On decluttering books
Posted on Apr 19, 2025 by nowaiii — 3 min
I can't seem to do anything productive today because of pms, so I looked at my bookshelf to see what can I get rid of. I started pulling out some zines and comics from people that I don't remember. I bought a lot from every comic or zine show that I tabled at. Maybe some of them were trades. I am giving myself permission to just recycle those. I actually had a few that was something like maybe I could donate to a zine library? And then I couldn't find out if the central library takes donation despite the fact that they do have a zine section dedicated to indie comics. I wondered if anyone would actually want them if I give them away online?
But that takes effort.
If there is anything, I found out that if I were to do anything, I just do it without having to talk about it online. This is a blog and I'm not asking anyone to give me suggestions like on xitter or anything. People like to suggest that you may never just recycle any books. It seems like there are unspoken rules on books that somehow books are never allowed to be thrown away because they are sacred text or something. But let's be real, some books ain't worth it. I have already dismantled these zines, taken the staples out and the pages into the recycling box. There is no going back, don't tell me that I must donate or send them to people that wants them.
I remember one very silly idea. I was trying to field for leads like possibly a business that would take massive amounts of books for cheap to redistribute it in a sort of system. I almost wanted to see if there were those monthly blind boxes that send people things (usually themed in art supplies, stationery, or Japanese snacks. Consumable things.) I hoped that maybe someone out there knows what companies do that, but someone suggested that I put them in those little library at the corners of the road. I guess it was my fault that I did not state that the 500 books were in fact, identical, or that it contains things that kids shouldn't see. I will not mention where these books went.
Other time, I was just thinking maybe I should just sell off some rather popular books. Another mistake. I got a long reply that I am going to regret. Years have passed since then, I still have the books out of laziness.
Getting rid of books shouldn't be so taboo. I have the proper tool such as a stack cutter. Chop off the book spines and off to the recycling box they go.
Let me take the path of least effort because there are too many books.