Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Robyn Devine.
It is unmistakably comforting to curl up in a thick chair with a tattered copy of a book you love, listening to the rain while you let yourself get carried away by the words on the page. I know – I used to hoard books. Don’t let the title “minimalist” scare you off – I have a love of books that dates back to my years toddling around with Dr. Seuss, a love that was handed down from my mother.
Until just a few years ago, books were stacked everywhere in my home. My two huge book cases were double-stacked with volumes ranging from children’s fiction to college text books, and piles had formed next to couches and the bed, not to mention on any available surface. I could not imagine my life without these friends surrounding me – the very thought of letting go of just one was enough to send me hurling at my shelves, attempting to wrap my arms around every book I owned in protection.
Today, I am the proud owner of approximately 20 books – six of which are craft books. To move from one extreme to the other took some serious work, and was not an overnight process. It started with the realization that I was not so much attached to the stories and words themselves, but the physical books sitting on the shelves. Once I had that realization, I began to let go of some of my books, and moved slowly towards a more minimalist reading collection.
The best way for any book-collector to tackle their bookshelves is by looking at one book at a time. When we look at the whole expanse of our book collection, it can be hard to imagine ever letting a single book go, but in reality there are volumes hiding on those shelves that we truly don’t need or want. Taking time to pull a book down off the shelf and truly look at it as an individual item will help you decide for that book alone if staying on your shelves is the best option.
Here are a few suggestions to help even the biggest bibliophile relieve your sagging shelves of stress:
1. Write It Down.
Sometimes, it’s the way a book made us feel, our connection to the story or a character that keeps us from letting go of the book itself. Take some time to write down those feelings, those connections. Maybe you’ll keep these notes on your computer or in a notebook, or maybe you’ll begin a blog for them. Once you get those emotions and thoughts out, it can be easier to pass the book on to someone else who you think would love the story as much as you did.
Tiny Action: Grab a notebook and start writing down your thoughts about each book as you take it off your shelves. If you can’t think of anything to say, you probably won’t miss the book if it weren’t there anymore.
2. Divide. Get ruthless with your “yet to read” pile.
My rule of thumb is simple: If it hasn’t been read in six months, it probably won’t ever be read. I went so far as to test this theory myself as I found books on my shelves I hadn’t yet read, but couldn’t yet bear to let go. I dedicated a shelf to “need to read” books, and noted the date. Any books that started out on that shelf on that date but were still there six months later I purged – I had discovered I truly had no desire to read them!
Tiny Action: Let go of any book you haven’t read yet that has been on your shelves for more than six months. Afraid you’ll want to read it someday? Make a note of it in your notebook – title, author, ISBN number even – so you can find it at the library if you truly want to read it later.
3. One of the best ways to make use of your book collection is to share it with others!
As you look at books, anytime you find yourself thinking “So and so would LOVE this book!” write that name down on a sticky note, stick it on the front cover, and set the book aside. After you’ve got 20 or so books in a pile, begin handing them out – drive to friends’ houses and drop them off, or put them in the mail (book rate shipping is SUPER cheap).
Tiny Action: Pick five books off your shelves that you’d love to share with someone else, and then send them off to their new homes. Today.
4. Set aside one shelf of your book case as your “desert island” shelf.
Most book lovers have books they know they will never let go of, no matter what. I call these “desert island” books – they are the books I’d want with me if I were stranded on a desert island, that I could read over and over again for the rest of my life. As you come across these books in your collection, add them to your shelf. Not only is it comforting to see those books being saved as you pare down others, you now have a physical boundary – you can have no more “desert island” books than will fit in this one space, so you are forced to think analytically about your collection.
Tiny Action: Clear off one shelf to keep as your “desert island” shelf. It can only hold one row of books – no double stacks or piles!
5. Organize your non-fiction books by topic.
I found when I began to organize my non-fiction books by topic, I had overlaps in some subjects. For me, the largest overlaps came in religious studies (my major in college). As I saw where I’d doubled up on topic, it was easier to let go of a few books.
Tiny Action: Organize your books by topic and author. Begin to pare down where you see overlaps.
6. Look for multiple copies, and get rid of them.
You may laugh, thinking you would NEVER buy a multiple of a book, but trust me when I say I’ve found multiple copies of books on the shelves of almost every sentimental bibliophile I’ve met. Once you have more than a shelf or two of books (not a book CASE or two, a SHELF or two!), the chances of your remembering what books you own dwindles. Even if you love the book, there is never a need to own more than one copy of it!
Tiny Action: Every time you notice a multiple of a book, immediately give one copy away.
While going through this process, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Take breaks. When I first began paring down my books, I would get dizzy after 15 minutes!
- Take five minutes to step away anytime you begin to feel overwhelmed – this is a new experience for your body, and it takes some getting used to!
- Stay hydrated. I found I would get drained and tired as I went through my books – keeping a glass of water next to me helped keep me alert and focused.
- Set a timer. Sort through your books for no more than 30 minutes the first go-round or you will find yourself getting frustrated and overwhelmed.
- Honor your emotions. Your sentimental attachment to your books is not something to feel ashamed of or sad about. Acknowledging your emotions as you sort through your books can be the first step in helping you move past that attachment and towards a more minimalist reading habit.
- And above all, remember this: you did not acquire those books overnight, so you will not release your attachment to them quickly either. By spending a few minutes a week and by letting go of a few books at a time, you will find your feelings shifting towards the stories and the moment rather than the books themselves.
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Wondering how to get rid of books? Consider donating them. Here’s a list of 20 places you can donate your books.
For more help with decluttering, see our list of 10 creative decluttering tips.
great work!!
Love this post.
I also have many books on my shelf, thank you @guest for your advice :)
I am a book lover, book reader, book designer, book binder … my book collection is a lot of design reference books, and sentimental books too … that I’ve designed, or were designed by someone I admire, or … I dunno. Difficult to cull when I love most of these for either aesthetic or content reasons. Working on it, though!
Some day I will pare down my collection… it will likely be many years from now and will be no where near 20 books. I haven’t completed scanning my library, but I’ve crested the 1500 mark and I’ll probably surpass 2000. I know, y’all are probably appalled.
As a homeschool mom, I have students from pre-k to college so my range of books is vast and all 7 of us are avid readers (well, the pre-k is just beginning, but she will sit and look at books for hours if she can’t find someone to read to her). I loan out a lot of books and we reread a number of books also. I have found that our library often doesn’t have the quality of books I’m looking for. The shelves are overrun with modern titles and a lot of classic literature has been pushed out. Not to mention that in our current cancel culture there are really great books that will no longer be available.
I love some of the suggestions and they will help me when the time comes to reduce my inventory. Thank you. I have managed to get rid of close to a hundred books in the last year, so there’s hope I may get below 1000 some day. Haha!
I have little issue decluttering anything else, but books are information. It’s really hard for me to throw them out unless I have fully absorbed them and am sure I have no further use for them. Which is virtually never.
Lucky I went digital a long time ago.
The occasional times I do throw them out, if I tell my parents, they exclaim ‘Books! You can’t throw out books!’ and take them all home. You should see house!
You may think that’s a good thing, and I don’t know how much you read, but they’re discovering that blue light is very bad for our eyes. Might want to do some research.
If minimalist living is not your cup of tea, don’t fret. it could be your karma to live a life enjoying possessions of many things.
it’s liberating to get rid of stuff period. and yes, i grew up in a family that encouraged book reading, library visits, my father built book shelves, he admired book collections and encyclopedias……nothing wrong with that but now that i have inheritated my father’s house since 2014, it struck me that keeping all these books just does not fit anymore. and bookshelves don’t have to be crammed with books. so i am slowly getting rid and keeping all health/wellness and black history books.
A great place to donate is to incarcerated people; they don’t get the quality reading most people think, in order to reduce recidivism.
I’ve been trying to do this lately. I’ve managed to adjust to enjoy reading on Kindle (great for minimalists!) but print books I’d keep around would be something like the Bible, some niche reference books, and of course my all-time favorite fictions, which are actually not many. Like many, I have that gross tendency to adore the physical book more than the content, so much in fact that I get OCD-ish when just the tiniest scratch, tear or bend touches the pages, or even if it smells funny! It makes using the actual book not fun anymore! Regardless, I enjoy donating my stuff to the Salvation Army or a charity store and not a for-profit group so that it’s sale can benefit a good cause.
Thank you! Robyn, this is a wonderful post! I am trying to embrace the “expericences, not things” life style, and I eventually want to downsize to a *much* smaller home. Like micro. I am also a bibliophile. My brother said I am a Readophile or a Storyophile, since I don’t need to collect books, print or e, i just need to read them and think about them.
I use Goodreads and Mangaupdates to keep track of what I want to read and what I have read and my thoughts on all stories, fiction and non-fiction. Recently, I’ve been going through my print lib, gifting many books to others on GR I know will like the books, and simply donating the rest to thrift stores. It’s wonderful. Freeing. I only keep in books I am powerfully affected by and will reread.
Thank you for your article: it was helpful and reassuring.
The best article on decluttering your home from books. lots of ideas to try. Except books, i am a minimalist. Lots of comments on the article, I feel that every one can develop his own way to handle the decluttering his home from excess books.
Thanks Robyn
Most helpful. Real life advice I so appreciate.
I have made progress clearing before a move but my love of books has made this final stage the hardest. This article was really inspirational thanks.
I would have never thought there could be people hating on minimalists. Is this a new fashion, like those who hate vegans? And calling minimalists pretentious? What? Oh god some people love to take everything the wrong way and put others down. Does it bother you when seeing others trying to better themselves and their lives? You can always try to do it too you know. Nobody is stopping you.
Fabulous and insightful advice! Thank you very much for writing this article, Joshua. I look forward to reading more. I am about to tackle my bookshelf again! <3
I’ve actually already pared my books down to one shelf and did this before reading about minimalism. Was reading about feng shui and how declutter is it’s biggest enemy. Then ran into KonMari then minimalism. I have to say I had so much stuff in my house. Seven large bags of clothes I never wore or stopped wearing, six boxes of stuff, including two boxes of shelves. And, right, now, I’m realizing my bookshelf consists of books I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t. And I’ve had most for over a year. And I think that says it all, lol
Clutter is it’s biggest enemy not declutter lol!!
thanks for clarifying. I almost blew a gasket when I read that lol.
I gave many books to the library so I can just check them out if I ever want to. Also, getting a digital version of you favorite books is a great idea.
Of the twenty books I choose at least 6-7 would be religious books. 5 would be books of poetry by really great poets. Poetry isn’t as fun to read on a screen for some reason. 3 would be books on writing. 3 would be books of fiction that I could read and reread numerous times. 2-3 would be books on sewing and cooking.
Books can always be donated, or if NO ONE will take them and you absolutely don’t want them, you could have them shredded and recycled. Beats a landfill. My writer’s market guides will be in e book form from now on!
Interesting article. I recognise myself in a lot of what you said. Thank you for sharing.
I gave away about 15 bags of books, have about 6 more in the garage and 2 and 1/2 more bookshelves of “essentials”. So I will do what you said and put a post it note on each book I do keep and can have a record if I opened it or not.
Hoarding knowledge is still hoarding and bad for me right now. Thank you
Just today I have been going through books–bookshelves all over the house and some books in boxes–trying to bring myself to get rid of some of them but mostly just rearranging them. I decided to google the topic of how to cut down on the number of books a person has. I found this blogger to have several very helpful tips–including drinking enough–and I appreciate the ideas given even if I don’t end up using them all.
I will add one suggestion, and that is the possibility of selling some books on Amazon or other sites (some places buy books outright if you have the kind they want; one place I sold to even paid the shipping!). You might be surprised at how much you can make on certain books–mostly non-fiction (fiction books don’t usually sell for much).
Thank you for writing this helpful blog!
I found some of the tips in this article helpful and quite accurate. I have always loved books and reading since I can remember and consider books as one of my most favourite things. Books mean different things to different people as the author accurately identified.
For me, growing up and experiencing multiple traumas and tragedies, books were a comfort, a source of knowledge, a sense of safety, and a way to feel connected to ideas, persons, and the world. This was at a time when there was pain, confusion, loss, hurt, depression, sadness, or an inability to identify what I was going through.
I will never find the same appreciation for an e-reader (which I have and seldom use), but there is a place for it (great for car trips, plane trips, etc.) There is also a place for books. However, as an adult that has moved more times than I can care to count or remember in my life due to circumstances, I can truly say that moving books gets to be a nuisance and sheer pain. They get heavy! Physically, the weight of books adds up. They take up a lot of space. Nursing and medical textbooks anyone???
For the lady that commented about “staying hydrated?” I found your comments to be rude, but you are entitled to your opinion. Maybe you are in such fantastic shape that this advice does not apply, but as a person that currently has 2 entire rooms of books to sort through, I found it a good reminder. If you take the weight of one hard-bound nursing textbook and multiply that by 50, and then start lugging those around a few shelves, let’s see how long it will take even the most fit person to work up a sweat.
I also did not find the author to becoming across as pretentious. On the other hand, I found the negative comments to be so. Are you perhaps jealous that you can’t get rid of your own stuff? That is how it comes across to me.
My understanding of minimalism will have a different meaning than many other people’s. For me, becoming minimalist means removing all the baggage in my life-negative, emotional, physical (stuff/clutter/belongings), and being more in control of what comes into my life (avoiding advertising and conference ‘swag’, freebies, etc.), so that I am much more happy with the things that I have. There will be less to store (eg. books), and less to clean, and more time for other things.
One of the big ideas behind minimalism is about learning to control things instead of letting the stuff/clutter/thoughts/negativity control you. This will be achieved in different ways by different people.
Maybe you are rich and able to afford people to care for all your stuff? As I said, it sounds more to me that you are simply jealous…
To the other lady that commented about “Being here.” Yes, that is an interesting question. Why would a person come to a blog such as this if they don’t care what it holds? Take what suits and leave the rest, but don’t have a hissy fit and throw a third grade temper tantrum over a blog post. Lol.
Get a grip is right! Oh, and for it is worth? I happen to know quite a number of people that would be classed by the average person as minimalist (nuns, monks, ordinary people). They are not attached to their stuff and live simply. There is much to be learned from their example and way of living. They are some of the happiest and most content people I know.
Sorry you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I hope that things pick up for you.
“Stay hydrated”? are you serious? people just getting off a boat now after hours clinging to their loved ones with nothing but a backpack (perhaps?) need to stay hydrated. Not the wankers who are having to “librate” themselves from all their possessions – particularly books!! Get a grip man! Zen – no! maybe research what Zen actually means. Aversion? Attachment anyone?
…Why are you even here if not looking for this advice?! YOU should get a grip.
Staying hydrated minimizes/helps process stress.