How I Got Rid of 2,000 Books and Started Reading More

[jocampo]

This article made me think about my actual life, possessions and life style:

http://www.theminimalists.com/reading/

And while the main topic is about how the author replaced his book's collection for a Kindle, I think goes beyond that.

Take a look and read if you have a chance. Chances are will create a positive effect on you as well.

[Spock96]

I did enjoy reading that.

Now this is just me, but I want my own personal library so.....yeah.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Spock96

I did enjoy reading that.

Now this is just me, but I want my own personal library so.....yeah.

You mean, physical or virtual ? lol

[Spock96]

Originally Posted by jocampo

You mean, physical or virtual ? lol

All but maybe 5-6 of them are virtual.
It's a small collection only 106 books maybe.

[FizzyWater]

Nice.

Thanks for sharing this!

[piper28]

I've actually been working on packing up all the books that I have. However, I wouldn't say it follows any philosophies that this guy is espousing. For me, it's become simply a matter of space. I've just got too many bookshelves taking up wall space with books that I just don't read any more because of the kindle. At this point I just plain want to free up the space to use for other things. I've been reducing the footprint of my dvd/blu-ray collection too, but there it's not getting rid of them, it's just repacking them into a far more efficient storage space.

Haven't completely decided what to do with them though. It's a little depressing how little they're actually worth compared to what was put into them.

[Mike L]

Interestingly, what the article fails to mention is how he got rid of the books.

Did he just throw them in the rubbish bin, to end up in a landfill (it would have to be an extremely large bin)? Did he somehow get them pulped or recycled? Did he find a charity shop - or second-hand book dealer - to collect them?

I reckon 2,000 books would weigh 900 - 1,000 kg (say, just under one tonne). If packed into standard cardboard cartons, they would need 60 cartons, which would almost fill a small room. The logistics of clearing out that number of books is not trivial.

So, how would you get rid of 2,000 books?

Mike

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Interestingly, what the article fails to mention is how he got rid of the books.

Did he just throw them in the rubbish bin, to end up in a landfill (it would have to be an extremely large bin)? Did he somehow get them pulped or recycled? Did he find a charity shop - or second-hand book dealer - to collect them?

I reckon 2,000 books would weigh 900 - 1,000 kg (say, just under one tonne). If packed into standard cardboard cartons, they would need 60 cartons, which would almost fill a small room. The logistics of clearing out that number of books is not trivial.

So, how would you get rid of 2,000 books?

Mike

Perhaps you didn't read the line where he said he sold or donated 98% of his books.

[Harry_Y]

I have found de-cluttering your life is good for you.

I am always giving something away, once I've got my enjoyment
out of something I pass it on to someone else to enjoy.

[geoffwood]

We went through a House Flood a couple of years ago. By the time we were done cleaning out we had filled three dumpsters with stuff. As horrible as that experience was, it was cathartic and living without all that baggage is so much easier. I've gotten rid of most of my books except for a few coffee table books and books that I can't yet find in e-book format.

Now, in a strange way it feels good to look at something that you want, rationalize that you don't need it and just walk away feeling better than you would had you bought whatever it was. It feels like a small victory over all the marketing and commercialism that bombards us everyday. Not that I would encourage everybody to live that way, at this point I think our economy would collapse without the consumer.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

Perhaps you didn't read the line where he said he sold or donated 98% of his books.

You're right. I did miss that. But I'd still like to know about the logistics. How did he sell or donate all those books?

Mike

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mike L

You're right. I did miss that. But I'd still like to know about the logistics. How did he sell or donate all those books?

Mike

I've been in the process of replacing the majority of my rather large collection of paper books with eBooks for several years now. What I do personally is to sell the paper books on Amazon; books in good condition sell very well, and can fetch surprisingly high prices.

[jocampo]

My dad was a lawyer. At some point, he had over 2k books, which today I do not consider that a lot really.

Few years after he passed away (it was in a tragic way) we decided to donate all of them, including classics, to an important University where my brother works part time as a medical professor.

The logistic? bunch of big men came from the University with pickup trucks and cars, hahaha...

[montalex]

I threw away nearly 2,000 books about 12 years ago. I had stored many books in my mother's basement over the years, as I moved around quite a bit. Even without those books, I still had many hundreds overflowing my bookshelves. When my mother sold her house, and had to clear things out, I had no way to transport the books to where I now live. I went down to her home, and my brother-in-law came by with a truck so that we could transport the books to a used bookstore. The store was, unusually, closed. At a loss, we took the books out of the truck, and left the open boxes on the sidewalk in front of the closed bookstore. There were some 30 large boxes filled with many lovely books I had collected over the years, most of which I had acquired during the years I worked in a large independent bookstore. I collected books obsessively. Most of the books I left behind I had not even read... I mean, the complete works of Geza Roheim? Honestly, I am much happier in the knowledge that most of my books are now stored on my Dropbox. And I don't buy as hastily, because I am not worried about ebooks going out of print or being otherwise unavailable in the future. Long live ebooks!