You really don’t know how many books you have until they’re splayed out on your bedroom floor and you can’t walk without stepping on one. I would consider my book collection pretty reasonable, even though the pile keeps growing every time I go into a book store. I chose to tidy up my book collection because it is one that keeps growing, and it (though I hate to admit) definitely consists of some books I will never read. Or I’ll read one chapter and never pick it up again.
As I stated earlier, I began by laying all of my books on the floor of my bedroom. I honestly enjoyed seeing all of them there. At first glance all of my books bring me joy, but I knew I needed to go deeper and really think about about how each individual book made me feel.
Then, I categorized my books by genre. I was left with a few piles including fiction, religion/spirituality, astrology, non-fiction, journals, and a lone music theory textbook.
Then I dug deep. I picked up each book individually and asked myself if it brought me joy. The answers came to me a lot quicker than I expected. I was left with six books. These are the books that I continue going back to for reference, for fun, or for joy. However, the idea of having new books to read excites me, and I’m not sure if this six book collection actually brings me joy.
I rely on my intuition frequently throughout my every day life, so this felt like an intuitive exercise for me. I’m usually very successful when it comes to knowing what “feels” right to me. Most of the books in my collection are ones I haven’t read yet, so I don’t really have joy evoking relationships with those ones. However, I do want to read them, which is why I bought them, and I don’t see myself getting rid of any of them. Does this mean I failed at using the KonMari method effectively? I know that discarding these books would not bring me joy, which seems to be the end goal of tidying up– freeing your physical space of clutter can help free your mind of clutter. Believe me, I am not a tidy person, and I intend on diving deep into the KonMari method throughout my apartment. I’ve done it in my room at my parent’s house without even knowing it, so I know it’s possible for me. Just not with books. I think I’d be able to actually discard something like clothes or miscellaneous objects around my room, but books hold a sentimental value for me that I can’t seem to shake.
I think the act of tidying up goes a lot deeper than people think. I like that Marie Kondo reinforces the idea that the KonMari method is a mindset, a way of life. That might be why it seems so difficult in the beginning, because adopting any new way of life is not easy. I’m excited to continue implementing the method into my life.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
I adore books. We can commiserate with each other about what volumes should stay or go. What has helped me in the past is knowing that books that I choose to take off my shelves are being donated to a good cause. My local library has a bookstore IN IT. Donated titles are resold for a nominal amount to raise money for programs, etc.. Knowing that precious books are not being discarded, can bring joy to others, and sold for a good cause, has make it infinitely easier to purge my own library periodically. I also agree, KonMari is a way of life that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But a person would have nothing to lose by giving it a try. I hope you go on to have more successful ‘tidying’ endeavors.
I thought about going through my books for the purpose of this assignment but simply looking at them in front of me I knew it would be close to impossible for me to part with them. Two of them are books I either haven’t gotten around to reading yet or have only read halfway and never finished. Despite that, I still do not want to part with them. I do not feel like I can. I know I have books at my parent’s house that I’ve outgrown which do not bring me joy which I could likely easily donate without feeling too bad. But even though I own books I haven’t read but intend to read, despite not picking them up- some even for years- I feel too compelled by them to rid them from my collection. When trying to part with certain books, even theoretically, I too was unhappy with what I was left with and was thinking about the rest of the books I had that I wanted to read. Ultimately I felt similarly to how you did in the end.
While reading your post, I definitely relate to many of the feelings you had about your books, especially in not completely following Marie Kondo’s method when it came to books you have not yet read. I too had difficulty parting with these, despite not yet building a relationship with them. I also think that perhaps since I currently live at home and had access to my whole collection, it was “easier” to part with some of my books as many of them were from grade school which I had not thought about in a long time. I think I would have found it much more difficult to sort through books which I had specifically and recently brought with me to school, which is why I am impressed with your choice to do so and your results!
I have also gone through this type of situation when organizing my book collection. Over the past ten years, I have accumulated well over 150 books, ranging from presidential memoirs to children books. I would prefer to not part with any of my books; however, I only have so much storage space in my bedroom. You fortunately attempted to tidy up your book collection even when you were skeptical of the KonMari method, meanwhile I purposefully choose to tidy up my wardrobe, knowing that it would be virtually impossible to discard any of my books. While I am also guilty of buying books and then placing them in the bookshelf for months at a time without reading them, I know a time will eventually come where I will pick that book up again and learn valuable information. I’ll try applying the KonMari method to my book collection in the future, but I feel like I will have minimal success.