Just interested in some discussion here. For the past few years I have gotten more into building a physical book collection. I use the word collection very loosely, because there is nothing particularly rare or special about the books I possess. There are a few signed copies and some gifts and first editions but 80-90% of what I have are just regular old trade paperbacks and some hardcovers, nothing rare.
I have been a little bit frivolous in the quality of books I have brought home. I’ve bought books on impulse that turned out to be duds. I’ve gotten suckered into buying some books I should have known I wouldn’t like by the old B&N 50% off deal… “It’s on sale, you’ll read it some day!” This has resulted in some great finds that I truly enjoyed, and many that I really didn’t jive with. I am trying to become ok with DNF’ing a book rather than forcing myself through it. Life’s too short to read things I’m not interested in.
I own a number of books that I have been “meaning to finish” or books that I just plain didn’t like. In some cases my interests have changed. I feel a sense of misguided attachment to them because it’s my intent to have something of a personal library that grows throughout my life. On one hand it doesn’t really harm anything having these unliked books around, and they make alright shelf-dressing. On the other hand, I feel a certain sense of regret when I see them because I think of concepts I didn’t appreciate, or feel a smidge guilty because I wasted money and didn’t finish them. It makes my collection feel less purposeful or personally meaningful.
I like my collection because it reflects my interests and many of the books spark good memories, I feel I am in the presence of quality intellectual content and ideas that inspire me. But I feel pretty conflicted about whether I should keep or donate these books that weren’t a hit. My instinct is to only keep the ones I feel a connection to, and be more conscientious about what I choose to purchase in the future. But I’m afraid I will one day regret that I have downsized my little personal library.
For those of you who buy your own physical copies, do you have a philosophy or criteria that determines which books you will keep with you as you move through life, and which you will let go?
by Chi-P-A
10 Comments
I’ve given this a lot of thought! I tend to share your pruning instinct.
I try to only purchase books that I think might be worth revisiting someday, in that I think they contain something of substance, or prompt renewed ideas upon repeated re-reads, or simply hold some sentimental value or a sense of delight that I know I’ll be happy to experience again. I want to feel as if I have fully engaged with (or intend to!) and appreciate everything that’s granted a permanent place on my shelves. So I make an effort to be mindful, first of all, about whether a book is compelling enough for me to want to actually buy it.
I do inevitably wind up with books that fell flat, that feel shallow, or that I know realistically I’ll never have any need or desire to page through again — in that case, I review my collection once every few years, and I’ll donate any I don’t feel an attachment to. Perhaps if I had endless money and storage space I’d be less discriminating, but I’m more comfortable with the conscientious approach. And I think I just prefer to focus on quality over quantity, starting at the bookshop.
My personal criteria are essentially:
1. Can I see myself potentially wanting to revisit or reference this in the future?
2. Does this book seem truly compelling to me on an artistic level, does it have some emotional resonance, is it a unique and brilliantly written story, or is it just a mindless distraction to pass the time and instantly discard?
I think it depends on how many books you have now and how much space there is for them, now and in the future. I own about 2000 books and I don’t have infinite space to keep much more than that. I buy (mostly second-hand) and am gifted a lot of books – maybe 50-100 a year – and I pass them on if I don’t see myself ever wanting to re-read them. I do a lot of research on the books I buy, but I also buy books on impulse quite often, if I see a cheap copy and it looks intriguing. I agree that life is too short to finish books you really don’t like – I did this a lot when I was younger, but now I just think that someone else will love it and let it go
I have a small collection of books and I found that the ones I didn’t like in the end bothered me in the collection. So I would just donate or resell the books I didn’t like or was never going to revisit. Now when I look at the collection it reflects my tastes and likes.
I felt the same way you do, I was afraid I would regret the downsizing of the collection, however as time goes on, you find new books, add the ones you like to your library, so your collection is actually ever changing and never done.
In my personal opinion, it is better to have a curated smaller collection that actually brings you joy, instead of a bigger one that doesn’t.
I listen to audiobooks for free through Libby, and only purchase my very very, most 11/10 favorites to put on my shelf. If possible, I try to find special or signed editions, and almost always hardcovers. As a result, my collection is smaller, but each book is meaningful and looking at my shelf makes me happy. There are of, course, still a few unread books on my shelf: gifts, that are loved for a different reason, the occasional impulse buy, and sequels I haven’t gotten to yet. On the rare occasion that I pick up a physical book, and it isn’t for me, I send it to a new home, to a friend or LFL. I got suckered into the Fourth Wing hype and even got the special edition, so when I ended up not loving it, I sent it to an old high school friend for her birthday, since it was on her wishlist. Bonus, I’d listened to the audiobook, so my copy was virtually untouched!
It’s slower going, but ultimately more satisfying, and even after only 10 months of mindful collecting (starting from basically zero, most of my old books were flood damaged) my collection isn’t tiny. I’ll likely run out of shelf space in the next 6 months.
I’m also working on collecting favorites from my childhood, so the children in my life have something to borrow/inherit from me. I even read new kids’ books myself sometimes! Currently I’m working my way through The Last Kids on Earth series.
I’ve curbed my impulse buying mostly by making an absurdly long wishlist on Barnes and Noble and using that wishlist to find my next audiobook on Libby.
My shelf space has always been scarce in the last 30 years because I read a lot, so it’s only for things I like: everything else has been sold, swapped or gifted.
I used to have a library similar to yours. I loved to browse book stores and add to my collection. I l loved the idea of having so many books to choose from and seeing the shelves of books made me happy. The reality was, most of my purchases were impulse buys and I was buying way faster than I was reading. I realized that shopping for books had nothing to do with my reading, it was just a form of emotional shopping that felt justified to me.
We downsized a few years ago and moved to a new state. There simply wasn’t a place for all my bookshelves in our new house so I had to spend some time deciding what to take and what to purge. I generally don’t keep books once I read them unless I refer back to them for my work. I started by packing a box of books I needed for work. Then decided to pack just the books I felt I would read within the next 2 years and any that I felt a strong emotional attachment to. After packing the 2 small boxes of books, I realized I really had no attachment to the 800-1000 books left. I gave away, sold, and donated everything that didn’t go into those 2 boxes.
I’m nearing year 4 since the big purge and I’m retired and read more than every before and I’ve not missed a single book. I set a goal this year to read the last of the box I expected to read within 2 years, I have a few left and suspect a few may get released without me reading them. I have a single small books shelf and have committed to not outgrow it. I now primarily use the library and try not to buy a book until I’m ready to read it, so I don’t even use 2 of the 4 shelves.
I share this to suggest that you take some time to decide what books mean to you, what is the purpose of your “collection” what do you want it to say to you or about you. Set some guidelines for what you want on your shelf, then release anything that doesn’t align with the guidelines you have set for yourself.
There are too many great books in the world to feel guilty about not reading a book that you don’t enjoy. If you commit to being more selective about books you bring home, you’ll have a better chance of not feeling guilty about getting rid of the ones you spent money on and didn’t start or DNF.
I do have criteria of the books I purchase. I usually will get from library or buy paperback to read first and search and buy hardcover if I decide that I want it in my library.
My dilemma however is that lately I have been getting these depressing thoughts about why am I even collecting any of them. Kids in general, including my kids, have low to zero interest in books and I often wonder what’s going to happen with my library after I am gone. They are probably going to end up in a garage sale so what’s the point of even collecting them.
I just try to ask myself if I’d like to pick it up again. If so I keep it – even if it will be many years. Otherwise, I donate. I add books so regularly, I need the regular pruning to keep the whole thing from going out of control.
I mostly read ebooks on my Kindle via Libby (or I buy them if the library doesn’t have them). If it’s a book I absolutely love, I will add it to my physical buy list and either grab it from a bookstore or from Thriftbooks. The four I’ve added this year are The Book That Never Burns, None of This Is True, Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archives #4), and Essex Dogs. I like to think of my physical bookshelf as a highly curated collection. If someone were to come over and see my shelves, I’d be able to tell them with confidence that I absolutely loved every single thing on there, and that I’d be able to recommended all of them. I do the same thing for video games as well, I probably own 2,000 or more across every platform but there are 16 or 17 on a floating shelf in my game room that I deemed deserving of the space.
If I somehow acquire a book I didn’t absolutely love, I donate it to the library. They don’t put them in circulation but they do sell them during quarterly book sales and add the proceeds to the branch’s funding.
I don’t have many compared to a lot of the comments, but I like to read my books for free using libby. If I really love those books I try to buy hardcovers of those or any special editions that I find. I also buy physical books when they are similar price to the ebook, because I might as well.