According to my Kindle, I have 464 books. Of these, I have read 21 books. Yikes. This doesn’t count books I download from Kindle Unlimited, read, and return. I also have a kitchen drawer-yep, you read that right- a kitchen drawer full of books. I guess you can see where my priorities are. Cooking vs. Reading. Reading wins every time. Although I love food...just preferably when someone else cooks it. I’m working on that.
Anyway, back to the point of this post. I have a lot of unread books. In an effort to declutter my home, life, and mental space, one thing I’m looking at is getting rid of lots of books. In the past year, I have donated a ton of books to the local charity shop and local Little Free Libraries. I’m trying to cultivate a “Keeper Shelf” at my home. This shelf contains books that I plan to reread or find useful as a reference. It’s surprisingly easy to decide what to keep when looking at it through that lens. While I may really enjoy a book, it takes a special book to fall into “I might want to reread this again” category. So, I’m issuing myself a challenge. While I will continue to read books from the library and Kindle Unlimited, as I really enjoy both, I want to start working my way through all these books I own. Many of the ebooks were free books from various newsletters or Bookbub. I’ve reigned this in a lot lately by only downloading free or discounted books if I think I would be willing to buy it at full price. If I’m not willing to do that, then I’m just hoarding books for the sake of hoarding them.
My plan involves reading the first thirty pages of a book. If I'm not enjoying it, I get rid of it. Right then. Physical books go into a stack for the Little Free Library. Digital books are deleted permanently off my Kindle. I used to think, well I may want to try to read it another day. But, seriously, if it doesn't hook me in the first thirty pages, what are the odds I will want to read it later? While I can keep unlimited books on my Kindle, I don't want to sort through a bunch of books I don't enjoy on it, either. So, I'm debating on whether or not to treat the Kindle like a Keeper Shelf, too. Should I delete books on it that I've read but have no intentions of rereading?
What do you think about my plan? How do you manage your books? Do you have a Keeper Shelf? If so, what books are on it?
