About Organization

I can't count the number of books I've collected over the years. I'm trying to sort them, but I have a hard time letting go, especially when I pay full price. It doesn't help that I'm a packrat to begin with. I moved into my first house last year and discovered that I have boxes of books that I barely remember reading. I must go through these boxes and decide what to keep so I can get things organized.

Used books are a little easier to let go. I frequent two used bookstores: one is 15 minutes away and the other is 30-40 minutes away. I've also started using my local library. Often I'll be intrigued by a book because of its plot or a book review. Now I search the library catalog first unless it's an author I buy automatically. I check out a book, read it, and make a decision about whether I want to buy a copy. I've saved a lot of money with this method. Still, I can say with honesty that I have too many books. Going through them will take time.

I have a considerable pile of books I'm waiting to read, sometimes called TBR (to be read). On Saturday, I resigned myself to the fact that I needed a larger bookcase for them, so I moved one upstairs. This has reduced the piles of books in my bedroom. I'm now using the smaller bookcases to hold my collection of audiobooks and the duplicate copies of books I have for my mini lending library. Now I'm hoping to make a dent in my TBR pile. This, too, will take time.

Alyssa