The Truth Book Lovers Won’t Admit About Their Book Collections

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Your use of these links is greatly appreciated!

Last updated on November 21st, 2022 at 05:10 pm

Hey, book lovers, how many books on your shelves have you actually read? C’mon. Take a guess. Half? Less than half?

I am a recovering book collector. When I was a kid, I spent a couple of years tracking down as many Boxcar Children books as I could. I had almost 100. I definitely had over 100 Babysitter’s Little Sister Club books. As I got older, I forgot about the library and just bought every book I wanted to read. Or was assigned to read.

So what’s the problem with this? Well, these books I collected were taking up space and collecting dust. We spent too much time packing and lugging them from one place to another.

And I wasn’t planning on rereading 90% of them.

There. I said it.

These are the top reasons we book lovers keep books we don’t want to reread (or read):

1. Collecting
2. Nostalgia
3. Guilt
4. Pride

I believe our homes should only be filled with things we love. So why do we let our bookshelves get away with holding things that don’t make us happy?

Let’s break down each one of the reasons.

Collecting

I completely understand having a collection. My dad has a record collection, so I’m totally familiar with wanting to build up a library of works.

But.

When it comes to collections, it means curating items that have value and meaning. For example, my dad buys records because:

1. he likes the music,
2. the recordings have been remastered to sound better than the original, or
3. the record has incredible sound quality.

In other words, he has criteria for what he collects. And any of your collections, including books, should too.

Nostalgia

Some books bring back good memories. I came across a book at my parents’ house from my childhood that’s about a little girl who got a locket. And the book came with a locket too …could never get the dang thing open. I used to read it a lot, and I really regretted that at some point I took a crayon to the pages to add what the artist left out. I’m not quite sure what that was since I was probably 3 when I got that artistic inspiration.

Anyway, it was nice to see that book again, but I’d basically ruined it. I decided it was better to let it go. Sometimes all you need is to get reacquainted with something from childhood and then feel ok with saying goodbye.

Guilt

I was recently asked how to deal with books that were gifted by people who visit often and would notice if they were gone.

**gulp** Oh, the guilt trip.

Everyone has a different way of dealing with gifts. I believe that once a gift is given, the recipient can do whatever they want with it.

If that doesn’t help you, I recommend going a little KonMari. Since you probably need to declutter all your books anyway, go through all of them. Now you don’t have to worry about telling anyone you donated the book they gave you because you did a whole category purge.

That makes it a little less awkward. And once those books are gone that you didn’t want to read or didn’t really like, you’ll feel way happier. 

If you don’t believe me, try packing them away in a box for a week before taking them to be donated. See how you feel when you only see your favorite books on the shelf.

Pride

Raise your hand if you kept books so if anyone came over you would look “smart” or “educated.” We use the books on the shelf as a sign of our intelligence.

I remember keeping books I hated from my AP English class thinking, “Well, I’m educated because I read them.”

If someone walked in the door and wanted to strike up a conversation with me about a book I read, I’d much rather it be a book I actually like. Right?

And seriously, who cares? Do you judge people by the books on their shelves? I don’t.

…

These are the 4 reasons I’ve seen people keeping books that they don’t read —collecting, nostalgia, guilt, and pride.

I totally get each one. I’m guilty as charged. But in the last couple of years, I’ve realized how beneficial it is to let go of the ones I don’t love. When I bring them to the used bookstore, someone else can enjoy them better than I will and get a thrill out of a great find.

And now I have a shelf full of books that make me happy. I call that a win-win.

Here’s a challenge, book lovers: look through your books and choose the ones you LOVE. Then remove all the ones you don’t love, and put your favorites back on the shelf. See if you don’t feel happy walking by your new curated collection 🙂