What is too many books?

Photo by Jocelyn Morales

Books. I have too many books. I know, I know there have been questions floating around the online world about this very subject. What is too many for me - might not be too many for you. I have to go through the book elimination process pretty hard core every few years. I do not really like it at all. There is generally a build up to it. There is a feeling first. The feeling is generally - an anxiousness. This feeling tends to originate from a not being able to find a book that I am looking for. I do not like being in that position - however, it does alert me to a piling up of books.

There is a lot written about this topic. It can fall into the camp of hoarding books for some. Bibliomania is a term tossed around which means an extreme preoccupation with collecting books. The Japanese term tsundoko - means basically book piling. Each person can determine what their book collection is and means to them. I know for me - when I cannot find a book or things feel out of sorts around this book collection - it’s time for books to go.

I have books in most rooms of my home. I don’t want this to be the case. As I have gotten older I tend to like a peaceful and calm home. When I have lots of books around - even if they are on shelves - it is distracting. My eyes tend to fall on the titles constantly as I pass by. The words jump out at me. Some books like a huge illustrated Ulysses keeps telling me to get to it. I don’t pick it up. With so many books around in my life, it can become somewhat chaotic in determining which book I want to pick up. I have more non-fiction books than fiction.

I would say that three-quarters of my book collection is non-fiction. I have always leaned this way. I do read other things like biographies, history, political works, women’s studies, poetry, fantasy, gardening, self-growth, seasonal , anthroposophical, philosophy and myth and fairy tales. That is a pretty wide range of works. I like having a bunch of books that I am able to go and pick up to read in the moment. I am not an organized reader typically. I am more of a mood reader unless I am working on a project and need to do research.

So books. The past couple of days have found me sorting through books again. I don’t necessarily want to ditch them. The idea that usually comes up is - my husband needs to build us a library. His carpenter ways would easily allow him to do this. But, do I really want to add on a library room to my house? That seems like a great idea to me. However, it is a lot of work, time and financial strain. The idea of sitting surrounded by walls with shelves of all of my books with a comfy chair feels like a dream really. It reminds me of all of those books I have read about the very reading places that live in books. So, is this a reality or born out of book reading?! I notice the word feeling keeps coming up.

The other thing that comes to mind is if I just give away a large portion of my books it will suddenly feel easier and less burdensome. That seems like a very fast and final solution to this issue of too many books. I mean - build a library? It is more to my liking of having less books and a more serene environment regarding book collections. The idea of being free in a quickly carried out swoop feels like a big relief. So, would that not be the thing to move toward? One would think so.

Still, it is challenging to face your stack of books and determine will this be the day that you finally take another plunge in toward eliminating the weight and burden of too many books? I can feel it marching toward me. It seems like a small thing in the face of all that is going on in this mad world right now. It is a grounding force in my life at the same time. Books offer solace, comfort, learning and some sense of order and peace in my life. It is these mad times that seem to push me toward lightening the collection of books that work at the edges of my thinking.

A need for less. The need for some sort of order when you feel like you can’t make any. A sense of control might be peeking around the edges. Books and book collecting is a strange predilection that some of us have. It seems unnecessary. It is also grand and worth pursuing. If you love books and all that they contain you might understand some of this challenge. The layered meaning of books and holding them and owning them is not easily understood by those that do not tend toward book and book collecting. Being an avid reader is just another interest that one can partake of in life.

Where do I go with this need to lessen my book collection? I think for me it is time to let go of a large amount of my books again. So far, they have been moved out of the main house so that I don’t have to look at them all at once. I will from there begin a big sort and purge and donate plan. I tend to do it quickly. Just pick up the book and look at it and put it in the donate pile. If I am undecided I will set it aside. I am wanting to be large in my letting go. I want more space. I want some freedom from burden of the background noise of the books words calling to me. There are always more books to find in places and suddenly I will have more than I planned on owning. The time will come to let go again. Books are a coming in and a letting go in my life. I see this pattern continuing into future days.