KEEP OR THROW?

RHYS BOWEN: I’ve been doing a lot of weeding out at home recently. After my husband’s passing earlier this year I’ve been doing remodeling and rearranging. My daughter Anne is moving in with me so she is getting her own suite downstairs. That means John’s office becomes my media room, my media room becomes the guest room etc. it also means getting rid of an awful lot of furniture and books. I have shelf after shelf of my own books. Another book case of reference books. Two of antiquarian or valuable books. John had two book cases of his reference volumes. There were three in the family room. And this after we did some serious weeding years ago.

So the question is what do I keep? We have gorgeous coffee table books. Lots of important reference works.  It how valuable are they to me now? A pictorial volume on  Tuscany isn’t exactly necessary now I can watch a YouTube video any time I choose. Another coffee table book is Great Wines of France. And I’m still drinking Californian plonk. Antique dolls? The British Raj? The fact is that many reference books are obsolete. I can find the info quick online. 

When it comes to novels will I really read this book again? And if I do, I can read it on Kindle. My complete Agatha Christie collection is not going anywhere. But otherwise only books signed by friends and fellow authors are special enough to keep. 

So, dear Reds, which books do you hang onto? Can you easily let the others go?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am having a very similar dilemma. Some days I feel like shouting: ALL OF THESE HAVE TO GO!  Then I think...well, except for this one. And this one. And the Agatha Christie collection, exactly. And  my own  books, in every shape and language. And signed books. But...really? What if I just tear out the signature page and keep the signature page? And donate the book? Hmmm…?

Lisa Gardner has my favorite take on this. She says books are meant to be read, not sit one a shelf. So she says she is delighted to donate books–she feels as if she is saying, “Go books! Do your job!” And I truly love that.

LUCY BURDETTE: We had a big purge this summer too, though not a dramatic renovation like Rhys’s. I know I have a book “problem”--it’s so much easier to identify which of John’s books should go.:) I tried very hard to look at each book and ask if I would really read it a second time, or if I’d need it for a research reason, or if I had an emotional attachment, like it was written by one of my dear friends, signed by the author etc. If my answers were no, it went to the Friends of the Library to be sold for another reader to enjoy.

But I have another problem–I keep buying more books. So you would never know I’d purged anything!

HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve had what Rhys is experiencing… after my sweet Jerry’s death I sold most his collection (quite a few classic illustrated children’s books) which turned out to have a nice amount of value and hopefully went on to strut their covers on eBay or Amazon and make some money for the secondhand bookseller.

Three years later (like Rhys!) my daughter and her family have moved in with me… and I’ve liquidated my office and all the books in it to make way for her taking over. I now have a cozy work space in my bedroom, with about 10 linear feet of shelf space for books. So deciding which to keep was quite an exercise. But at least it’s easy these days to find texts online. 

Keepers? Eclectic Here’s a sampling… A set of Harry Potters. THREE BAGS FULL. THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE. THE EYRE AFFAIR. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. DEFENDING JACOB. DOG ON IT. GONE GIRL. BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE. PRESUMED INNOCENT… And about a dozen more and that’s it. 

So far I haven’t missed the missing ones.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I did a similar thing with Ross’s collection of histories, warfare, etc. after he died, Hallie. A new branch of the local community college was opening, and they were asking for book donations to help expand their limited acquisition budget. I catalogued what I wanted to get rid of, and after looking the list over, they happily accepted about ⅔ of the collection. The rest I gave to Victoria to sell online.

Now, my OWN books are a thornier problem! I’m dealing with that by ignoring it entirely, and focusing on what children’s/middle grade/YA books I can pass forward (I like Lisa Gardner’s take) to other readers. Three bedrooms, three bookcases in each one, PLUS the stuff stored in the attic… I figure I can be happily and productively weeding for a while.

JENN McKINLAY: My parents were keepers so I grew up with an aversion to “stuff.” Sorry, Pop, you are not going to find a use for that six inch piece of wood that you’ve kept for twenty years. They weren’t hoarders or anything, there was just so much stuff acquired from their families that they just couldn’t part with because it belonged to someone they loved. I do not have that sentimentality. I keep nothing. One copy of each book I’ve written and unless it’s a book signed to me by a friend, it goes to the Friends of the Library as soon as I’ve read it. I don’t collect things and my favorite hobby is sending stuff to thrift stores or the dumpster, depending on the state said item is in. 

RHYS: but Jenn what do you do with 25 copies of each of your books?  Any suggestions anyone? And who else has done a successful book purge?

JENN: I send them to my assistant to giveaway in promotions!

How about you, Readers? Any suggestions for authors drowning in copies of their own books?