Decluttering Around Here: Project 2 Update
I didn’t share my decluttering project #2 from our challenge last month. First things got pretty crazy with our neighbor’s intense need for our help (we love ‘em!). Then I couldn’t find a used book store that was interested in taking my books.
Well one shop was very interested. ”Oh we love exchanges!” the man with thick glasses and a scruffy beard gleamed. ”But only the owner does it. He’s on vacation. When he gets back, then you can come!”
“Well when will he be back?”
“Umm. Two weeks. Then you can come in from 10 to 2 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Mondays.”
Why YES, all you readers who have lived in Germany! I sure did think I was talking to a German government office. Plenty of vacation time, impossible hours…
Needless to say, I still have the books.They’re just sitting in a big box in the car, waiting for Plan B. I was hoping to swap a few books to take with me to Germany, as my German novel reading skills have not passed the first grade level yet. English books remain a must!
Plan B is donating them to the library in town. That will have to wait for the next big drive into town.
The great news is that our bookcase is officially decluttered. I’ve also got a plan for tackling the books I chose to keep. It’s a crazy theory: read the books I already have! Stay tuned for some thoughts on that later this week!
What have you been doing with your no-longer-wanted books?
October 5th, 2010 at 5:36 am
I love donating my books to the library. For a while we were donating them to Boston Public library (since we live in Boston) but I realized that we could bring them up to my husbands parent’s house for their library in a town that has 900 people. They would benefit more from the books.
October 5th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Mostly we pass them on to friends and family. We have at least 3 used bookstores in the Fort which accept them for trade. Our libraries has a discard shelf which is where most donated books go to at our library. They let you take books for a suggested donation of 10 cents to $1. I’ve picked up some reat books there. I also give books to my favorite thrift store.
October 5th, 2010 at 7:53 am
Honestly, I don’t have any books to donate, because I almost never buy books. I check all mine out from the library and return them. Excellent way to never get clutter :)
October 5th, 2010 at 9:27 am
We’ve got a bunch of English books that we’ve brought back from the US and finished now, and have talked about having a Wine, Cheese, and Book Trade party with some of our English-speaking friends…but we haven’t yet. When we do though, we’ll put out a big box, and then everyone who comes can add books or take books, and whatever is left will be donated.
October 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hi! It’ sbeen a while since I’ve been around. :)
I set up an account with paperbackswap.com , and that’s what I do with my old books. I had thought I got this idea from you, but I’m not sure!
October 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
OOH, and I love Dallas’s idea. I may need to steal that, only the US in the US version…
October 6th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
i’m pondering what to do with mine as well. the majority of what i’m going to declutter are specialty sci-fi (star wars expanded universe novels!) so those may not be happily accepted by all takers. there’s a community garage sale this weekend, so maybe i’ll try to unload some then, but if that doesn’t work i guess i’ll be hunting around for a used book store, same as you!
while my hubby and i were in germany on our honeymoon, i made sure to grab a few easy chapter books so he could help me learn to read it better (he’s german) and also to have something to share with our children. luckily his parents also saved some of his school books so i’ve been able to learn the names of dinosaurs auf deutsch!
October 6th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Love your idea, Dallas!
Anissa – paperbackswap.com has come up quite regularly in comments here. It’s not something I’ve tried… YET.
October 12th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
I pretty much stopped buying books a few years ago. The kids still buy a few because some relatives send Borders gift cards for birthdays. We a) paperback swap or b) just donate to the library. Reading is such an important part of my being that I can’t imagine being without books. That being said, I don’t need to own them all…