Christian Goodreaders discussion

I can't seem to throw away books, even after the pages turn brown! Does anyone else have the issue of letting go of books?

I have gotten much better in resent years about being willing to get rid of books through donation, but I find it nearly impossible to throw them away unless they are totally destroyed.

I never get rid of good books. But I have moved to ebooks and audio books more so it's less noticable than my library of real books that still act as good friends I love to hang out with.

In my early adult years, I had to move around a lot, under conditions that didn't allow me to take along huge loads of luggage. Books weren't something I generally had room for many of, so by now almost all of the books I had as a kid are long gone --given away, donated to libraries, or sold in yard sales. Even a number of the books I acquired in the years between high school graduation and my settling in the Bluefield, VA area in 1992 have gone the same way. :-(

Since then, I've held on to more books. I value them, and have often been able to share them with my wife and younger generations of the family; and I hope to continue to do that, and to pass them on eventually to my kids and grandkids (if I die before the Lord returns). But even so, there's only so much shelf space for books. :-( Over the years, I've donated quite a few books (especially unread books I know that, realistically, I'll probably never read) to the library where I work, or put them on Book Mooch, to make room for others.

I’d never throw away books unless they are not in readable condition anymore. They can be given to someone else, left in a Little Free Library (or even just in the wild) for somebody else to read, donated to a thrift store or the local library etc. Even if a book falls apart, the pages could possibly still be used for crafts.

Swantje wrote: "I’d never throw away books unless they are not in readable condition anymore. They can be given to someone else, left in a Little Free Library (or even just in the wild) for somebody else to read, ..."

Same here, Swantje!

I always seem to require new bookcases because the books continue to multiply somehow. They used to breed even faster in the good old days when we still had bookstores around town!

Werner wrote: "In my early adult years, I had to move around a lot, under conditions that didn't allow me to take along huge loads of luggage. Books weren't something I generally had room for many of, so by now a..."

Werner, that's a great idea about passing down books to the next generation as a keepsake. It's a good way to start a tradition and foster love of reading.

Jessica wrote: "I have gotten much better in resent years about being willing to get rid of books through donation, but I find it nearly impossible to throw them away unless they are totally destroyed."

I totally agree.

Angie wrote: "Werner, that's a great idea about passing down books to the next generation as a keepsake. It's a good way to start a tradition and foster love of reading."

That was my thought too, Angie, especially promoting love of reading!

I only keep reference type books and books that I love so much that I plan to re-read them, and seven bookshelves of books that I haven't gotten to yet.
Books that I have read, but don't plan to re-read, I put in a box, and when I have a full box, I take them to Half Price books and get a couple of dollars for them, which I then spend on used books at Half Price books.

I almost never give away my books if I haven't read them yet - unless they are more random procurements that I have since found on audio or the internet, in which case I'm generally fine with it. I recently decide to give away my paperback editions of Vanity Fair and The Mill on the Floss because I now have the first on Audible and, on the second, I've not much interest in reading George Elliot for the foreseeable future having tried Middlemarch last year and failed miserably.

I can also be very precious with some books though, even if I've read them and have little intention of doing so again. I sometimes feel a scrupulous kind of guilt when I give away books I added to my collection during the days my wife and I were still dating.

On a side note, however, I don't know about other countries but in Australia we have those little street libraries where anyone can place and pick up books as they like, free of charge. It's a great system, especially if there's one in the local area and you get to check regularly and see when your old books have been taken to (hopefully) another loving home.