47 Ways to Get Rid of a Book (part 1)

1.Bookcases I own too many books. And when I say too many books, I mean WAY too many books.

2018 is the year I’ve started tackling the heaps of unread, neglected tomes which fill every dusty corner of my home. So far, I’ve waved goodbye to 267 of the pagey nuisances. How have I achieved this? Let me count the ways…

1. I dropped some popular fiction in the Book Exchange box at a local railway station (and then walked away quickly with my hands in my pockets, to stop any following me home.)

2. I gave fifty children’s and reference books to a school in the Dominican Republic who are creating a new library. A win-win situation all round.
3. I tried passing books to friends at every opportunity. The trouble with this is my friends tend to return the favour- book count goes down one, book count goes up one! One in, one out 4. I registered them as Bookcrossing books and left them in the wild for new, more appreciative, readers to find (the one in the pic is on the sea wall at Southend- hurry and you might find it!) bookcross it

5. I sold a stack of them on eBay. This feels good, because I know the book is going to a Good Home, plus I get a little cash. But it is time consuming and a little sad when books simply won’t sell (pictured is my eBay cupboard… let me know if you spot something you fancy.)

6. Tired of writing eBay listings, I sold a shed load of books to one of those WeBuyYourStuffForPeanuts.com sites. Bit of a rip off, but I love the empty corners appearing around my house!

Waiting to find new homes

and off they go…

7. Can’t be bothered with any of the above? Sometimes I simply put the book down and walk away… Lost

8. OK, this wasn’t my idea, but it’s a good one. My neighbour filled her garden wall with books and invited passers by to help themselves. I only took three, honest. Wonderwall 9. A fair number of books went to charity shops (where I had to keep my eyes averted, or I’d return home with replacements!) If you choose to donate your books, please be aware that the ones which don’t sell may well end up being pulped. bookshop 10. Trying to be a bit more creative, I started making this year’s Christmas decorations (only an option for dilapidated, unreadable books or very badly written, unreadable books.)