Thursday, February 4, 2010

What do you do with your books?

Besides reading them of course, what do you do with books once you've read them? Do you keep them on a bookshelf, donate them, trade them, lend them out, recycle them, sell them? I think most of us do a combination of those things. When I love a book and know that I will be rereading it earns a place on my shelf. Most of the time though, even though I may have thoroughly enjoyed a book, I know that I will not be reading the book again. Then I want to find either find a new home for the book or find someone to lend it to. Books that are stuck on shelves make me sad because it could be being read by someone else. Since so many used bookstores have been closing their doors I've really come to love www.paperbackswap.com . Whenever I finish a book that is able to be traded according to their guidelines that I am not going to lend to a friend or family member I list it. I love knowing that the book that I enjoyed is going off to another reader who is excited about reading it. I like to think about the books traveling around to other peoples homes to bring them so joy an imagination. I checked out a few other book trading sites, but so far Paperbackswap is still my favorite.

5 comments:

  1. Jill, most of my books I keep. A good read I have a hard time letting go of and I love the look of a home surrounded by books. (Hubby gave me new wrap around shelves for Christmas). The ones I can let go of go either to my church library, or into my prize box for winners on my blog to choose a book I can send them.

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  2. My friend Jill is my most favorite book sharer ever. I think you know her. ;o) (And, oh my word, just finished "Alice I Have Been"...LOVED it!)

    I usually borrow from the library because I don't have enough space to store a ton of books, but the ones that I have are usually vintage finds and I keep them on display...or stuck under my bed. :o)

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  3. Like you, I make sure not to keep any books that I'd never read again. Not only do these books take up key storage space, but they deserve to be enjoyed! I usually end up passing along my books to family members. I doubt my sister has bought a new book in years thanks to my reading addiction!

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  4. We kind of function along the same lines. Any book that I know I can read again and still enjoy goes on my shelf. Right now, my shelves are pretty bare because I purged them last year and did a massive donation to my local library of everything that I didn't want.

    Now that that's done, any book that I read now and enjoy but don't feel a need to read again, I give away on my blog. Anything else goes in the donate pile and will head on over to the library for Teen Book Drop in April. The pile's significantly smaller this year but I might just make a book-like donation to my local children's hospital.

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  5. I love paperbackswap.com! I've been a member forever, and most of the books on my shelves came from there. I am ashamed to admit I have a huge box in my other room that needs to be listed. Maybe someday?

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