Project Shelf Control! Books MUST fit on the shelves (eventually) ;)

It’s been brought to my attention, on more than one occasion that my physical bookshelf has too many books on it!

Now I know my husband means well, but personally I think he’s very wrong, though given that the floor in front of the shelf is beginning to take on some piles too, and I may or may not have a few tucked into the DVD shelves upstairs too, I think I need to give myself a little intervention.

So the plan for July, and perhaps onwards, is that I’m going to be reading the books I own, and not taking any more out from the library or buying any either. Once they are finished I’m going to decide if they get to remain in my home or if they can be passed on to somewhere new.

Now there are a few caveats to this

• Audiobooks – This is the main way I consume books while still carrying on with daily life, so they can’t go or I’ll have to take out another subscription to listen to chat free music and we’re in a credit crunch! Though in moments of down time the audiobook can go off and the physical book can take precedence.

• E-books – though I may need to do a project shelf control on those books too at some point, but as they are not physically taking up space so I will be reading the odd e-book, depending on how I’m feeling, but I’m going to prioritise the physical book as much as possible.

• Books will still be added to the shelf IF and only if they are for a book club, and I can’t borrow or buy a copy from a friend, the library, as an audiobook or e-book.

The main goal is to read books from my bookshelves, that I haven’t read before, and then decide whether or not to keep them, or send them on to a new home.

Also as there are books on my shelf that I have read, and I’m pretty sure at the time I loved so I kept them to read again one day, but now I think I need to work out if they are good enough to be living rent free on the shelves, or if they too can be passed on for someone else to enjoy, and thus freeing up some space.

There may be titles that are not visible at the moment as what the photo above doesn’t show, is the lines of books facing out behind the book spines on show, those were hidden to make the shelves/floor look a little tidier just before the winter holiday season. I’m pretty sure I’ve got most of the books but there may be other random books I have tucked into the DVD stand that I may have missed.

This project is likely to take me some time.

Have you done something like this before? How much success did you have?

Wish me luck!!!

G x