When things go very wrong for a booklover. (“Biografias” installation art by Alicia Martin – check out her site for more great art!)
I’m planning on moving later this year. This big decision comes along with an even bigger one: what the hell do I do with the 300+ books I have crammed on my shelves.
It’s been many years since I’ve had to do a “proper” move. In fact, last time swapped homes, I convinced my former landlord to store my stuff for the sole reason of not wanting to move my books. Those books are still there, FYI… and do not include the hundreds of “keeper” books I have at my mother’s! Some might say I have a problem – but I disagree. There is no such thing as “too many books”… but there is something called “not enough bloody space”.
So I’ve decided to clean house… well, this house at least. I am looking at what I own already, comparing that to what I have in digital format and then being ruthless about it. Basically: unless it is a signed edition or has a super-gorgeous cover, it is leaving the building. (Yes, I am making decisions based on cover art – I am superficial that way.) I am also putting an end to paper ARCs and charity book shopping, because that way lies even more madness.
This is really hard for me, because I absolutely adore my “dead-tree” editions. As much as I love the convenience of ebooks, nothing quite replaces the feel of a book in your hand. But sometimes you just have to think practically. I ordered about 4.5 kilos worth of comic books the other day and, as I was picking them up, thought, “What the hell are you doing, Kay?”.
Of course, I will never stop buying paper books. Impossible. I plan to die surrounded by more books than anyone could ever possibly read. But I am going to start weighing space vs. desire for every purchase. I don’t need to have the paper version when an ebook can provide the same experience.
Anyone else suffering from similar woes? I imagine there are plenty of us – especially among the blogger community!
- Top 10 Books of 2015 - January 6, 2016
- Image comic-book-buying madness - December 3, 2015
- Review: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews - November 22, 2015
I completely understand! I moved in May from Missouri to Florida. I own a little over 1400 books in hardcopy, not including my kindle. Probably 3/4 of my boxes were books. The poor movers on both ends were expecting a nice simple move of a one bedroom apartment, but what they got was about 30+ boxes of books to haul. I only gave up about 5 boxes of books before I moved. They all kept commenting on how many books I had. Luckily, I have a very understanding and supportive mom since I was moving in with her after we had both lived on our own for awhile, and all she said about the books was that she’d rather I owned a lot of books than any other material item because they have value. A couple years ago I had moved nearly the same amount of books, but with a friend’s help, and knew this time I wasn’t going to subject a friend to that torture again! I hope your move goes smoothly, and you get to keep your books! Just remember it really is better to have lots of smaller boxes than a few unbearably heavy boxes because they just feel heavier the more of them you carry around. Good luck! 🙂
-Cassandra