a very good one, depending on which way you want to look at it I suppose... ;-)

I've still got books that I read over a decade ago, although I am planning on clearing a load of them out and giving them to a charity shop at some point.

Like a couple of other people have mentioned, I have got a bunch of books that I'll never get rid of because I regularly re-read them or probably will do at some point.

As for the rest? I'll sort them out. One day.

(maybe)

[Linda]

I have 5 bookcases of books, and I have books stashed everywhere because I ran out of room on my shelves. So I'm slowly donating them to other people.; I got rid of 4 boxes of books in the last couple of months.

[[deleted user]]

I keep all books that I like. The rest go on a donation pile for charity sales my kids have at school.

[Afsana]

just gave some books to the charity shop- majority looks like new.

but today bought some more

but since my last post got a kobo and now books on shelves and on kobo fighting for my attention.

[Mathew]

I sell, trade, or give away books I've read. I don't have the space to keep adding to the collection.

[Cathy]

Kelly wrote: "I put mine on Paperbackswap.com"

Kelly: Never heard of the site until now and just signed up. Thanks for sharing.

[James]

i trade my books at a favorite used bookstore in a larger city.called earl plaza books.but there are other stores i have not viited.i have used some online sites as will like title trader and swap but lately on am not useing them.i would be willing to trade books with anyone here. let me know what you have and i will do the same.there is a book tradeing goroup here go check it out.i read just about anything.thrillers,horror,some scifich,westerns and some non fiction such as revolutionary war history or civial war history.

[Shirley]

One suggestion I am going to look into .... dialysis and cancer treatment centers. They never have enough books for the patients and caretakers.

[James]

maybe hospitals.

[Colleen]

donate them to the library or take them to half price books for store credit

[Angelo]

Shirley wrote: "One suggestion I am going to look into .... dialysis and cancer treatment centers. They never have enough books for the patients and caretakers."

This is actually an incredible idea. I'm going to look into that too. Dialysis and cancer patients have to sit still for long periods at a time, so it would be brilliant for them to have a wide variety of books to choose.

Thanks for this! A great idea!

[Susan]

After reading all the posts above I probably don't have to post--I seem to do pretty much what everyone else does. I keep books for years and then the time seems to come for me to remove them and get more. When I left academe, I sold a lot of books, kept some, and later sold more, to make room on my shelves. I have lots of reference books in different areas, and I enjoy browsing through them when I'm supposed to be looking up something else. I donate books to library sales (and buy a lot from those sales), give them away to friends, especially after they've given me something to read, and occasionally I gather a bunch to donate to a school or youth group. Because I'm a writer I also have the issue of my own books to store until I sell them all (so I have a few extra boxes in my "library").

I also use the library a lot. I love libraries and if I notice a gap in one of their areas I'll donate a suitable book if I have it.

Thanks for the tip about Bookmooch. I'll look into it.

[D.R.]

I'd say about half the books that I read that I own, go in sell or charity bags. The rest I keep in basement stacks; though I'm planning on cutting back on that. Most, I probably won't re-read. Anyway, I have more books than I could read in the rest of my life. They gotta go.

[John]

My one bedroom apartment living room looks like a library. I have huge floor to ceiling bookcases filled with books. I have bookcases in the hall and in my bedroom too. Those books that I don't want to keep I donate to our local Friends of the Library book sale.

[Bespectacledreader]

I keep it :>

[Skye]

I once had that many books everywhere, but I had to downsized when I moved...I give my books away to others to pass them on. I hold onto those I may re read.

[Teresa]

The only books on my shelves are my tbrs. I mostly buy new and give to my small town library. Living in Ireland all library funding was cut and they are always delighted to receive my books. I used to donate them to charity shops but they all have a glut of books and no longer take any in. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I pass on books and I am boosting the stock of thrillers in my local library.

[Zoe]

I horde all my books that I have ever read (apart from ones I dislike) so that I can re-read them

[Malcolm]

When I left the Untied Arab Emirates after almost ten years and a lot of reading it was a pleasure to pass on a goodly number of paperbacks to the Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi and I was told that they sold well!

Back in Europe in 2010, in Munich, I found a wonderful bookshop specializing in English-language books. and with a habit of about two-books-per-week the shelves in my little flat filled fast.

Then, sadly, the bookshop closed and in consequence I migrated to Kindle. The 'booky books'went to Oxfam and I started writing "TheodoraLand" (which starts when a bomb devastates an English-language bookshop in Munich! ('any resemblance'... yadda, yadda, yadda!)

[Ashley]

Mine is a mixture of donating to the local library free book bin and selling some online. I do love the idea of donating them to hospitals and dialysis centers! I'm a terrible book hoarder and my home is slowly running out of room.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I love to give my non-keeper books away when I've finished. Our library here has less books than I do, so a lot go there. Every summer I give away 2 bags of books to my neighbors who float them, and they end up giving them to the Friends of the Library when they're finished. I also post some giveaways on my blog so whoever comments first gets how ever many they want. I'm not reading them, so someone should have them!