| Sell used books and you've started on the path | | | | So don't let your books take over your home and |
| toward decluttering your life and reclaiming your | | | | your life. It's easy to develop an emotional |
| valuable space. How many books to do you have | | | | connection to a book, or to keep one out of guilt for |
| sitting on your nightstand, on your shelves, in your | | | | not having finished reading it. But at the end of the |
| closet, just taking up space, gathering dust, waiting | | | | day books are just things. You don't owe them |
| for another read that never comes? | | | | anything. If you can't honestly say that you truly |
| It happens to all of us. We buy a book that sounds | | | | believe you're going to read or re-read them, they're |
| interesting, we finish it (or not) and we set it down. | | | | clutter. Let them go. |
| And more often than not, it stays exactly where we | | | | So what are your options? You could throw your |
| set it for a lot longer than it should. Sure, we tell | | | | books away, but that seems like a terrible waste, |
| ourselves we'll finish it or read it again someday - but | | | | even if you recycle them. There is something about |
| we won't. And on some level we know we won't. | | | | a book that makes it more than the sum of its parts, |
| Like with any recovery process, the first step is | | | | and the idea of reducing it to paper pulp is more than |
| admitting that you have a problem. | | | | a little sad. After all, books aren't perishable and you |
| Your used books are living rent-free in space you | | | | can't "use them up", so why not get them into the |
| pay for. Whether you have a mortgage on a | | | | hands of someone who'd love to read them? |
| two-story house in the suburbs or an apartment in | | | | To sell used books is to give that book the chance |
| the big city, your hard-earned dollars pay for every | | | | to be used and enjoyed by someone else. It means |
| square inch of space in your home. When you fill it up | | | | less waste, because you're not throwing them away, |
| with items you don't use, you're not just wasting | | | | and ultimately it means less new books have to be |
| space, you're wasting money too. | | | | printed, which is good for the environment. |
| While books can open our minds, entertain and | | | | Of course the laws of supply and demand are still in |
| educate us, that only works for as long as the cover | | | | effect and some books simply aren't worth anything. |
| is open and the pages are being flipped. Books you | | | | For these books, another good option is donation. |
| aren't reading become clutter. They take up space, | | | | But if you can get a little cash in your pocket and get |
| get in your way, and make it harder to stay | | | | rid of clutter at the same time, why not do it? |
| organized. Worse still, clutter has been shown to lead | | | | So go ahead, sell used books. It's the right thing to |
| to increased stress. | | | | do. |