While reading the excerpts from Marie Kondo’s book on tidying, I found myself quite excited by the idea of trying some of the tidying processes she illustrates throughout her book. This kind of surprised me as successfully cleaning out my belongings is something that I definitely struggle with as I am an avid collector of various objects–and the memories associated. Because of this, I decided to watch a few episodes of her show on Netflix as well to prepare me and visually reinforce how she advises the tidying to be done.
I chose to ‘tidy’ my books as I thought it would be the most effective since I had recently gone through my clothes, though not using the KonMarie method. She was definitely right in that just the process of taking out all of the items in that category that you own and piling them in one room puts it into perspective how many you actually have. I discovered that all together I personally had 267 books in my house. Though there were many and it was a bit overwhelming, I decided not to separate them into subcategories as I wanted the process to be fresh for each book, without sorting them first. However, I did know right away that I wanted to keep all of the books that I deem part of my actual collection–which is about 25 books all printed before 1930. I know that these ‘spark joy’ for me as I have specifically bought or received them as part of my collection. Though these are not average books, I used my reaction and feeling towards these as a guide for the rest of the process. I was surprised at the difference it made to hold each book in my hands as she advised. I found that books that I had thought would be keepers soon became part of the discard pile.
After completing the KonMarie method with my books, I was happily surprised to have 101 books in my discard pile. However, this still leaves me with 166 books, ranging from those in my antique collection, childhood favorites I cannot yet part with, and some of my favorites from the past couple of years. I did feel joy in both my ‘keep’ pile as well as my ability to consolidate my memories from my many childhood phases reflected in my books by just keeping a few from each. In this way this process was emotional, looking back through my many different interests growing up and the memories that came with these phases. I was also surprised at how much I had forgotten about my younger self, and even became frustrated when I came across a title that I knew was at one point one of my all time favorites but could not remember a single detail about the story. However, thankfully, I also discovered that I had perhaps put too much emotional attachment in my books to provide reminders of myself when in reality I can do without them.
In the end, I am not sure Marie Kondo would be completely satisfied with my results, as I found I was not able to completely stick to some of her rules, such as getting of books that have sat unread or favorites that I know I will not read again. However, I am satisfied with my results as I am definitely more happy with my collection as a whole and what I learned about my habit of collecting memories. I know that this was a positive experience for me and I am excited to continue this method to ‘tidy’ my other overflowing collections and personal items, as well as possibly revisit this collection again in the future to do further ‘tidying.’
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
One of the amazing things about objects is that they can easily stand the test of time, belonging to several different people of many generations. The fact that you have so many books published before 1930 is incredible, and it makes we wonder who they belonged to before you. It would be fascinating to trace the roots of some older, antique objects. Did they mean the same things to someone in 1930 as they do now? Do they spark the same feelings? Life between 1930 and 2019 has changed astronomically, yet I wonder if our attachment to material objects is something that members of both generations share.
Coming from someone who only had to sort 30 articles of clothing for his experiment, I can definitely imagine how overwhelming it was to sort through a whopping 267 books. It’s interesting to hear that perhaps Kondo’s method may not be 100% effective, though not ignoring the fact that you did skip a few of Kondo’s instructions. Moreover, the emotional connection to your novels was very strong and it was intriguing to see how you overcame it. Overall, it was a great read!
Props to you for taking on all of those books! I also sorted through my book collection and ran into some of the same obstacles as you. I like that you mentioned how surprised you were to have forgotten some things about your younger self–I felt the same as I organized my collection. I think that’s part of why it was so difficult for me to part with some books–flipping through them is a reminder of who I used to be. I also like that you were ultimately satisfied with your tidying process, even if you didn’t follow Kondo’s method to a T–as long as you feel in control of your objects and your own space, that’s all that matters.
As someone who also owns a ton of books, I found your sorting of your collection of books to be relieving to read about. Living in the New Paltz area during the school year, I am only able to bring up a few necessary books. However, in my room at home, I have so many books that I haven’t touched in years. After reading your post, I want to go home and sort through them. One thing that stuck out to me about your post was your experience with letting go of some of the books. I, too, often feel connected to my books as a result of the time in my life during which I read them. Also, I found it interesting that you did not completely follow Kondo’s tidying method, because I did the same. I found that, during the process of tidying my own objects, I wanted to take my time and control the process, rather than follow a step-by-step procedure.
I really loved your entry on going through your books. I had a lot of books at home in my attic that I wanted to go through, but when my parents sold the house, they threw out everything. I had enough time to grab a few personal things and then the rest was gone. It’s amazing that you were able to cut your collection in half. How were you able to tell which to throw out and which to keep? I have so many books that I would have a hard time parting with. But I also agree with having books that I knew I loved but then couldn’t remember a single detail in the book that made me love it. Then I would promise myself to reread it one day and that day never happens. You did a great job going through your book collection.