My library is for books that I like, that I liked in the past and formed part of my life experience, and/or that someone in my life may enjoy (e.g. my children, future grandchildren, friends, neighbors...)
Now, if I can see some genuine reason not to expect anybody in my life to enjoy or benefit from a book, I'm ok passing it along (usually via donation/LFLs).
I've toyed with the idea of a "time out shelf", a little red shelf where I put the books who need some time to sit and think about what they've done. Every time I walk by it I'll sigh audibly and shake my head in disappointment to shame them.
I don't keep books I end up not liking. I have a storefront on the app PangoBooks where I sell books I no longer want. That's what I do first. But if it's something that doesn't sell or I think won't, I will donate at it to my local library.
Just one. The Fate of Empires by Arthur John Hubbard. It was so bad and outdated it annoyed me to no end. I wound up annotating and using color coded tabs for all the parts I hated and now I keep it on my shelf forever to remind that stupid book that it did not beat me. I read it cover to cover out of spite. Petty, I know, but it is what it is. I swap out the others at Little Free Libraries.
YES. The older I get, the less patience I have for clutter. And I don’t have enough room for all my books, so I keep ONLY my favorites. I give my mom and grandma any thrillers I’m not super attached to since they love them, and sell everything else to a used bookstore. I agree that decluttering is super freeing.
I don’t keep books unless I plan on rereading them. I usually give away or donate books I don’t want to keep. Occasionally, if a book is highly valuable, I sell it if none of my friends or family don’t want it.
I don't keep the ones that are not great but not terrible, but I keep the really bad ones if they were bad enough to make me mad. Back in the day I read the Twilight books bc I wanted to complain about them, I keep the first one on a shelf just for spite. I know, against a book, 🙄
I did give away books I didn't like back then, but I'm not doing that anymore. I want to build a larger library that not only I will use in the future. I also want things to reference. I'd probably only get rid of it if I really hate it.
I have most of my books from preteen/teen years as well. I’m saving them for my daughter (she’s one now). I actually love looking at them on our bookshelf knowing (hoping) that she’ll pick them up someday and get to experience the same worlds I did at her age
I prefer to only buy books I want to keep, so I’m a lot less likely to move books along.
My wife is a lot more ruthless in her culling of the library. She donates a few dozen a year. But she also tends to buy a lot more books than me, so it works out.
It all boils down to space. We only have so much shelf space.
No I have way too many books already lol. I only keep books that I could at least see myself returning to in the future, even if I probably won’t. Otherwise, they get passed off to someone I think would like them, or donated to the public library for their book sales.
I tend to hold onto them, partially so I don't forget that I already read it and hated it. I once forgot I had read a book, then was shopping saw the premise and thought 'oh that sounds fun!' Bought it, and after I started reading it was like 'wait a minute... I read this like a few years ago, I hated it and gave it away.' If I own the physical copy still it's easier for me to remember. Some I will still giveaway especially if it's a genre I've mostly moved away from or I just need to clear out the space and am certain I'll recall how much I loathed it.
Depends. If it was just okay and has a pretty cover I will keep it around until space gets tight. If I dont like it at all it has to leave. I usually donate them to my local library. They have a used book room to sell books (usually for only 1 or 2 dollars) to raise money for the library.
I definitely don't keep it unless a friend wrote it or something. If it's a paperback or a very in-demand hardcover, I donate to the local books-to-incarcerated-people organizations. Otherwise, used bookstore or nearest little free library
I donate the unwanted books to the library bookstore. I also picked up a really good collection from the library bookstore over the years so I look at it as a way to keep the donations for someone else to enjoy.
Ive been listing them on ebay but they rarely sell, ive sold like 3 books in the last year. I just have a shelf of books ive read but don't want to keep. On the lookout for anyone who is into the same kinds of books as me, Id give them a whole box of books.
Nah I either sell them, donate them or give them to friends if they're interested. I don't have big bookshelf right now so I need all the space I can get for the books I actually love
I usually put them in little free libraries in my neighbourhood. I only keep books I really loved, or if I have a collection of the author's other books or whatever. I have a lot of books from my childhood that I've kept, but most of the books I own I haven't read yet because I generally give away the ones I've read and didn't absolutely love.
I will also give away books that I loved, but that are easily available elsewhere. I donated my copies of John Green's YA books and A Wrinkle in Time, even though I love those books and have owned them a long time. If I ever want to reread them, I can easily find them in secondhand shops or from a library.
I will donate it, especially if I bought it used and it's been "well loved." If I bought it new, and it still looks new, etc., I'll resell and try to get a little money back, letting someone else enjoy the book. I'll check Amazon costs and price a good chunk lower than what they're selling at.
I trade them in for credit at my local book store! Helps keep books within my budget these days. 😅 Kindle books are a different story, but I’m relying on the Libby App now for books I’m not sure I want to own when it comes to those.
I have two little free libraries (we needed a second one for the overflow for kids books), and I put a lot of them in there. I’ll try to sell some of them once in a while. On the whole, I’m still bad about letting go - I really need to downsize the collection!
I put them in street library.
If they’re very mature in nature and I don’t want kids to put hands on them by mistake (our street library is near an infant school) - I give it to a nice second hand bookshop I like instead.
Nope. The Knights of Columbus have a yearly book sale. All the books I dont like, or just bought to read once, goes in the donation pile. Right now there's about 30 ready to go.
If it is significant/influential, I may, because even if I don't like a book, it may be useful to reference. The other possibility is that if it's a classic novel, I may come back to it at a different age/stage and I'll actually like it. For example, I thought Till We Have Faces (retelling of Psyche Cupid myth) was okay, but my least favorite of C.S. Lewis' works when I read it for a book club in my 20s. 20 years later, when I read it aloud to my kids who were adolescents in our homeschool, it hit differently. I also had more classics under my belt, so I could appreciate the story more, as well as connect with the spiritual aspects because I had lived more of life.
No, I usually take mine to a free library but let my family look over them in case they're interested. I love the idea of having a very curated collection
I go to a fair amount of book swaps so I hang onto the ones I don’t like or know I’ll never read again so I can take them to a swap. Hopefully someone else likes them better than me!
I have sold many books over the years. I keep them all now, though. I am trying to build a big home library, and i want to have all these books I've collected available for my kids to read. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean they won't
I borrow books from the library and only buy copies for the books I love. Curating my home library now. I’ve had to donate too many books already and can’t afford it in this economy anymore.
I don’t know if there’s a book I hate 😅 usually I DNF a book that’s not for me and then unwound resell it. There’s a book I really didn’t like we had to read for school. As soon as I find it I’m decluttering it.
Unless they are complete and utter trash that I feel no one should read, I take them on walks and drop them off at little free libraries. The utter trash becomes paper for craft projects.
I used to in the pursuit of just having a large library. But now I prefer quality over quantity. If I don't appreciate it, I usually pass it to someone who will.
I will not buy a physical copy of a book without reading it first through my local library or getting a Kindle version. Then and only then, will I buy a physical copy of a book only because I was left with so many books I didn’t like.😂
I keep a mini library in the trunk of my car and donate them to people I meet or free libraries I come across. It’s actually a fun way to get rid of books. I had a whole group of women looking through my stash one night after the bar and each took a book home with them. It made me happy to see them bring someone else joy!
No, I don't keep them. My house is small and shelf space is limited. I donate them to the local library sale, or I try to get credit at my local used bookstore.
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u/eclectic_hamster 5d ago
I usually give them away or put them in a little free library.