Decluttering Books

Categorise your books

Firstly, put all your books into categories. The categories I used were fiction, cookbooks, and personal growth/health-related books (an interest of mine). 

If you don’t have many books, you might simply use the categories:

1. Fiction
2. Non-fiction

If you have a lot of books, do a combination of the following :

1. Fiction, author
2. Fiction, genre
3. Fiction, genre, author
4. Non-fiction, category
5. Non-fiction, category, type
6. Non-fiction, category, author

Whatever works for you.

Select the books you love

Rather than choosing what you want to let go of, which can be very difficult, focus on what you want to keep. 

I went through each category and picked out the books I absolutely adore. Choosing your favourite books should be easy. You’ll know the ones you love. They resonate with you and make you feel upbeat.

Don’t take your time with this. If it’s taking you a while to choose your favourites, you’re not doing it right. You can add to the keep pile later, so don’t stress about it.

Notice how your books make you feel

Now you have your “definitely keep” pile, take a look at it. How does the pile make you feel? It should make you feel happy, content, positive. It should feel like ‘you’. 

Soak in that feeling. 

Sort through your remaining books

This is the hard bit, but don’t worry. I’m here to help.

Go through each of the books you have left. Hold each one in your hands and ask yourself the following questions: 

1. Do I like this book?
2. Does it still resonate with me?
3. What will my keep pile feel like if I add this book to it?
4. Why am I keeping it?

Here are a few common types of books that you might struggle to let go of, and the reasons why you should:

Self-help/guidance books you no longer align with

Maybe you read it once and agreed with some of the points, or possibly all of them, but it no longer feels relevant to you. Maybe your beliefs or values differ slightly. It’s ok to let these types of books go. You’ve learned and will remember the information that matters.

Books you think make you look intelligent

You may have paid a lot of many for it, but there’s no point keeping that 400-page study on the diet and disease unless you absolutely love and resonate with it, want to shout about it from the rooftops or come back to it time and time again. 

I had a few information books like this, but the main issue for me was with classic literature.

I’d bought and read a lot of classic novels at university. And while I had enjoyed them, I know I’m not going to read them again because I pick different books now. My favourite type of novel now is one where the protagonist finds themselves. I also prefer easy reads. 

I realised I’d been keeping the classic novels because they made me look cultured and intelligent. Admitting that to myself made me feel rather sad. I have nothing to prove to anyone and nor do you. If you’re holding onto any books for this reason, please let them go. How smart is it really to care so much about what others think of you that you’re willing to keep things you’re not particularly fond of just to make people like you?

Cookbooks you don’t enjoy using

Cookbooks often come in the form of gifts from people who like a different style of cooking than you. You might feel you should keep these books, but if you don’t enjoy cooking from them and don’t use them, you’re doing the gift a disservice. The gift was intended to be used. Pass the book onto someone who will.

I’ve had my favourite cookbook since I was 18. It’s a seasonal one. I’d bought a follow-up recipe book by the same author a few years ago and I realised on Christmas morning I had been making myself use it every now and again despite not liking any of the recipes I’d made, simply because I felt it justified spending the money on it. 

Letting go of cookbooks you don’t enjoy using feels freeing because you’re giving yourself permission to cook and eat things that you actually enjoy.

Books you’ve not got round to reading or finishing

It could be a book you bought yourself thinking you’d like it, or it could be a gift. These are the books that you’ve put off reading because, in all honesty, you can’t be bothered to read them. 

Let’s face it, if you really wanted to read it, you’d have made time for it already. Letting these books go will likely feel like a weight has been lifted because each one of them is an unfinished thing on your to-do list. You don’t need to make yourself read every book you have. Reading should be fun, not a chore. So let these types of books go and free yourself to read more of the ones you actually like. 

Gift books you don’t like

It can feel mean to let go of a book that someone’s gifted you. 

A friend bought me a book years ago that had been one of her favourites. I wanted to read it because I knew it was important to her, but I tried about 10 times and each time it felt like a chore.

Whenever I saw my friend she’d ask me how I was getting on with the book and I’d feel guilty as I told her I still hadn’t got round to reading it. Eventually, I was honest and told her I hadn’t enjoyed it. I did so in a gentle way, while asking her why she’d enjoyed the book and listening to what she had to say about it. We ended up having a really nice chat and I came away feeling like I understood my friend a little better. I’d shared her experience of the book without having to read it.

If you’ve bought or lent a friend a book, it’s ok to want to see what they think, but perhaps try to restrain yourself from asking. Or if you must ask, give them permission to be honest about not reading it/not liking it. And please don’t feel guilty about letting go of gift books. Your friend wouldn’t want you to feel obligated to read it. They want the gift to be enjoyed, so pass it on to someone who will. 

Novels you enjoyed once but won’t read again

If you read a lot, these might make up the bulk of your collection. They can be difficult to let go of, but you should consider passing them on so that you can let someone else have the experience of reading them. Only keep the novels that really resonate with you and that you know you’ll come back to for reference or will read again.

What to do with the books you’re getting rid of

You could sell your books if you think it’s worth your time, gift them to a friend if you think they’ll like them, or donate them to a library, where you can always borrow them if you feel like reading them again. 

The end

How great does it feel to have only books you love? No unfinished business, no obligations, no guilt, nothing to prove. Savour this feeling. 

Revisiting your collection

Clutter collects over time. So even if you’re happy with the books you have now, you’ll need to revisit your collection every now and again.

Finally

Don’t forget to carve the time to enjoy your books, else, what’s the point of having them? 

I followed up my Christmas decluttering session with a bit more reading. It had been an emotional and revealing morning, but one I’m really glad I had.