Massive Book Unhaul | December 2015 ~ 89 Books

I had become unhappy with my library. Unhappy in the sense that I had a lot of books on my shelves that I no longer had the interest in reading, no longer felt that I would ever re-read many of ones that I had read, and as my taste in books has shifted drastically over this past year, I also had a lot of books that I felt lacked the maturity level that I now desired. About two weeks ago I begun to go through my bookshelves, book by book. I took each one off of the shelf, flipped through them, and made the ultimate decision of whether or not I wanted to keep it. It took me nearly two weeks to complete this project. The end result? I had unhauled 89 books total. My bookshelves are cleaner, more organized, and they now contain only those books of which I dearly love, and books that I am excited about reading. I have never really been one to want to own massive amounts of books purely for the sake of owning massive amounts of books. If I don't love a book, I don't want to own it. If I am not excited about reading a unread book, I don't want to own it. With that mindset I eliminated the following books from my library. Some of them are too childish for my tastes, some of them I actually owned multiple copies of, Some of them I enjoyed but didn't love, some of them I can't foresee myself ever reading again, and some of them I just simply lost all interest in reading.

I will shortly be featuring a updated shelfie of my bookshelves, which are looking a little bare at the moment but which are more suited to my tastes. Sadly there are too many books in this certain unhaul to name them all and give my reasons as to why I am unhauling it.

2016 is going to be a good reading year! I am eager to read all of the unread books on my shelves.

Book Unhaul | October 2015 ~ 7 Books

After my last book haul I cleaned up my bookshelves and did some purging. Some of these books have been read and I decided that I didn't desire to own them, and some of them I did not read but I find that I no longer want to read them. Seven books total are being released back into the wild.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline.
I really enjoyed "Ready Player One", but this one really disappointed me. I actually didn't even bother to finish reading it. I will be keeping "Ready Player One" as I did really enjoy it, but I will not be reading anymore books by Ernest Cline.
"Falling Kingdoms" by Morgan Rhodes.
I wanted to like this one but I wasn't the biggest fan of the plot, the writing, or the characters. the maturity level was just not there, and I have found that I just cannot relate to a young cast of characters any longer. This one has been compared to "A Game of Thrones", and I choose to just read that series versus continuing on with this one.
"The Archived" and "The Unbound" by Victoria Schwab.
Letting go of these two hurts more then I would like it to. I adore Victoria Schwab's books, but these two young adult books just didn't do it for me. One of my biggest issues with it being the maturity level. I do not know if this is because of it being a young adult book (The other two books of hers that I have read were her adult books), or if it is because of being some of her earlier works, but whatever the issue is they left me feeling unsatisfied.
"The Young Elites" by Marie Lu.
I lost all desire to read this one. It feels directed towards a much younger audience then me, and I feel like I ultimately wouldn't enjoy it, so I don't wish to waste any of my time reading it.
"The Drowned World" by J.D. Ballard, and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney.
 I looked these two books over, and ... I wasn't too impressed by the little that I did read.

September 2015 Book Unhaul - 5 Books

My sister in law, Lydia, and I plan on going to Half Price Books tomorrow because of the 20% off sale that is going on over the weekend. I have a large amount of books to bring in with me in order to sell, and I have added to that unhaul over this past week. First are my four paperback editions of "A Song of Fire and Ice" series by George R.R. Martin. These copies are a little beat up at this point, so I purchased a five paperback boxed set updated version that I just featured in my book haul earlier today. That's the only reason that these books are leaving my library. I fear that these probably won't fetch much however. Next is my paperback edition of "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs. I read the book earlier this week and I did not care for it. It has no place in my library.

I have a lot of books to lug around with me tomorrow ...

August 2015 Book Unhaul - 49 Books

I went insane today, absolutely insane, there are no other words to describe what I have done. Insanity is the most fitting to describe the actions that took place over the course of today. It all started rather innocently, I was re-organizing my bookshelves when suddenly with a rabid fever I begun to pluck books off left and right. First to go were some of the books that I have read recently and rated a four star rating or lower, I don't desire to own books that I don't love. Then a book or two that has recently been replaced with hardcovers or nicer editions. Several books that I have just lost interest in. Then I stepped back and surveyed the rest of my books ... I own a lot of classics that I quite honestly do not have the desire to read, or re-read for that matter. I pulled them all off of the shelves and went over all of them rather carefully and made my selections on which to own and which to sell. The results? 49 books were unhauled today. It made me feel sick, it made me feel guilty, it made me feel kind of sad, but it also made me feel relieved. The books that are left on my shelves are all books that I have either read and loved, or books that I am excited about reading, and that is a wonderful feeling. People's tastes in books change over the years and I find that I am not a exception. I am going to try to list all titles featured in this unhaul, below:

Children's Books:

While I did enjoy some of these books, I just don't desire to own any middle grade books. I can always just check them out from the library if I ever want to read them again.

"The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams Bianco. I may have to give this to my nieces and/or nephew. Such a precious book.

"Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi. I actually rather enjoyed this amusing little book, but I don't think that I want to actually own it.

"The Borrowers" and "The Borrowers Afloat" by Mary Norton. Some of my favorite books as a child. Again, I have just outgrown them and they no longer have a place on my shelves.

"My Friend Flicka" and "Thunderhead" by Mary O'Hara. Some of my favorite books as a teenager.

"Many Waters" and "An Acceptable Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. I actually just hauled the first three books from this series in a beautiful leather bound edition, but I think that the first three books are the only ones that I actually want to own.

"The Spindlers" by Mary Oliver. Much too young for my tastes. I might give this one to my younger sister.

"The Princess and the Goblin" by George McDonald. 

Young Adult Books:

"Legend" by Marie Lu. I didn't enjoy this book very much and have no desire to keep it.

"Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi. I hated this book. It has to go.

"Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas. I loved this book so much that I bought it in the hardcover edition to replace this paperback.

"The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken. I enjoyed this book, I just don't want to own it.

"The Archived" by Victoria Schwab. This is my damaged edition that has since been replaced.

"Something Wicked this way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. I just don't feel like keeping this one.

"Not a Drop to Drink" by Mindy McGinnis. I lost all interest in this one.

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. I decided not to read this one, especially after realizing that it is a five book series.

Adult Books:

"The Bone Season" by Samantha Shannon. I have heard mixed thoughts on this book and after finding out that it is one of a eight book series I just don't even want to give it a try.

"Far Far Away" by Tom McNeal. Nope, not feeling it.

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I have heard some pretty poor things on this one.

"The Town that forgot how to Breathe" by Kenneth J. Harvey. I have lost all interest.

"Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn. I don't even want to read this now.

Classics:

This was the most difficult one, the one that hurt the most.

"Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. This one has sat unread on my shelves for many years and I feel that it would just continue to do so.

"Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray. I just don't feel the interest at the time. I can always check it out from the library if I ever do feel like reading it.

"The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton. I have no interest.

"Barchester Towers" by Anthony Trollope. No interest.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" by Charles Dickens. Not feeling it.

"The Black Arrow" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Not really feeling a interest in this one either.

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. I have a five novel leather bound edition that contains this title. Much prettier book then this one.

"The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane. I don't really have the interest.

"Twice Told Tales" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I'm not interested in these short stories.

"The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain. I don't have the desire to read this one.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. I lost my interest in this one.

A collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have a prettier edition.

"The Red House Mystery" by A.A. Milne. Doesn't catch my attention.

"The House of the Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Kind of interests me, but I probably wouldn't want to own it in any case. I can check it out from the library if I end up wanting to read it.

"Hard Times" by Charles Dickens. Doesn't really interest me.

"Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis. Does not sound like a book that I would enjoy.

"The Sea Wolf" by Jack London. Sounds a little interesting but not enough to make me want to keep it.

"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. Doesn't sound like something that I would enjoy.

"Tess of the D'Ubervilles" by Thomas Hardy. I might want to borrow this from the library someday.

"The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens. I don't feel like I want to read this one.

"Catch 22" by Joseph Heller. This one really doesn't sound like my type of book.

Well, there you have it. My book purge. I am going to be tip-toeing around books from here on out. I am going to try to only purchase books of which I have already read and know that I love, but that doesn't always work out. Sometimes in order to read a book I have to first buy it because my library might not actually have it. And let's be truthful here, there is something delicious about having 'some' unread books on your shelf too. The option of going to your own personal library to seek out a new book to read. Books written by my still living favorite authors (that sounds awful) will of course be bought sight unseen, and those favorite authors are all releasing new books in 2016 which all sound amazing. And all of these books featured in this book unhaul aren't necessary scratched off permanently from my reading down the road, I just don't feel the desire to own them, or to read them anytime soon.

Book Unhaul

Today I brought you a book haul, and today I will also be bringing you a book unhaul.

I recently bought five hardcover editions of Harry Potter to replace the five paperback editions that I had in my collection (my collection consisted of five paperback editions and two hardcover editions).  These are the five paperback editions that I will be unhauling.

I will also be unhauling my paperback edition of "Cinder' by Marissa Meyer. I recently bought the rest of the books in the series in hardcover editions so me having the issues that I have, I had to purchase Cinder in a hardcover edition so that they would match.

So this isn't necessary a "I don't like these books" kind of unhaul, but rather a "I have issues and I need my books to match" kind of unhaul.

Book Unhaul July 2015

I have featured plently of book hauls here on my blog, but never have I featured a book unhaul before now. I have been re-arranging, re-organizing, and cleaning my library. Bookshelves have been added, bookshelves have been re-arranged. Books have been re-organized on those bookshelves, and books have been eliminated. Some editions have been replaced with better editions, but a lot of them are just books that I took a good long look at and decided that these were books that I just didn't have a large desire to read. I may own a lot of books, but I have never had the desire to just own books for the sake of owning books. All of the books in my library are ones that I have either read, or want to read (even more so now that I cleaned it out). This unhaul comes to the amount of twenty eight books with more possibly to follow. I have too many books to go through them one by one in this particular unhaul and discuss why I have decided to get rid of them, but in my future, and smaller, book unhauls I will be sure to do so.

I will have family go through this box and pick out anything that they desire to read, or own, and the rest will be heading off to Half Price Books to fund my book addiction. These books are a little more beat up however, so I don't really expect much of a return on them.