WELL....
I’ve been doing some downsizing lately since we moved. And I had to make some hard decisions when it came to keeping my paperback books that have to be crammed into my measly two bookcases.
So, I decided to only keep the books that I knew that I would read again. And they are quite a few that I decided I would read again. Books that I read once, had a good ride, but didn’t think I would stick with it another round, they were donated to the library.
PAPER BACK BOOKS I was least likely to take off my shelf were:
Non-Fiction: There is a difference here because my paperback books do take up space. The books that survived and kept their space on my bookshelf were the non-fiction ‘how to’ books and the cookbooks. They didn’t even have to compete.
Poetry: As for my fiction titles, I held on to my books of poetry, which came in 2nd place because I love reading poetry and my family does have a poetry speak talk once in awhile where we recite our favorite pieces of poetry outloud.
Hard to Find Again Books: Yep, those Conan books, and comic books turned full length novels, I held on to them.
Fiction Series Titles: Series that I enjoyed each book in the series (which meant I wanted to re-read every book in the series). If there was a series where there was even one of the books I didn’t want to re-read, I donated the series.
Picture Books and Middle Grade Fiction: I kept these since my younger kids still prefer to read with a book in their hand.
EBOOKs I was least likely to take off my shelf:
Series: Here is where I don’t mind keeping a series in which I didn’t like as much.
Fiction: All of my fiction books that I liked or thought my daughter would like, I keep on my device so I can share the book with her.
MY CONCLUSIONs
I’m more likely to hold thousands of ‘only read once’ books on my ebook device since it doesn’t cost me to keep them and I can archive them. Also, I figure if I’m bored and run out of books to read, I can always find time to read that ‘okay’ book that I haven’t read in 5 yrs.
However, I’m less likely to want to keep non-fiction books like cook books or How To’s on my reading device because I like to write in those books.
As for genre’s I’m more likely to keep my picture books and Middle Grade books on the shelf since my younger kids still prefer to have the book (only because I refuse to buy them an ereader though).
SO…WHAT STAYS ON YOUR READING SHELF? Paperback or Ebook?
by LM Preston, www.lmpreston.com
