The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem, Right?

So, I’ve been struggling with downsizing. First things first, I have too much shit. Most of the shit is stuff people gave me, but far more than anything else, I have an asston of books as well as a bunch of DVDs. If you want to know where my disposable (and some non-disposable >.>) income went, the answer is: books. Aside from necessary life objects, stuff related to social engagements (food, movie tickets, gifts, etc.), school stuff (tuition, textbooks, supplies), and my Netflix and MegaUpload accounts, I only buy books and the occasional DVD (usually only ones $5 or less–exception: any Harry Potter DVD).

I love books more than anything else in the world, pretty much. I have an addiction, to be honest. I haven’t read most of the books I have and yet I keep acquiring more and get lots of books at the library now that I’ve actually run out of space for new books.

Yeah, you read that right. I have no space for new books. Why? Because I have three large bookcases full of books in a bedroom the size of a prison cell. This might be taking things a little too far.

I mostly buy books used for pretty cheap (many good books in good condition for $0.50USD to $1USD at Half-Price Books, my favorite store in the whole entire world. Yeah, I’m even applying for a job there. It will be the death of me.

I also get some books bargain-priced on Amazon, on the occasion I’m lucky enough to catch the sale. I do preorder some books by authors I love and have no problem with that. I’m going to continue doing that because there are some authors that I like to support and some books I absolutely cannot wait for, such as anything related to The Hunger Games.

Many people, mostly people who hate rewatching movies or TV shows or rereading books, ask me why I buy books and if I’m ever going to reread them. And the answer is yes, I reread books a lot! Often, I reread the entire books, but more often than that, I just several specific parts of books that I loved.

I think, for books I’ve previously read, I’m going to ask myself if I’m going to reread it and if so, how often? Maybe once? Is it worth keeping it or should I just go to the library if I want to reread it?

For many, many, MANY books there is no question: Yes, I love that book to death, keep it.

For others, the answer is: Eh, I might. For the books I haven’t read, I do plan on keeping them until I’ve read or attempted to read them at least once. After that, I’ll decide how to categorize them. I read about 40-80 books each year so this won’t be a HUGE problem if I focus on reading books I actually own instead of ones from the library. ;)

What am I going to do with these books? I may take them to Half-Price Books to sell them, I may send them to friends who I think would like them, I may even give some away here! Who knows!

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