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Discard most or all of the cooking books. I would keep any book you think you might read again. If you do not mind the public library discard the books that are in your library.
I did not have a lot of books and got rid of all of them and use the library and eBooks.
When making a decision about a book, I ask myself: is this a book I could easily replace if I decided I wanted to read it again? Many books can be had for a pittance on Amazon or eBay. If the answer is yes, then I don't feel bad about giving it away. If the answer is no, and it's a book that has particular meaning or is otherwise special, I keep it. We have whittled our book collection WAY down this way.
We had a LOT of books when we downsized and we got rid of them all. We went with the 'Do we want or need this?' attitude to get rid of things. I regret nothing, it actually felt great. If we needed a book we can go to the library but we actually get eBooks now.
Edited to add: We donated the books to the VA Hospital, they really appreciated getting them.
Wow, that was the quickest I have ever had any replies from one of my posts, I think! Thanks!
About the cost of the move, we will be using U-Pack, and so cost will not be much of a consideration. A bigger consideration will be that we are moving to a smaller home without much storage space, and although we will have several bookshelf-lined walls, we will not have as much space for books (or anything else) as we do in our current home. However, I am sure that we could manage to find space for as many books as we do decide to keep.
ROLLING SHELVES!!! You set them on tracks so you can just push the shelf to one side and get at the shelves behind. Besides, book-lined walls just means better insulation! SAVE ON HEAT AND COOLING! Better soundproofing between rooms!
Just let go. You haven't touched or read these books for over 10 years. You most likely won't ever read them again. The joy of the story lives in your heart, mind, and soul. The physical book means very little if it will go unread.
We're still 8 months or so away from our retirement move out of this house and I've been working for awhile now on getting rid of a certain amount of stuff each week. It's a gradual winnowing process and is based on how much extra stuff I can fit in our weekly trash bin. The books are definitely a monstrous category all on their own. We have SOOO many. In fact, more than anything at this point, they're part or our interior decor: tall wood bookshelves, the spines of all the books with their patchworks of titles, colors, sizes. There are big bookshelves in every room in our house except the bathroom. I'm ready to part with many of them (already have gotten rid of quite a few), but I think our house is going to look barren and sterile without them -- both the house here we'll still be living in for another 8 months and also wherever we move to. I do recognize that bookshelves and books are a very cumbersome kind of interior decor ... LOL... but they're so warm and well-read and make it feel like it's really my home.
Still, I know they have to go. We'll be moving all the way across country, and we'll probably be somewhat mobile for a couple years at least until we decide where we'll really settle for the next long stretch. I'm not actually much of a re-reader anyway since there are SO many books out there I've never read and will want to read them before re-reading another, and even with all these books I almost always use the library or the Kindle for what I'm currently reading. We very rarely buy physical books anymore, so at least we're not adding to the problem.
But yes, I have to cut the old dears loose, I know. And doing it incrementally is working so far. I can get rid of the ones I have no attachment to first, then the ones that I don't like to see go but it's obvious they must, and so on. Now I'm dealing more with what will it be like to have semi-barren bookshelves all over the house. That will be a weird look. :P
...plus we have also collected about 50 or so cookbooks that we now very seldom use, thanks to the Internet. plus we also have a set of encyclopedias published in the early 80's that I think might come in useful if the Internet ever goes down for a long time.
My criteria in keeping books was simple--do I want to dust these until I die? The answer was no.
I was an insatiable reader all my life, had tons of books, and I did occasionally re-read some of my favorites, but incorporating them into my uncluttered life did not compute, so I got rid of them all and now use a Kindle (I know, sorry!).
As for the cookbooks and encyclopedias you have, I would definitely let them go. The chances of you needing them and actually using them are pretty low. If I were you, I'd only keep my most favorite of the books, the ones I know I would re-read in the future, and dispose of the rest.
When we downsized we donated at least 500 books to the local library. We kept maybe a dozen or so books that held some additional sentimental or emotional value. Regardless of method of moving there is a cost and it usually is based on weight, and books weigh a lot. Hey, I won't judge those that want to back, move, and ship hundreds of books, do what is right for you.
A house without books doesn't feel like a home to me. To me, it's not all about whether I'll read them again. I love the way they look and consider them a design choice.
We have gotten rid of many over the years, but there are some by favorite authors that we'll always keep. Some we weeded out by keeping maybe our two favorites by any given author. A couple of authors we could not give away any of their books. We have a variety of books which gives us a good mix. If we move again, we'll likely do a little more pruning of books. But for the most part, we have the ones we want with us. We have enough to make it feel like we have our own little private library but not enough to trip over or to cause a major dust storm.
OP, I'm like you, I want the books in my hand, not on the screen.
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