KonMari Method Second Step - Books!

When last we met, I was gazing with some trepidation at my bookshelf and already thinking about which books I wanted to keep. Yesterday morning, after just a couple of hours of procrastination (hey, I had to finish my coffee, right?), I got down to it!

Kondo mentions in her book the difficulty many customers feel in eliminating books from their collection, and I definitely anticipated this. Books are portals into other perspectives and worlds, and when you’re faced with choosing between them, it can be tough!

One thing that I considered first off is how many books I have compared with how many books I’ve actually read in the past several years. Here’s a confession: After I received my BA in English in 2008, I basically stopped reading for a few years. Where I was reading 1-2 books a week before my degree, I went down to 1-2 books a year! This was for several reasons to which I could devote an entire post, and probably will, but suffice it to say that I have already slimmed down my collection quite a bit over the past few moves I’ve undertaken because I recognized how many books I would never read again. 

Also, books are heavy. My moving helpers (family and friends) probably love me more the less I have.

But there was still plenty of room left for improvement!

Not my ideal bookshelf situation.

You may also notice in the image above that my bookshelf was sporting a leftward lean, and after removing the books it became clear why! My old Ikea Billy bookcase is kind of falling apart — The back panel that the design relies on to hold the frame steady had been pushed out by the double row of books I had forced onto the shelves. A perfect illustration of the damage having too much stuff can do! I’ll be investing in a solid wood bookcase after my next move, but for now this one will have to do.

Once again, the first thing I needed to do was to gather all of the books in one place, and for this part I highly recommend having a dust rag handy. Individuals who haven’t moved often may not even notice how much dust has collected on their books, but I even found some cobwebs hanging out behind a few of them! Keep an old t-shirt or dust rag handy — Surely you recycled a few of your old t-shirts from the first tidying category for cleaning purposes, right?

The second thing I had to do was separate my books from my boyfriend’s books — Kondo goes into detail about not harassing your roommates and family about all of their belongings, and makes it very clear that you’re not allowed to throw things away on their behalf. Some of us who live with packrats might be tempted to ask, “...are you totally sure about that, Kondo?” Instead, let us lead by example!

Mom's furry helper!

My dog was convinced he needed to sit right next to me and help, which he probably regretted when I accidentally knocked him in the head with a book I was tossing while he hid in my periphery. Poor baby! Even that didn't dissuade him from being a bit of a nuisance underfoot. He's dedicated to his cause. And his cause is mostly pestering me for attention.

Thankfully, not the largest collection of books and magazines I've sorted in my life so far.

Now that I had all of my books in one place, it was time to start sorting! Kondo makes it clear that discarding books is all about the thrill of joy you feel from touching the book, and no reading is allowed. This makes perfect sense to me — How many times have you been packing to move and then lost an hour or two after accidentally becoming engrossed in a great story?

And really, what's more thrilling than a textbook you've never once used outside of class?

Some books were easy to get rid of. Textbooks, for example, are pointless to keep, because all of that reference material is easily found online and often in better formats. Who needs a Spanish language textbook, when you can download a free app that will be a more accessible and interactive resource?

Classics were also easy to part with, because I can download these for free through Project Gutenberg onto my Kindle. Except for one old hardback library edition of Jane Eyre, because it smelled AMAZING. I love old book smell.

I also got rid of quite a few books I’ve been carrying around for years from place to place, always intending to finish them. Most of them still had the receipts from the store stuck in 1/4 of the way through as bookmarks at the point where I realized I didn’t really want to read them. One of them even had a dollar as a bookmark, which is truly a waste! You can go to a better home now, unfinished stories!

I eliminated several piles of magazines, although I reserved a couple of piles of old house decorating and DIY magazines to see if there were any good tips I'd like to save for the new house. I used to clip out pictures and keep them in a binder, but then I would ultimately throw away the binders after never again looking at them. So instead I'm planning to take photos of any cool ideas and posting them on Pinterest. I'll link to my board once I'm done, in case y'all would like to take a look!

Many of the books I kept are craft and hobby books, which have detailed information in an easy to use and collected format — I know I can’t find Maggie Righetti’s indispensable knitting advice on the internet, for instance, even if I haven’t needed it very often in practice. These may be books I let go later, but not for now!

I waited until midnight at a book signing to meet Neil, there's no way I'm parting with this one!

I also kept a lot of my graphic novels and literary/sci fi/fantasy fiction books because I know I will reread most of them, having already done so at least once, and also because it makes me happy to have them. I love being able to lend out a great story!

One book that immediately came to mind when Kondo spoke about the joy you feel from a book was this one:

I remember asking my mother to purchase this book when I was young specifically because I felt a huge amount of joy and wonder at the beautiful illustrations of the knight and faeries that observe his efforts to slay the dragon. It has been almost 2 decades since, but it still reminds me of the wonder of growing up and encountering something that seems magical!

Even as I was getting rid of books, one book that has been on my mind recently was missing. During a past move, I must have donated my copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, and I have a deeply felt instinct that it is a missing book in my collection. Now I’ll be able to trade some of my used books for a new copy!

Mom, now that you're done discarding books, can we go for a walk?

Once I was done, I had quite a few books to take down to Half Price Books to try to sell or donate. It's right next door to Goodwill, so I can make a single trip to drop off my discarded clothes as well. There were some books and magazines that were so beat up, that it was time to recycle them instead.

So happy and tidy!

Then all that was left was placing them on the shelf! Where I had overflowing piles and double rows before, I now have perfectly filled shelves with a single row of books on each one. Even better, I pushed them to the front of the shelf. Before I did this some of the books were buried in shadows, but now they stand on the edge, ready to be held and treasured and reminding us as we pass by that they’re ready whenever we’d like to take a journey! My books seem to feel much happier this way.

I spent the vast majority of my weekend discarding and tidying, but I feel so much better about my house already! Although my thighs and back are killing me from all the squatting and bending. Tidying is a good workout! As I am moving about the house now and dealing with the remaining clutter, I keep thinking, "wow, I will be so happy once I've finished this process so I can find everything as easily as I can find my clothes and books!" It is starting to seem like the title "Life-Changing Magic" is no exaggeration for the KonMari method.

Next up, we have a category that my closest family will know well: Paper! 

We're all prone to hoarding every single scrap of paper that comes our way, and though I've attempted to fight this battle before, it always comes back. Will I be able to finally conquer my paper hoarding tendencies? We'll find out right after I run to the store and buy a shredder...

See you next time!