Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Thursday, February 17. 2022

Culling books


Have you ever faced culling the books you have accumulated in your cabin?


We are eliminating an overflow of bookshelves and books accumulated over decades.  I kinda hate to do it with books (and furniture), but, on the other hand, getting rid of accumulated stuff makes our cabin feel lighter.


Found a few jewels on my kids' shelves, along with a few remaining textbooks for the garbage.  


Examples of jewels:


-Intro to Paleoclimatology
-Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh - I'm sure I read it but do not remember it
- Biography of John Paul Jones by Samuel Eliot Morrison
- Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I read it in youth (who did not?) but can't remember much about it.
-Tristram Shandy: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759), a comic novel by Anglo-Irish clergyman Laurence Sterne. What a crazy book, almost stream of consciousness. The sort of book that you can put on your pile and read a few chapters when in the mood because it has, really, no plot.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 14:01 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

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We used to live in a region with stores by the chain "Half-Price Books", and found that they were really helpful in appeasing the guilt associated with library culling.

Several times I'd go in with 4 or 5 boxfulls of mixed salable and junk books, and they'd ask me to browse while they evaluated. After 10 minutes or so I'd hear my name called to the resale counter and get an 'offer' on the lot, and given a receipt to exchange for cash at the till.

I've read that they have a well-developed central dismantling and pulping process for the junk books, so I know that worthwhile books are likely to find new homes, and what's not will be likely turned into different paper products with minimal waste. They're apparently a big source for decorators who style full bookshelves and buy attractive mixed lots by the foot.
#1 Douglas2 on 2022-02-17 15:53 (Reply)
I took a stack of audiobooks on cd (popular authors and titles) to the local Half Price store. We go through a lot of them because we take long car trips, but we usually don't want to listen more than once.

They offered me basically pocket change for the stack. Since then I just donate the ones we have gone through to the local library. I'm out very little money, and the local library needs to up it's audiobook game substantially.
#1.1 RJ on 2022-02-17 18:06 (Reply)
Yup, Half Price Books offers pocket change. One time I brought in a cardboard box of books. I estimated HPB would give me $5 for the box, which is what they did.

I read one online evaluation of HPB (Yelp?) whose complaint wasn't neither about the books available, nor about the price of books for sale, but about the pocket change HPB offered for purchasing books. HPB's pocket change for purchasing books is one reason they have been in business for 50 years.

I have some Chilton/Haynes manuals for Ford Escorts. As the Ford Escort went out of production 2 decades ago, rest assured that HPB would have those manuals pulped.
#1.1.1 Gringo on 2022-02-18 16:21 (Reply)
Other places that are good for disposing of books are retirement homes and your neighborhood Little Free Library.
#2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2022-02-17 17:09 (Reply)
Just like digital currency, digital books have an off switch if they're not on a hard drive or a thumb drive.

Paper books might be a future commodity.
#3 B (Link) on 2022-02-17 18:25 (Reply)
Very true. Just like car and gun makers and the oil producers (and apparently truckers now), there is an active effort to deny insurance and bank financing to book publishers unless they have a correct ESG score.
#3.1 jack walter on 2022-02-18 13:19 (Reply)
Have you ever faced culling the books you have accumulated in your cabin?Oh yes. Last year I hauled several pickup loads to the dump - mostly engineering books. I figured if I hadn't opened them in twenty years, then I no longer needed them.
#4 snopercod on 2022-02-17 20:15 (Reply)
We had to make space for adopted boys in 2001 and weeded out half our books. I got into the habit and am whittling it down. Older friends of ours went into assisted living together about that time, and said they had to get down to fifty books. that has stuck with me, as I want to get that fifty correct. I'm still not near that, but have learned that with books one loves, sometimes the best plan is to find a good home for it and give it away.
#5 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-02-17 21:23 (Reply)
Thrift stores in my area, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, those run by churches are generally happy to accept books.
#6 Juan Paxety (Link) on 2022-02-18 06:17 (Reply)
I brought a boxful of unwanted books to the Traveler Restaurant in Connecticut a while back. That place is a gem.
#7 Maniac on 2022-02-18 08:56 (Reply)
I'd heard of it before, but you've reminded me that it's past time I added Tristam Shandy to my "to read" queue. Thanks!
#8 Hairless Joe on 2022-02-18 12:43 (Reply)

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