The Stash
Should it stay or should it go?
I wrote this post on Lake Effect while staring at a pile of yarn. Now I’m staring at a pile of books, so I’ve modified the questions to address our bookshelves:
Do you have a significant physical book collection? If so, how do you store it and track your books?
How do you decide what stays and what gets passed on or donated when you’re done?1
Do you display your physical collection in your living space or do you have a dedicated room?
Does it bother you to see stacks of books that are not stored in a bookcase? 2
What is your relationship with your collection, especially your TBR pile? Does it dictate what you will read next, or is it a separate entity and unrelated to your current reading selection?
To follow up on the last question - are you still adding to your physical collection, or are you either on a book diet (read what you’ve got before you buy more), or at maximum capacity space-wise?
Are you an ebook and audiobook consumer, and if so, do you still have ebooks and audiobooks to read/listen to?
Do you believe there IS such a thing as max capacity for books?
Do you also have a stash of books that you bought with the intention of giving them as gifts, ready to go when the need arises?
Wishing you a day lost in a good book.
My collection consists of books that belonged to my grandmother - one of which is dedicated to her!, books by Madeleine L’Engle, Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, and other childhood favorites, picture books I was read as a child and that I read to my son when he was a child, several books by David Sedaris, and the last book ever written by Phil Rickman, a master of subtle horror. I do have other books, that don’t fit those categories, and almost all of them are in the process of being culled for donation or recycling.
Asking because I’m looking a a pile of books on an end table as I write this, and they’re bugging me. It could be worse; at least it’s not a bunch of unopened mail or dirty dishes. Sorry, I can’t delete that bullet point.