Books: A Love Affair

In an attempt to downsize our lives and live a more minimalist lifestyle, we are attempting to sell everything we own. Okay, maybe not everything, but a lot of it. We will soon be moving in together which will allow us to get rid of at least half of our furniture and we plan to have a yard sale in the spring to sell some of our clothes that are just sitting in our closet.

However, when it came to shrinking our book collection, the process was not so simple. Some of them have lackluster story lines. Most of them we have already read before. And all of them spend a majority of their time collecting dust on the shelf. Which got us thinking... "What is it about books that makes them so difficult to part with?"

Here are some possible answers we've come up with:

"Aw, but that one reminds be of..."

Are there certain books that remind you of your childhood? Books that you remember reading over and over again? Or maybe certain novels that moved you, inspired you, and made you laugh? Books are powerful and letting go of them sometimes feels like letting go of those memories.

"I'll read that someday."

How many times have you said this to yourself? There's something very intriguing about an unread book; not knowing exactly what it will be about or how it will impact your life can be thrilling. Getting rid of unread books seems like a waste.

"I have many leather-bound books."

Having a library in your home is a status symbol. Only the wealthy can afford to have a whole room dedicated just to reading, right? Having that many of anything can make you feel important and having a wide variety of books on your shelf makes you look downright scholarly.

"I might need that one for..."

Are you keeping books around because you think you'll need to refer to them for research? When is the last time you spent 20 minutes skimming through a book instead of taking 3 minutes to Google it? Think about it.

"But they look so pretty!"

Just looking at that box of books in the photo above makes us rethink selling them. All of the different colors, sizes, and shapes of the books stacked next to each other just looks so fun!


All of these things ran through our mind during the sorting process and made our decisions very difficult. Books are more than words on a page. They hit a much deeper nerve; we get attached to the characters, identify with their problems, and want to keep them around like they're our friends. So how did we resolve this problem?

1. We didn't get rid of ALL of our books. We kept a few that were particularly near and dear to our hearts including a book Megan read over and over when she was little ("An American Tail") and a series of books by Kyle's favorite author, Stephen Ambrose (May he rest in peace).
2. We got rid of the books we started and couldn't get in to. If we weren't hooked from the beginning the first time, we aren't going to be hooked the second, third, or fourth times we try to read it.
3. We got rid of the books we read a million times before. We loved them so much that we read them over and over, but we realized that we can still cherish those books without having them in the house permanently. Plus, we like the idea of passing that love on to someone else.
4. Prior to starting this journey, we invested in a Barnes and Noble Nook. When we first started cutting back, we considered returning our Nook and getting our money back. However, we realized that we really do love it and we use it everyday so it's not a worthless expense. Plus, consolidating all of our books into one space-saving device is totally worth the money.
5. THE LIBRARY! Our most underrated and underutilized resource is the public library. Free books, Free DVDs, and Free Music- what's not to love?? Plus, they have recently introduced the ability to check out ebooks for free, so now we can experience all that the library has to offer on our space-saving Nook.

So, friends, if you are working on minimizing your possessions and having problems parting with your literary gems, please know that you are not alone. It might take some mental pep talks to finally cut the cord, but in the end, it feels good to let go and share the love.