I'm slowly but surely emptying the shelves of the books I thought I needed
The books bought to inspire me to do things I thought I wanted to do
The books that offered a glimpse into another lifestyle
The one I thought I wanted
Seeing the shelves empty
Slowly and methodically
Shows me that this was not the case
They were there to tease me
To remind me
Maybe to try and make me sad at money spent
But now I have taken back the power
I can make gaps appear
I can change my possessions to suit me
The me that is now
The me that is actually me
It's so easy
And so invigorating
To see shelves emptying and boxes filling
And as the books go
New vistas appear
New horizons waiting to be discovered
More time to read
Yes
There are books that are treasures
That will never leave and will always live on my shelves
And in my heart
Sue xx
💚
Some books, like other things, are meant to pass through our hands. I hope yours find new readers and thanks for passing them along.
ReplyDeleteThey are all going to very appreciative homes.
DeleteI'm not selling them for a fortune, just enough to recoup some cash and the people that are buying them at the car boot sales we are doing each month love to stand and chat about their new purchases ... and chatting about books is almost as good as reading them :-)
I do find it difficult to give up books - but - I only have so much wall space for bookcases! I have slowly going through them and passing some along or donating others. One friend and I have also worked out a system where she buys a certain series and I buy another - we switch - and then pass them along to others. At least it makes a small dent - Oh - and I am using the library a LOT more.
ReplyDeleteYour bookshelves look amazing.
I only started being able to part with books last year. This year it would seem I can really go for it, and I'm loving the liberating feeling it gives me. It's funny how things change.
DeleteWhat a good idea to share buying series with your friend :-)
We have just had a book purge. It was so difficult, but it was amazing how many we managed to put onto the 'out' pile. Some are being sold, some were passed onto a neighbour this morning, some are going to the village post office, who sell them in aid of the church hall and the rest will be winging their way to various charity shops. Of course now there is empty shelf space and 'nature abhors a vacuum' so I will have to keep my husband away from online auction sites!
ReplyDeleteQuick get rid of the shelves ... then they can't be re-filled. This is what I did upstairs :-)
DeleteI find it so, so hard to hand books on but whan I've done a sort out, there's such a sense of releaf.
ReplyDeletexx
In the past I have been known to buy my own books back from charity shops ... not any more!!!
DeleteBooks are hard for me to pass on but I'm getting there. I've donated one box and I'm working on another one. Some of my books have print too small for me to read any longer so most of those can go. I know you are a great lover of books and considering that you are really doing good!
ReplyDeleteSome of my books have coloured print on tinted pages and that makes it almost impossible to read by the light of my bedside lamp, so they have all gone for starters. Yes, even though I do love books, I am moving away from the need to own them all ... mostly!!
DeleteWhat an absolutely amazing view from your window Sue♥ Oh dear books...my Achilles Heel. My 95 Aunt was buying a new book every week until I found out last year so I now supply her with 10 books each time she visits, she has saved a small fortune:) I've pledged not to buy any more books until I start to read the many unread books, so far so good but it's very hard. Once we have moved I am hoping to use BookCrossing and I also love the idea of a free giveaway mini library:) Have a wonderful weekend xx
ReplyDeleteYes, we are blessed with wonderful views from every window in our Welsh home. Hope your weekend is good too. xx
DeleteOh it is hard to get started, I only kept some picture reference books on a few places I had been ,some craft books I use frequently and 2 fiction series I reread when I need to leave reality for a while.
ReplyDeleteMy local library is 5 minutes drive and the small shopping centre nearby has a free community library of 4 book shelves under the escalators , where you can leave and take anything, very handy !
I have a couple of sets of books that I read when I want to escape to someone else's reality for a while. It's almost like a re-set mechanism isn't it.
DeleteThe little community library sounds like a good idea.
When we moved into our current house we built several bookcases to hold our embarrassingly large haul of books.
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple of years we have been demolishing them as books are pruned.
Like you I love books and worked in a bookshop for many years! Enough said but also like you I'm pruning possessions.
My husband is also seeing the sense of doing so but much of our clutter is inherited from my parents.When my father moved in with us most of it came too.
Now the time has come to purge.
I find these possessions much harder to let go of but am tired of being a curator and none of the family want any of them!
Sue
Yes, I too am getting rid of shelves. I have sold one bookcase and another is on the car boot sale pile. The tower of built-in shelves behind the door in the living room has to stay though as it came with the house. But soon I think ALL our books will fit on there.
DeleteI made a pledge to myself not to buy any books this year. I've already gone through my bookcase several times but am on one very last go through by re-reading the 30 odd books left to see if there are any more I can release back into the wild. Other than that, I'm reading books donated by friends but it's hard work not picking up anything new. Still, almost half way through the year lol. Savannah.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of 'releasing books back into the wild' :-)
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