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This Week's Question
What do you do with books you
no longer want? Do you donate them?
Do you take them to a half-price
bookstore? Does a friend or
family member benefit?
(Submitted by Elizabeth @
My Answer
GREAT question, Elizabeth! And it's being answered by a longtime certified book hoarder! Lol.
Quite honestly, it's really hard for me to say that I "no longer want a book". Lol. However, there have indeed been books now and then that I have REALLY wanted to get rid of. One such book is Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. I used to own a couple of copies of it, but then asked myself WHY I had them, since I totally LOATHE this novel. So I donated them to a local Goodwill store.
Sadly, I was forced to donate a VERY large part of my collection when my husband and I moved into a smaller apartment, back in March of 2015. We had to sacrifice size in favor of location; we moved to a much nicer part of the city, with better security. Plus, we were no longer renting, but buying. So....with a very heavy heart, I found myself having to donate boxes and boxes of books to Goodwill. I was surprised at the titles I had accumulated over the years, too! Some of them were even easy to part with, incredibly enough. Others were not so easy....so I have them on one of my Amazon wish lists, for later acquisition. Where I'll put them, though, I have NO idea! Lol.
In spite of all of these donations, there were some books that I just could NOT bear to part with. So they're in public storage, and I'm paying a monthly fee for them. This might seem like a waste of money to most people, but what can I do?
So, when the rare occasion arises that I really DO want to get rid of a book, I will usually donate it, either to a Goodwill store, or to my local library. Of course, when I donate to a library, I check out the books other people have already donated to them! Haha! So it actually turns into a trade type of situation. (Although one library I visit from time to time asks for a monetary donation when you pick up donated books from them.)
Another book I actually COULDN'T WAIT to get rid of was The Gift by Cecelia Ahern. OMG, I TOTALLY loathe that book, too!! If any of you reading this post have read and liked it, I hope I haven't offended you. But then, everyone has their own reading tastes.
When I began reading that novel, I really liked it, but a certain plot twist had me wanting to throw the book against the wall! Honestly. Rather than do that, I quickly added it to my "To Be Donated" pile. Needless to say, I never finished the book. (I did peek ahead to the ending, and THAT was what made me see RED. Good thing I found out right away, though, so I didn't waste any more time. Lol.)
I don't give away books to any friends or family, sad to say..... My parents used to read years ago, but in recent years they've pretty much stopped. Besides, their taste in books is nowhere similar to mine, lol. They are very conservative folks, tending towards classics and nonfiction -- especially Catholic books. Me, I'm VERY eclectic and will also read stuff considered "non-kosher" by my family. Lol. I like classics, literary fiction, paranormal romance, fantasy, science fiction, historical romance, urban fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, and nonfiction. In nonfiction, my tastes run mostly to art, psychology, and spirituality (Christian and some New Age). As for my sisters, they are not into books at all. So, no, I wouldn't give any of my unwanted books to my family.
As for friends.....woe is me....I don't really have that many real-life friends. There are a couple of fellow teachers at work I'm friendly with, but I really wouldn't call them friends, since we don't hang out outside of work. I actually spend most of my time with my husband, especially the weekends.
One of these teachers, whom I have dinner with in the teachers' lounge every evening (Monday to Thursday) does like to read. She especially enjoys reading Ken Follett. She actually gave me a rather dog-eared paperback copy of World Without End, which I've been meaning to read. Even though I don't like to own books in that condition, I will go ahead and read this one. If I really like it, then I'll buy my own pristine copy. If not, then I'll take it over to Goodwill, and not buy a new copy for myself. Lol.
Of course, I do have friends in the book blogging world, but alas, they all live far, far away from me..... I wouldn't be shipping any of my unwanted books to them, as this could get VERY expensive, even if I didn't do it that often.
In the past, I've also gotten rid of books through my own blog giveaways. This is how I got rid of my Fallen books. This is a series written by a YA author named Lauren Kate. I mentioned these books in last week's post. Well, I held my own giveaway, and was able to get them off my shelves that way! Of course, this was not an international giveaway. It was only for U.S. residents. There's no way I would be able to afford postage for an international winner!
I'm currently thinking of holding a giveaway for a book I didn't quite like -- A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas. I know that a LOT of people have raved about this novel, but there are some objectionable elements in it, in my opinion. Again, this was a book I started out liking, but the author really ruined it for me in the end. Maybe someone who would like to read it will be happy to win it in a giveaway on this blog.
If any of you reading this have some unwanted books (and you probably do, even if you're a diehard hoarder like me), consider holding a giveaway with these books as prizes. What you don't like might be just the thing another book lover would! If, however, this doesn't appeal to you -- especially if you're not a fan of Rafflecopter giveaways -- then I think donating your books to a Goodwill store, or a library, would be your best bet.
I would NOT recommend trying to get rid of your unwanted books on Amazon or eBay, in case you've thought of THAT option. Selling on either of these two sites can be a HUGE headache! I know, because I tried selling some books on eBay once. No fun at all!
Quite honestly, it's really hard for me to say that I "no longer want a book". Lol. However, there have indeed been books now and then that I have REALLY wanted to get rid of. One such book is Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. I used to own a couple of copies of it, but then asked myself WHY I had them, since I totally LOATHE this novel. So I donated them to a local Goodwill store.
Sadly, I was forced to donate a VERY large part of my collection when my husband and I moved into a smaller apartment, back in March of 2015. We had to sacrifice size in favor of location; we moved to a much nicer part of the city, with better security. Plus, we were no longer renting, but buying. So....with a very heavy heart, I found myself having to donate boxes and boxes of books to Goodwill. I was surprised at the titles I had accumulated over the years, too! Some of them were even easy to part with, incredibly enough. Others were not so easy....so I have them on one of my Amazon wish lists, for later acquisition. Where I'll put them, though, I have NO idea! Lol.
In spite of all of these donations, there were some books that I just could NOT bear to part with. So they're in public storage, and I'm paying a monthly fee for them. This might seem like a waste of money to most people, but what can I do?
So, when the rare occasion arises that I really DO want to get rid of a book, I will usually donate it, either to a Goodwill store, or to my local library. Of course, when I donate to a library, I check out the books other people have already donated to them! Haha! So it actually turns into a trade type of situation. (Although one library I visit from time to time asks for a monetary donation when you pick up donated books from them.)
Another book I actually COULDN'T WAIT to get rid of was The Gift by Cecelia Ahern. OMG, I TOTALLY loathe that book, too!! If any of you reading this post have read and liked it, I hope I haven't offended you. But then, everyone has their own reading tastes.
When I began reading that novel, I really liked it, but a certain plot twist had me wanting to throw the book against the wall! Honestly. Rather than do that, I quickly added it to my "To Be Donated" pile. Needless to say, I never finished the book. (I did peek ahead to the ending, and THAT was what made me see RED. Good thing I found out right away, though, so I didn't waste any more time. Lol.)
I don't give away books to any friends or family, sad to say..... My parents used to read years ago, but in recent years they've pretty much stopped. Besides, their taste in books is nowhere similar to mine, lol. They are very conservative folks, tending towards classics and nonfiction -- especially Catholic books. Me, I'm VERY eclectic and will also read stuff considered "non-kosher" by my family. Lol. I like classics, literary fiction, paranormal romance, fantasy, science fiction, historical romance, urban fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, and nonfiction. In nonfiction, my tastes run mostly to art, psychology, and spirituality (Christian and some New Age). As for my sisters, they are not into books at all. So, no, I wouldn't give any of my unwanted books to my family.
As for friends.....woe is me....I don't really have that many real-life friends. There are a couple of fellow teachers at work I'm friendly with, but I really wouldn't call them friends, since we don't hang out outside of work. I actually spend most of my time with my husband, especially the weekends.
One of these teachers, whom I have dinner with in the teachers' lounge every evening (Monday to Thursday) does like to read. She especially enjoys reading Ken Follett. She actually gave me a rather dog-eared paperback copy of World Without End, which I've been meaning to read. Even though I don't like to own books in that condition, I will go ahead and read this one. If I really like it, then I'll buy my own pristine copy. If not, then I'll take it over to Goodwill, and not buy a new copy for myself. Lol.
Of course, I do have friends in the book blogging world, but alas, they all live far, far away from me..... I wouldn't be shipping any of my unwanted books to them, as this could get VERY expensive, even if I didn't do it that often.
In the past, I've also gotten rid of books through my own blog giveaways. This is how I got rid of my Fallen books. This is a series written by a YA author named Lauren Kate. I mentioned these books in last week's post. Well, I held my own giveaway, and was able to get them off my shelves that way! Of course, this was not an international giveaway. It was only for U.S. residents. There's no way I would be able to afford postage for an international winner!
I'm currently thinking of holding a giveaway for a book I didn't quite like -- A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas. I know that a LOT of people have raved about this novel, but there are some objectionable elements in it, in my opinion. Again, this was a book I started out liking, but the author really ruined it for me in the end. Maybe someone who would like to read it will be happy to win it in a giveaway on this blog.
If any of you reading this have some unwanted books (and you probably do, even if you're a diehard hoarder like me), consider holding a giveaway with these books as prizes. What you don't like might be just the thing another book lover would! If, however, this doesn't appeal to you -- especially if you're not a fan of Rafflecopter giveaways -- then I think donating your books to a Goodwill store, or a library, would be your best bet.
I would NOT recommend trying to get rid of your unwanted books on Amazon or eBay, in case you've thought of THAT option. Selling on either of these two sites can be a HUGE headache! I know, because I tried selling some books on eBay once. No fun at all!
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