More on book minimalism
Is it the onset of warm weather that makes me so desperate to clean my house? And not just tidy it, but rip through it and get rid of everything we don't need or use?
The problem is, we have so much little stuff that just hides away in closets, and then when you try to get something done, the little stuff all jumps out and says, "Ha ha ha, what about me?" and then you're left looking at picture hanging kits and canisters of 35-millimeter film and instruction manuals to stuff you know you have around here somewhere. And what can you do? You can't get RID of it, for heaven's sake! What a waste of good 35-millimeter film.
However, I'm making some progress.
("Why don't you tell us about it, Katie?")
Okay!
Online indie bookstore Powell's has a neato feature called Sell Us Your Books, wherein you can enter the ISBNs from any books you're looking to get rid of and they'll either bid or not accept it. This is a heady and addictive process, let me tell you. Before you know it, you'll be scouring your shelves just to find books that they'll take. "Accept me, Powell's!" you will say. "Let me and this copy of Angela's Ashes into your exclusive club!" (Spoiler: that's an ix-nay on Angela's Ashes.)
They're not offering hundreds of dollars. They offer a couple dollars for hardcovers and less than a dollar for most paperbacks. After a while, you start to get an idea of what they're into, and you start trying to guess whether something will be accepted.
Here's the exciting part, though: if Powell's doesn't take it, you can't put it back on the shelves. You have to put it in a stack of books that will go the the thrift store or to a library. Because if you were ready to let it go for 75 cents, you can let it go for free. Let's be real here, fellas.
Anyway, I have a box shipping out today (pre-paid), so that's exciting. I actually made almost enough room on my shelves for all the books that I used to keep in the sewing room, but had to move when my fabric stash overtook the space.
What's that, you say? When am I going to purge the fabric stash and sewing room?
I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk about that. I have to go shoot fifteen rolls of 35mm film.
*runs away*
The problem is, we have so much little stuff that just hides away in closets, and then when you try to get something done, the little stuff all jumps out and says, "Ha ha ha, what about me?" and then you're left looking at picture hanging kits and canisters of 35-millimeter film and instruction manuals to stuff you know you have around here somewhere. And what can you do? You can't get RID of it, for heaven's sake! What a waste of good 35-millimeter film.
However, I'm making some progress.
("Why don't you tell us about it, Katie?")
Okay!
Online indie bookstore Powell's has a neato feature called Sell Us Your Books, wherein you can enter the ISBNs from any books you're looking to get rid of and they'll either bid or not accept it. This is a heady and addictive process, let me tell you. Before you know it, you'll be scouring your shelves just to find books that they'll take. "Accept me, Powell's!" you will say. "Let me and this copy of Angela's Ashes into your exclusive club!" (Spoiler: that's an ix-nay on Angela's Ashes.)
They're not offering hundreds of dollars. They offer a couple dollars for hardcovers and less than a dollar for most paperbacks. After a while, you start to get an idea of what they're into, and you start trying to guess whether something will be accepted.
Here's the exciting part, though: if Powell's doesn't take it, you can't put it back on the shelves. You have to put it in a stack of books that will go the the thrift store or to a library. Because if you were ready to let it go for 75 cents, you can let it go for free. Let's be real here, fellas.
Anyway, I have a box shipping out today (pre-paid), so that's exciting. I actually made almost enough room on my shelves for all the books that I used to keep in the sewing room, but had to move when my fabric stash overtook the space.
What's that, you say? When am I going to purge the fabric stash and sewing room?
I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk about that. I have to go shoot fifteen rolls of 35mm film.
*runs away*
Labels: books, domesticness, less is more
posted by Katie Alender at
7:04 AM
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9 Comments:
Hi Katie -
I'm a long-time lurker (love your blog), but I'm de-lurking to let you know that textbooks.com will also buy books, and they usually offer more money than Powells AND pay for shipping! They take fewer books than Powells does because they base their list on what is going to be purchased by students, but they tend to buy the weird stuff I have left over from graduate classes like "Three Short Plays By People You Never Heard Of (For A Reason - These Plays Suck)."
/end cheesy textbooks.com ad
But I do love the blog.
Ah, that's brilliant! I have always just put the books in the "donate" box in our storage locker because I haven't wanted to deal with used book stores. Great for Powell's too, I imagine, since they can match stock to what they know they need, and get it from all over the country.
Oh, the misery of culling . . . just after to take the load away, you desperately NEED to reread one or another of these. I just cannot do it with cookbooks anymore. I have to discipline myself very severely.
The day Powells offers to come and pack the books for me is the day I join this. No, it isn't that I'm lazy, but rather that I'm looking for ANY excuse not to sell my books. I tend to read books over and over again when I like them and so does my husband. We've been through Patrick O'Brien's 20 nautical novels three times each, so we're talking about a serious problem.
Please use the 35mm film on Winston. Then post pics immidiately:0)
I know what a pain in the rear those miscellaneous paraphernalia can be. You don't know wether to throw them away or keep them or put off the decision until something compells you to decide. And, while I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure they can have babies.
Maybe you should think about getting rid of more shoes, Katie. I recall you posting on this topic before. Remember: high heel shoes, with the deadly red coating, are NOT good for Tom.
All one can do is round up the little stuff and turn it into big stuff, which happens by putting it in boxes. The only way to properly achieve this is by moving house. ;)
Happy snapping!
Hi, Jay! Thanks for delurking. I checked out textbooks.com, and was extremely impressed that they wanted my paperback copy of "Donnie Brasco." I'll go there first in the future!
Shannon, I know! I do a lot of book-donating, too, and i figure I'll save my book karma by donating the stack of unsellable books. In the meantime, Powell's is an indie, so helping them is helping the fine city of Portland, Oregon, retain its local character. You know, in case I ever go there.
Tut-tut, I must admit that I hang onto books I think I'll have trouble getting through the library. Now, logic says I could just donate my books to the library and borrow them back if I needed to, but the library system actually seems to sell off most donations as a fund-raiser. And I don't blame you for not getting rid of cookbooks. The right cookbook is good for life!
Mary, I actually had attempted this once before, but I got so carried away entering ISBNs that I didn't have any boxes appropriate for the parcel. So I canceled it. Not this time! As I entered them, I put them in a box. I do read some books over and over, but there are some I know I'll never re-read--or even read to begin with! Those go. The favorites stay, and I don't feel an ounce of guilt over it.
Tom, if I get rid of any more shoes, I'll be shoeless. I'll take more digital pictures of Winston soon, but he's too squirrelly a subject to use real film on! Half the pictures wouldn't come out. And yes, I'm sure our useless paraphernalia multiplies when we're not looking...
Mary, that sounds like my strategy exactly! Put everything in one giant box. Eventually, gather all of your giant boxes together, get some tape, and make one even gianter box.
Clearly, this is the path to success! ;-)
I love the feeling of passing on books to other people. The only thing I can't stand is (gasp) throwing books away. (shudders)
I'm doing the spring clean too. I need to tackle the pantry- which I do every year- despite this I still find some box of couscous from 1989 buried in the back. It's a mystery.
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