Why I only buy my favorite books

My book collection could never rival that of my friend’s stash. She’s an avid reader and has a beautiful custom bookshelf to house them all. But I did have a cozy collection. The problem was that most of these books were unread and under appreciated. When Sander asked me to move in with him I had to donate everything. I spent years of collecting books I would never read. My local library was thrilled to get such a large donation but it was hard to let them go.

Now I only purchase books that I love, books that I am drawn to, and books that I would die for. Well not exactly die for but you know what I mean. So why should you take a good, hard look at your book collection? I can think of a few reasons.

Cutting back
To go your book collection and take a good hard look at it. How many of these have you read? How many do you want to read? And how many will you realistically make time for? You should rehome anything you see that doesn’t fit into your time frame. Be honest with yourself and the answers should jump out at you. Cutting back on your book collection allows you to grow space for the titles you’ll actually enjoy instead of keeping those you don’t care about.

Other sources
There are tons of ways to get a literary kick without having to buy books. My favorite is Project Gutenberg. It features over 59,000 books for free! The copyrights have expired in America so these books can be legally downloaded and enjoyed on any device. There are also places like Audible and don’t forget your public library! If it’s too hard to find a particular titled, you can always ask a friend! I’ve borrowed a few books here and there and had a great time reading them.

Invest in important
If you spend your money on something that matters to you, it places more value in the item. Sure, I had a ton of books but many of them didn’t matter to me. There were some books that I loved so much I couldn’t let them go. Instead I packed a few into my bags when I moved. The rest I’ve packaged into boxes until I can bring them over.

Less to worry about
Everyday I think of my book collection in California. I worry that I may never see them again. What if my mom donates them because they thinks I won’t ever take them. Many of those books were from my childhood and I cherish them. Having a large collection you can’t live without makes it difficult to move locations. What if something happens to the books because of Mother Nature? Having less is beneficial because it’s less to worry about!