The Great Book Purge of 2013

So. A funny thing has happened to me and my library... I've run out of room on my book shelves. Yes, I have an entire room with wall to wall shelving for my books, and yet, somehow, I no longer have any shelf space. How did that happen? Beats me. I totally have my book addiction under control. It's a mystery.

I suppose one must do what one must. In this case, I've made the incredibly difficult decision to get rid of some books. Though I have to admit, once I got started, it got easier and easier as I moved from shelf to shelf.

As I went along, deciding which of my books to orphan, I asked myself several questions:

• Have I read this already, and did I enjoy it?
• If yes, will I ever read it again?
• Have I had this book for years without reading it and have no intentions of reading it any time soon?
• Is this book an embarrassment to be seen on my shelves?

For a bibliophile like myself, I ended up with a surprising number of books to get rid of. I plan to try to trade them at the used bookstore(s), and the ones that aren't of any interest to the stores, I'll give to a library or Goodwill. This way, they don't worm their way back into my library, where there are now 4 free shelves just waiting for new additions to my collection.

As you can see, a lot of these books were either gifted to me, won in some kind of giveaway, or were guilty pleasures I don't take pleasure in anymore. Some books were harder to part with than others, but I think I made the right decision. Out with the old, in with the new. Life is too short to hoard books I know I won't ever touch.