I used to be really bad at giving books away, but lately I’ve been getting a little rush whenever I clear one off the shelves. I don’t know if it is the fact that I’ve been going to the library more than ever or having an e-reader, but the physical copies of books (even ones that I really like) don’t feel as important to hang on to. I also think the change could be that I reread less since there are always so many books on my TBR list.
I’ve been spending the last few weeks at my mom’s house in Annapolis, and one thing we’ve been intermittently doing is go through the bookshelves to see if there are ones to give away. Since we gave away more than ten boxes last year I would have guessed that I wouldn’t be willing to get rid of anything that made the cut last year. But so far I’ve been wrong. It’s fun to pass books on to friends and slip them into our neighborhood’s little free library.
How about you? Do you like giving books away or not? What do you do with them? I want to hear in the comments.
Alison Doherty 
I’ve also recently posted about this. I think it’s so important to have an unhaul every now and then. It does feel really refreshing. 🙂 I try to give mine to charity or a family member. It’s better that someone else enjoys them!
I agree that it’s better for someone else to enjoy them than for books to just be sitting on your shelves!
I HATE to give away books – many times it’s like giving away old friends. I have books I read as a child (from the 60s), books I read in the 70s and 80s – many of these you cannot get digitally yet. Many are falling apart (especially if I dropped them in the bathtub while reading). But I love them anyway.
I still have my original Joy of Cooking from 1977 – and I know it’s been updated at least twice since then.
On the other hand, I need to give away probably 30 – 40 boxes in the next few months – and it will kill me! But at least I know that the Annapolis Book Festival has a used book sale as part of the event and they will find good homes!
The Annapolis Book Festival won’t know what hit it!
I’m terrible at parting with books even if I know I’m not going to read it again. Unfortunately I’m running out of space at the moment so it’s either get rid of the boyfriend or send some books to the charity shop!
Boyfriend versus books … that sounds like a catch-22.
I am SUCH a book hoarder and it drives me crazy. For example, I have this horrible romance novel I read on my first trip to Hawaii in 2011. It wasn’t even that great but because I read it in Hawaii I have this stupid attachment to it. I’m hoping to get over it one day and part with it and a dozen or so others I didn’t even like but for some reason can’t part with.
I definitely get attached to books I read on vacation too. I read a horrible book in Italy that I will definitely never get rid of even though I didn’t like it that much.
I’ve always been a book collector. Even if I know I’ll never re-read it, I’ve always felt a need to hold on to them. That started to change when I got my Kindle & found that I was surprisingly satisfied reading some books in a non-traditional format. I’m just now getting to the point where I’m ready to part with some of my books. Books need to live, to be read and loved and breathed life into. So I feel okay passing them on to someone else who will be as enamored as I’ve been with them.
The kindle is definitely a big part of me being able to pass my hardcopy books on. Thanks for commenting!