Fall Into Reading Question #4

You may recall that I have joined the Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted over at Callapidder Days.  She is posing a question each week, and this week's question is:

How large is your personal/family collection of books? And where do you keep them?

Quick answer:   Very large and all over the house!!

 We have a major clutter problem, and much of that clutter is books.  I have been trying to weed some out from the overflowing bookcases, but then they sit in piles and boxes in my office while I wait for time to either post them on half.com or give them to our local library's book sale (the collection day is just once a month, and I always seem to miss it).  I also give some away to friends and to my son's school.

Bookcase in Our Bedroom

So, let's see...we have a floor-ceiling bookcase in the living room, mostly filled with really nice hardcovers.  There is a double floor-to-ceiling bookcase in the office, but that is partly work-related and reference stuff - my books on writing, travel books, my husband's old college textbooks (not that he ever actually looks at them...), even a bunch of books related to my old field of consulting (I might need those again some day...).  There is a full bookcase in our bedroom, and another one in each of my son's bedrooms. 

One of my son's bookcases

My oldest son reads constantly and hates to get rid of any books, so he also has overflowing shelves on the bookcase headboard of his bed, plus lots more on the shelves of his closet!  And finally, we have a couple of baskets of kids and teen books waiting to be read and reviewed - as you can see, the books long ago outgrew the pretty little basket I bought to hold them!  Oh, and should I count the two plastic bins of beloved picture books waiting in the closet for the next generation?  Oh, and I forgot about the shelves in the guest room, filled with all of my husband's old sci fi and fantasy paperbacks (which my son had been reading lately), plus a bunch of classics.  When my son gets assigned a book for read for Lit class, we always check that shelf first before buying anything new.  Whew...

Overflowing Book Basket

I have been trying to weed through all of our books.  My criteria for what to keep is only books I love that I will either read again (not that I ever find the time) or lend to family and friends. 

Ah....I do so love books.  Do you think I have a problem?

How about you?  Do you have a lot of books in your house?  What do you keep and what do you get rid of?  And HOW do you get rid of them??