The floor refinishing and installation project is fast approaching the time when the floor boards will be delivered and the actual work will be done. Leading up to it Bookman and I have to find a place to move all of our furniture and books and we have some carpet to tear out of the living room and vinyl flooring to tear out of the kitchen. We have about a week and half to do it in at this point. So if things are a little quieter around here than usual, you know what I am up to.
One of the rooms that already has wood flooring that will be refinished is “my” room. It has my desk and my books in it. Yesterday I cleaned off my desk and filed the papers that had been accumulating. I cleared out the insides of my desk today. Amazing the things that can be found in a desk drawer that hardly ever gets opened except to retrieve the occasional paperclip. The desk, however, was no big deal.
It’s the books.
I am blessed with an overabundance of books. Even though two of the walls are covered with shelves, those shelves are packed with books. Of course I have not stopped buying books just because the shelves are full. So I have been piling books neatly on the floor. And piling. And piling. And piling. I see the books everyday and, I tell myself, I generally know what books are there. But in reality, I have stopped seeing them so that they no longer register as piles of books in my brain and there are so many of them I have no idea what most of them are. I never thought of them as a problem because they just sat there, not intruding on my consciousness, even when I add to them.
Today they intruded big time.
I am not certain how we managed to acquire a three-shelf bookcart, but we did. It lives in the basement and had junk piled onto it. I cleared it of its detritus and began moving the books piled on my floor upstairs to the bookcart downstairs an armful at a time. Down and up. Up and down. Waldo ran up and down with me, so excited that something different was going on. Dickens went down once, then came back upstairs and stretched out in a strategic location and watched me going back and forth.
Did I ever work up a sweat! I filled the bookcart and still have a small pile of books on the floor to move. At that point I was too sweaty and tired to figure out what to do with the last pile. I collapsed on my reading chaise with a cold glass of water to recover and to think.
What am I doing with so many books? If I read nothing but the books I put on the cart today, it would probably take me three to four years to read them all. There are that many books. And looking at the room without all those books on the floor, it doesn’t seem so small anymore. It also feels better. Lighter.
When the floor is done and beautiful I don’t want to cover it up with piles of books. It is not good for the books because it is impossible to keep them clean. I also don’t want to think about carrying them all back upstairs. But I don’t want to get rid of them because I haven’t read them.
I am forming a plan of action. I will probably leave them all on the cart in basement. I will make it a point to start reading books from the cart. When I am done reading a book, I must decide whether it is worth keeping because I want to read it again or it was somehow so amazing that even if I never read it again I still want it around as a reminder of the experience. I then have to find a place for it on a bookshelf. If I am not going to want to read it again or it wasn’t all that amazing, I have to get rid of it. Simple enough.
A floor without book piles in a room with packed bookshelves is a great temptation. But I will not let myself succumb. No more book piles on the floor. That means I must be ever so selective about the books I buy. This won’t actually be that hard since Bookman and I have stopped going to our local Half Price Books. We can still get used books in other places, but I don’t think we will. At least not very often. And new books, those are costly enough that I have to think about them when I buy them. How much do I want them? Do I have someplace to put them?
This will be a big change and no doubt it will be hard to stick to. But after moving all those books today, and when I consider that one day we might need to pack up and move house, I can’t bear thinking about it. Chiropractors will start lining up outside my door.
In one way I feel like I am betraying my bookish self. But in another I feel like I am honoring my personal beliefs in living a simple and clutter-free life. I never thought the two would come into conflict but they have. I’ve got some thinking to do; some mental realignment. It isn’t bad. It’s good. And I am glad I have come to do it on my own terms.
First they came for the classics, then they came for the books that were not that amazing…
Not to enable you, but have you considered standard and bracket shelving? You can go right to the ceiling and build them around heaters, switches, and other wall protuberances. They make heavy-duty double-track systems that are perfect for books.
Like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloversdiscourse/5462634346/sizes/z/in/set-72157625971473121/
And there are electronic books. One of the reasons I keep piles near me is that old fear of “out of sight out of mind” but I’ve decided that all I need do is create a list and keep that in front of me rather than the books themselves. Good in theory … not ure I’m good at keeping the list up to date in practice … but it’s a start.
Like you I am trying to pull in my book buying habits. Our next move WILL be a downsizing on. It may be 10 or more years off, but it will come. I need to start mentally – and physically – preparing now. A book problem? Oh yes, I understand.
I know how you feel! About 5ish years ago, I stopped buying books. It was hard; but after a serious look at my collection, I realized it would take me more than 10 years to read the books I already owned. So, I (except for a few cookbooks and “necessary” authors) have not bought books in that time. That was step 1.
Step 2 was culling the herd. I’ve weeded my collection once a year. Each time, I find a few books that a) no longer call to me and b) I’ve decided I’ll never get around to reading. These books get rounded up and donated to the library.
Step 3, I actually go to the library and drop of the donations. I get to reward myself by checking out a new book.
It’s tough, but it can be done. We should start a club… with dust jackets.
We stopped buying books a couple of years ago (after having 5+ giant shelves of books CRAMMED with books, not to mention the floor). It was hard but now I like not having piles and piles. This is not to say we don’t still have books. We do. At least four tall bookshelves worth. They just aren’t on the floor. Well, that’s a lie. They are piled on the floor next to the bed (on each side). And crammed in on the bookshelves. But we aren’t buying them much anymore, unless they are reference books (or beautiful collectible copies). However, I do go to the library religiously, which helps with the booklonging.
Can’t wait to see photos of the floors!!
I feel this torture every time I move, and I’ve moved a lot, and still have more than a few moves to go.
Now the cool thing about my Nook is that suddenly I’m feeling very, very comfortable with the notion of unloading a fat chunk of my physical library. It’s a knee jerk reaction I’m engaging in whenever I tell myself, “yeah, but a hard copy doesn’t need a battery and can handle some rough abuse, etc.”
But then I remind myself that short of electricity disappearing from the planet, I’ll always have access to the ebooks that are important or at least useful to me through one avenue or another. Case in point: yesterday I purchased for $6 the ebook version of a book that is in every Top 10 list I’ve ever made (Jack Vance’s “Lyonesse,” if you must know). The hard copy is in storage 23 miles away. Whether I get there by bicycle or if I con someone into giving me a ride at today’s gas prices, the effort of getting it would still cost more time and/or money than the beat-to-hell-and-falling-apart reader’s copy I own is worth. And if my Nook breaks, no problem: the book is archived at BN.COM, and I also have it right here on my laptop.
So I’m very down right now with the idea of just up and selling off 95% of everything I own that’s available on-line in one form or another. For me, that’s about half of my working library. I’m actually paying a huge chunk of money each month to keep my “overflow” books in storage, which I can no longer justify in any economy let alone this current one.
I’m not going to say that the romance of the book has completely died for me, but there’s definitely an ex-girlfriend-now-just-a-friend vibe where physical books are concerned. You’ll be delighted to know I can’t think of a single good “friends with benefits” joke right now.
@Sylvia: That picture is awesome. It almost breaks my wishy-washy heart.
Sylvia, you crack me up!
Seriously though, the shelving in my room is already bracket shelving. I even have a nice little step stool so I can reach the top shelf. They aren’t as compacted together as the shelves in the photo though. I could probably get another shelf in on each wall if I felt so inclined but that would involve quite a bit of work! We’ll see how my resolution goes. If I can’t manage to keep books off the floor I might have to slip in an extra shelf.
Whisperinggums, you understand my problem completely! Such a relief to know I’m not the only one. I keep piles for a similar reason. And because I think even though I might not want to read the book now, it will be good to have it on hand when the mood strikes. But my house isn’t that big and I keep thinking that a smaller, loved collection is more important than every book I could squeeze into my house that I might want to read someday. It is one thing to know this in my brain, it is another entirely to put it into action! Oh, and I also have that list thing going on!
Meghan, a club with dust jackets! I love it! Your comment comforts, encourages, and inspires me. Thanks!
Daphne, I have definitely been edging toward becoming a bigger library user and with my new resolution, I will become even more of a dedicated user. There will definitely be floor photos. You also remind me that I want to take before photos.
Cameron, It sounds like you have hit on a solution. About two months ago we weeded a bunch of classics from the shelves that we can get free from Project Gutenberg. I’ve not bought an e-book yet. I have a big issue with DRM and the fact that I don’t own what I pay for. Maybe this will change one day but for not at least I am sticking to my public domain e-books only policy
Ah, see, that’s the beauty of *standard* and bracket shelving. It’s easy to move the brackets up and down the standards and add or take away (like that ever happens!) shelves. And with the twin track system you can get really long brackets and double-shelf your books, if you wanted to…
Easy to move the shelves and brakets to add another shelf except for the part where I have to remove all the books on the shelves first
Yes, that is indeed a nuisance. I’m looking forward to the invention of anti-gravity books that we can just place anywhere and they’ll float until we need them. If they can also shake off their dust, even better!
Oh yes, my brain says smaller loved collection too … but then there are those books that I may not have loved, that I may never read again, but that remind me of the special person who gave them to me or of an important moment in my life. When do I get rid of those books?
Whisperinggums, ah yes, those books. I know what mean. That’s a tough one. I suppose one has to be ruthless and get rid of them or find the room to keep them in the collection.
And Sylvia, get cracking on inventing those anti-gravity books!
I hear you, Stefanie, and I agree (mostly)…that is until something like this occurs: I have to make room on the bookshelves or get more bookshelves. I hate clutter, but can’t afford the kind of bookshelves I really want…the kind that go up to the ceiling and have a built in ladder on a track. Nope. So, right. I decided I had to be ruthless and donate a bunch of books to the library for their book sale; or to a shelter. And I meant it, too, I really did. But then I made the mistake of reading a blog which praised Mary Stewart. “I have a Mary Stewart someplace, I think! Why haven’t I read Mary Stewart?” And so I went on a hunt, and sure enough, I found Touch Not The Cat sitting next to This Rough Magic in that section of the shelves where I keep old book club editions (in this case, sitting between Daphne du Maurier and Marco Polo If You Can by William F. Buckley, Jr.). Now, had I cleared out my bookshelves, I would probably have gotten rid of both of them. They are decades old. I never read them. Don’t know why I got them – probably forgot to send in the RSVP card – and never before had a desire to read Mary Stewart. But I started Touch Not the Cat and love it! Close call. I’ll save up for the bookshelves, and let my chidren worry about what to do with the books after I’ve gone to the great Reading Room in the clouds.
Ha ha ha ha ha… I never thought the two would come into conflict… ha ha ha… Sorry, but it seems like the bookish self and the self desiring a clutter-free life were fated to meet in an epic clash.
We are preparing to move back to Tsu and I have been trying to shave the books down. It is a battle. There are just too many books on the “already read, but might read again” list as well as the “to be read” list. The other day I made a grand effort… which only netted 8 books… three were sold, three were given away, two remain on the floor; for if they were placed again on the shelves, they would blend in as a chameleon never again to be ferreted out.
I think you have a GREAT plan…..which is better than no plan & piles of books! I know you like “real books” but inevitably the e-book is what we will all be reading. I don’t want to accept that as the truth b/c like you – I have at least 5 years + of books stacked up around my house – but I really do think it is true. E-books are the future.
I just recently had to resort to the stacks-on-the-floor for the first time ever (after we got back from France and I didn’t have room for all my unread acquisitions on my to-be-read shelf). But I hate the feeling of being overwhelmed by a back-log. I like to have about a year’s worth of unread books on the shelf, and if it edges over that I start to feel uncomfortable. As for read books…so far by shelf space has been able to keep pace with my book acquisition. We’ll see where I am in a few more years…
Your plan sounds good, though. You’ve gotta pay attention to those gut reactions re: what feels good and what doesn’t.
I know how you feel! I’m gearing myself up for a house move next year by which time we will have lived in this house for 25 years. We’re drowning in books – our own and our parents and then Granny’s books, I hope to read them all – one day, it goes on and on. I’m collecting small boxes now for when we have to pack them all as I’ve previously made the mistake of packing boxes full of books and then not being able to move them!
I can so relate to your dilemma – having/loving/owning books vs. minimalism. I don’t have an answer just yet, but am moving towards using the library more so at least when I have read a book, I can get it out of the house. (The one problem to this is that when I go to the library to drop off the finished book, I usually get more than one to bring home, which doesn’t help remove the original books from the house! Sigh.)
I don’t really have an answer to that, but can sure empathize with your issue. BTW, I think you will love your hardwood floors. We have them (original ones) in our house, and they look gorgeous and are so easy to clean. (Swiffer – I love you.)
liz in texas
It was so much easier to keep a small collection when I moved every year or two, but I’ve been in my current place almost 5 years, and it didn’t take long for the books to get out of control. I could add a couple more bookcases, but my place is tiny, and I intend to live here a good long time, so I want to leave myself room for grow, and if I got shelves now, I know I’d fill them right away.
I’m pretty good about only keeping books I expect to read again once I’ve read them, but accumulating unread books is where I have a problem. Once I started having to make piles and double stack books on my shelves, I got rid of a bunch. I try to keep the unread books confined to a single bookcase, which hasn’t been too difficult, but every now and then (like now) I have a little overflow, which means it’s time to focus on the books I own and not library books or e-books.
I don’t buy many books anymore, partly due to space and partly due to funds. I did a ruthless cull a time or two when I moved and now I try to use the library as much as possible. E-books aren’t going to save me unless i actually use them.
Mary Stewart! Grad, I recently had a sudden nostalgic fit for her and do you think I could find her anywhere? My library had only a couple. Luckily my mother had a few but it was rather shocking to see how out of fashion and how GONE she is now. /clings to my old books
Stefanie; re: ownership
I figure we’re about a decade from the entire Library of Congress – every scrap of paper – fitting onto Star Trek-style crystal drive. Cost: $39.99 + tax.
How funny, I posted on my own intention to buy fewer books just a few days ago. But it sends a shiver down my spine – if you’re not acquiring and I’m not acquiring, who’s going to keep the publishing industry going? I was really quite concerned about it, but last night Dorothy left a comment saying she still loved book buying so that’s some consolation!
Grad, those are my dream bookshelves too and a room big enough where such shelves wouldn’t look weird. Like a converted barn. If I ever win the lottery jackpot I am having an old barn converted into a library. It’s good you still had those Mary Stewart books. I won’t be tossing out books any time soon, promise. I just won’t be getting may new ones and the ones I own I will have to decide to keep or get rid of after I read them.
Bikkuri, you made me laugh
You are quite right that the two were fated to clash eventually. I suppose I should be surprised that it took so long! I feel for you trying to whittle down the number of books before you move and completely understand the difficulty. Good luck!
Helen, I think you are right about e-books. Like you though I have plenty of print books to keep me going for years. But when those run out, it will be all e-books all the time. I guess it will help with my desire for minialism though so it won’t be all bad.
Emily, I am impressed that you haven’t had to resort to books on the floor until just recently. I used to be very good about not having lots and lots of books piled on the floor. But my downfall was a combination of buying a house and my husband working at Barnes and Noble for 10 years. It all finally caught up with me!
Katrina, there is nothing like the prospect of moving to get one to start weeding the book collection. I’ve over loaded a few boxes of books in my time too. Good luck with the move and the book culling.
ravingreader, let’s make a pact, when one of us figures out the book/minimalism thing we will share the secret with the other
I am increasingly using the library too of late. Though the nice thing about the library is that even when you bring home a big stack of books they won’t be hanging around for too long. we are looking forward to the wood floors. You are very lucky to have your original floors. Only two rooms in our house still have the original so we have to have new flooring installed in the rest of the house. We are definitely looking forward to the easy cleaning aspect of them!
Teresa, I know exactly what you mean about how moving frequently makes it easy to keep the book collection smaller. As soon as I bought a house the number of unread books accumulating seemed to start growing at an exponential rate. When I think that I might move someday my knees turn to jelly at the prospect.
Carrie, my book buying days are now going to be few and far between. The library is my new best friend. As for e-books. I have embraced them for classics in the public domain but for new books I haven’t gotten there yet.
Cameron, only $39.99 + tax for all the books in the Library of Congress? I can get on board with that
Until then, I will continue to the struggle between print and e-books. Sometimes I think it is a curse to live in interesting times!
Litlove, I am a little behind on my blog reading I guess. I suppose it is going to be up to Dorothy to keep the publishing industry afloat
I also have a book problem. I think I actually used book buying as some kind of balm to soothe myself on a bad day. I think I charged up several thousand dollars of books on my credit card over the years… one day it was like it just hit me in the face, I was craving BUYING books over reading them. So weird.
I put a full stop (almost) on book buying (pretty much to save my marraige) and I regularly purge books I don’t think I’ll ever read or that I haven’t read in a while. I have a special spot for books that hold warm spots in my heart… and I do plan to read as many as I can…. but until I can make a dent into my “to be read” pile, I need to hold off on future purchases.
I feel your pain, Stefanie! Truly, I do: small house + too many books = piles and clutter. Finally decided a few years ago to weed out the collection “a bit” because our small house was simply overflowing with books! Sold some during a yard sale and what was left took to our library. When husband went to librarian to say he had some books to donate she said, “Oh, I have a form to fill out for the donation. How many books are you donating today?” When he replied, “352″ apparently her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets and her jaw hit the floor. Ummm…yeah, we donated a few books… Since then we’ve mostly used the library, bought ebooks, and when we do bring physical books to add to our collection (yes, we do have full bookcases in every room in our house) we try to weed out some so we don’t end up with piles. It’s a never ending battle…
Good luck with your “book problem.” I hope that you can keep your lovely room free of piles so you can enjoy your new floors.
P.S.
I lived in St. Paul for 15 years and always enjoyed my trips into Mpls! Miss the midwest terribly! Say “hi” for me! And go to Cafe Latte over on Grand Avenue to indulge in a piece of German Chocolate Cake for me!
Heather, there are worse things you could buy than books when it comes to shopping therapy in my opinion, but then I’m biased. As for making a dent in the tbr pile, we’ll both be working on that!
Jennifer, oh what a funny story! You’d think librarians would be used to getting huge book donations but I guess not. I am determined to stay pile-free so will very likely be going down the same road you have. I don’t get over to Grand Ave much but next time I do I will stop in at Cafe Latte on your behalf. I moved to the midwest from California and I must say I really do love it here even with the cold winters!
I’m tempted to try to cut down on book acquisition as well, especially since I’ve already accumulated 79 books this year! Um, that’s a lot. How did that happen? It’s just so much fun to visit used bookshops around here … I think I should stop buying books so much, but then we get the chance to go on a book-buying excursion, and I jump at it. I’ve read 17 of those 79 books (thanks to LibraryThing for all the numbers!), but still. I guess I believe in a simple and clutter-free life, EXCEPT when it comes to books
There are always more books in those piles than you think and just don’t realize it until you have to carry them upstairs or down. That always puts things into perspective. I’m all for living clutter free, but every time I say I’m going to stop buying books I prove myself a liar. So I’ve stopped saying that.
I bet you have more determination than I do though–reading and weeding is a good thing.
Danielle, we’ll see how much determination I have. I managed to pile most of the books onto the book cart in the basement with a few overflowing to a shelf. I am hoping it doesn’t turn into an “out of sight, out of mind” thing and I am hoping I don’t start piling books on the floor again and telling myself it is only temporary. If I can make it to this time next year without creating any new piles I think I will have gotten past the biggest hurdle.
When I read this part, “What am I doing with so many books?” I laughed and looked again at the name of your blog site. It may well be the most appropriately named site, ever!
You are now closer to your deadline, I hope your flooring plans are in fruition stage.
I have a wall of books in my main room that is so heavy that is buckling all the parquet flooring in the NEXT room. They are all lifting up from the weight.
I also have adopted the practice of selective book-keeping, too. I only keep those that are exceptional for their beauty or reference value or I know I will re-read. The rest I must give away. And I must curtail my BUYING, too.
I love that your cats want to help out.