Saturday, September 22, 2012

Discussion: How Do You Decide What Books Are Keepers?



**First let me start by letting you know that this weekend I’m attending the DC National Book Festival and will not be doing by ‘Stacking the Shelves’ post. BUT I hope to have plenty of pictures and signed books**

Now, on to the topic for discussion: How do you decide what books are keepers? As any bookish person knows, keeping up with our brand of addiction can become quite expensive.  Many people have different strategies to circumvent this, such as trading, borrowing from the library or other people, buying used books or only buying books that they have read and loved.  Once you have that coveted book in your hand, what to do with it?

For the most part I would love to keep all my books forever and ever, but being realistic I can run out of space fast (so far I have three ‘Billy’ bookshelves from IKEA in my basement) and hubby keeps talking about how we will need another soon.  See proof below:



Once I read a book I decide what to keep based on these:

  • ·         If I loved the book, it’s a keeper
  • ·         If it’s by a favorite author (regardless if I read it or not, I’ll get to it soon, promise!)
  • ·         It it’s signed – I just can’t seem to part with a signed copy…they are so special to me

These are being donated:

  • ·         If it’s been patiently waiting for me in my shelves for over two years, maybe it’s time to face reality and give them away (to the library or in a giveaway)
  • ·         If I didn’t like the book – I feel a lot less guilty about letting these go
  • ·         If I don’t have the whole series – sometimes I have a combination of physical copies of books and an eBooks (or eGalley) for a series; it is easier to let go of these

How do you decide which books get a new home?  Do you trade or sell books?  Do you buy only eBooks? Just for fun, how many of the books on your shelves you haven’t read yet? 

13 comments:

  1. This was interesting to read, I'm pretty much the same for keeping books! I also tend to buy ones I've already read if I loved them, but generally only if I spot them second hand, unless they're REALLY amazing and I know I'll want to re-read soon.

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  2. I download an eBook copy first then if I love it, I will buy a copy. If it's from a fave author, it's an auto-buy for me :)

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  3. I personally don't have a big enough collection to worry about space and whether to keep books or not, but when I do reach that stage I think it'll be If I DNF or didn't like the book I would probably pass it on to my sister first, and if she didn't like it then I'll give it away.

    - Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf

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  4. I keep a lot of my books, I get really attached to them! I find it a lot easier to donate books that I didn't like - I don't feel as guilty then! I have a huge dilemma with a lot of the books I've gotten from the library that I've loved - I want to get my own copies but I really don't have the room!

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  5. I don't keep most of the books I read - I'll only keep something if I love it and I'm sure I want to read it again. Otherwise, it's given away or swapped. Like you, I'll also keep something if it's signed; it seems rude to give that away.

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  6. I'm the same with keepers. I would add books that I haven't read yet to my list, though. :) And the ones I already finished and didn't like as much as I thought I would would have to be given away. :)

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  7. I'm a lot like you--if I loved it, I keep it; if it's signed, I keep it. If I don't like it, I don't keep it; if I doubt I'll ever read it, I don't keep it.

    Periodically I'll look through the books on my shelves to make sure I'm still interested in reading them. The ones I don't want anymore I either give to a friend or set up a giveaway on the blog. I actually have some books I want to donate to some libraries next time I go there. :)

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  8. I'm pretty much the same. I don't have a lot of space for books and considering that we have a certain weight we can travel with in the military, I am limited on how many I can keep. I base it off of whether I love the book and plan on reading it again, or like you... if it's signed. I think you should make this meme into a link up so everyone can join in and link back to your page.

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  9. I only keep the ones I know I'll read again, even if its just for one certain scene that made me laugh or cry. although if Im in debate if the cover is pretty or its part of a series I'll tend to keep it too :)

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  10. I only get ebooks - but I still have loads of paper books from my pre-kindle days! :-)

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  11. I keep almost all my books, but I loan them out to just about everyone. I usually donate books if I've never read them and don't plan on it or if they were books I didn't enjoy.

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  12. I give all my books I'm not that attached to to my mom to put in her garage sale (although I occasionally change my mind and have to go back and rescue them). I'm not allowed to buy another bookcase until we more in over a year, and my current one is almost full, so I might be having a problem. Maybe I'll have to start giving them away on the blog. And I'd really like to find some people to do book-swaps with.

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  13. I keep my books if I like them and I think I might want to reread them again. If I don't like a book/just felt okay about a book and know I'm not going to read it again (and on a rare occasion I didn't read the book, but wondered why I bought a book in the first place), I used to sell them to a used bookstore. However, though I love that bookstore I am not fond of the pretentious man who does the buying of the books. I'll likely start giveaways on my blog

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I love comments! Please leave me one and I will try to reply as soon as I can. Liza

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