I just can't let go

I'm getting rid of books tonight. In my rather tiny bedroom I have two full size bookshelves packed in double rows, and a half size one squeezed onto the top of my desk that's also crammed to the gills. I have another full size shelf in the living room, and there are some of my books crowing on to C's bookcases too. It's a little out of hand.

It's not as bad as it could be, and has in fact been. I have two full boxes (as in, too full to lift) of hardcover sets in our storage closet, with a select few of each set kept in my room. I rotate them when we dig the storage closet down to that layer (so once a year). I got rid of 9 boxes of books before I moved in with Carrie, and I destuff books periodically. A bag last spring, a box in the fall.

The trouble is that I acquire them too. And while I think there may have been a net efflux, it's hard to tell. I argue, rightly, that I reread so many of my books so often that it's completely worth my keeping them, and I like to be able to think of what I'm in the mood for and just reach out and grab it.

That being said, there's really nothing much to be said for my bookcase of things to read. That's right, an entire bookcase full of things I mean to read. At some point. When I'm in the mood. There are a lot of things on there that I would genuinely like to read; I destuff the shelf every now and again, and get rid of some of the things that I clearly bought while drunk and/or asleep. Or they were free, which I have trouble turning down.

I decided a little while ago that the things to read bookcase would be my target for the Spring Solstice Destuffing, but I realized today that it would be considerably easier if I posted a lot of the books on Paperbackswap.com before the day I actually want to be rid of them. Most of them are in good condition, and are things that reasonable people want to have. (There are a few that don't fit either of those categories, too. For example, I have this ex libris copy of a pictoral history of the Amish that I can't really explain, but would be happy to donate to the first commenter on this post.)

So tonight I wanted to post 50 books. I wasn't going to have to get rid of all of those right away, of course. If someone requested something I wanted to read, well, you have about 5 days to mail it, and I can read pretty much everything on that shelf except Tom Jones in 5 days. No problem.

Except that apparently I was sitting on a lot of things that people want RIGHT NOW and had on their wish lists, and so tomorrow I'm mailing out 8 books, with 2 more to follow the next day. And I'm just not ready to let go.