Extreme Clean Out! Books: Done!

The first challenge I faced in my Extreme Clean-Out Summer was books. I have hundreds of them, and that's after culling hundreds more.

Sell/Donate Pile!

I've been collecting these books since childhood. Some are my mother's and father's from their childhood. Books have always been something I excused myself for hoarding, because they were -- BOOKS! Can you ever have too many?
Well, yeah, if you're downsizing,  you can have too many.

I should disclose that I have a couple hundred on my Kindle, as well, but they don't take up any space, so they're staying right where they are!

As for the books I decided to detach from my collection:

Two boxes for kids

I gave many to my children; those cherished from their childhoods; some of those belonging to their father; classics they wanted.
My brother got age appropriate ones for his classroom.

Nonfiction

Several large bags went to an area nursing home, where they're being shared and circulated by the folks there.
Others I have put in the sell/donate pile, which has grown to a couple hundred books. A friend with a book selling business will look these over, and choose what she wants to purchase.
A few valuable ones I'll sell on eBay. What I don't sell, I'll donate.

And the ones I'm keeping, probably about twice what I'm tossing, I've carefully organized. One bookcase holds non-fiction I'm simply interested in, such as
books on travel, gardening, cooking, Bonsai, fish-keeping, along with books I need for writing, ranging from various reference volumes to dictionaries in French, Spanish, Italian and German, to books on how criminals think and various poisons and weapons, to how the Amish live, to oddities all about subjects such as witchcraft and fairies.
You never know what you'll need to know!

I know these days you can look up anything online, but I like a book in my hands. It's simple.

Book hall

My book hall is all my fiction, arranged by author. I have a couple other book cases filled with fiction, too.

So now, this portion of my Extreme Clean-Out is finished, I have to
tackle the much harder task of thinning out my ridiculous collection of clothes.

It's not like I have couture; rather, I have quantity in a number of sizes. And that doesn't even include my accessories: Scarves, shoes, jewelry (which should have its own category, I'm thinking). And then there's the stuff I hardly use, or used to use. Or MIGHT use again. You'll see. It's a sickness.

I still haven't decided whether to show a photo of the pile in my bedroom. I'll begin that this weekend.

But for now, I'll revel in the happily reduced volume of volumes!
I hope I've inspired you a bit. Have fun culling your own collection!
Ta ta for now.