I haven’t shared any of my book hauls since right after my birthday so I figured I would do that before I forget. Since 2017 was the year I began my journey toward de-cluttering and becoming more of a minimalist, I decided I would also share my book unhaul for the year on here as well.
Quarterly HaulAt the end of September, I went to a book signing for Stephanie Perkins since she wasn’t too far from me. I bought a copy of her newest release, There’s Someone Inside Your House, at the bookstore and got her to sign my paperback copy of Anna and the French Kiss. I read and loved There’s Someone Inside Your House in October.
I also got a copy of Knee-High Lies by Dawn Ford from a Goodreads Giveaway at the end of the month. I read and enjoyed that in November.
I was very good in October–I didn’t buy any books! A friend did send me Bazaar of Bad Dreams, though. In November, I could’t help but get The Conspiracy of Us and The Secret Circle: The Hunt when I found both at Dollar Tree. I bought The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because my library didn’t have a good version of it and I needed it for my November classic.
December is where I got in trouble (as usual). First I ordered this Jaws book that has been on my Amazon wishlist forever as an early Christmas present to myself since it was almost out of stock. I do not regret this purchase at all! I also plan to read it in 2018.
While I was Christmas shopping at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, I found a treasure cove in the Books section and couldn’t help myself–I nabbed The Diabolic, Rebel of the Sands, & Alex Approximately. I ordered Daughter of Smoke and Bone from AbeBooks because I really wanted that edition and it was for a great price.
I needed Alice Through the Looking Glass for my December classic read because my library didn’t have a copy so I ordered that, A Million Christmas Cats: Festive Felines to Color, and Torn Away from BookOutlet.
I found The Couple Next Door at my library’s outlet store. Quidditch Through the Ages came from Amazon because I had plans to read it in December. Sadly that didn’t happen but I had good intentions! I plan to try to get to most of these in 2018.
I returned to Ollie’s about a week later for some drinks and they’d gotten more books. Yep. I got this lovely edition of The Borrowers, Amber House, The Glittering Court, and Girl on the Train for steals. There was a sale for When Dimple Met Rishi on Amazon so I went ahead and ordered that as well. I plan to get to some of these in 2018.
For Christmas, my husband got me this beautiful illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I plan on reading this soon.
I assumed that would be it but no, there’s two more books! I ordered The Library of Souls because I follow the author on Booktube and want to get to his book in 2018. My friend sent me her extra copy of Truth or Dare.
So overall, I acquired 24 books over the last quarter. I’ve read/used 5 of them so far and plan to read at least 9 of the rest for sure in 2018.
2017 UnHaul
For the next part, I decided to go back and see just how many books I’ve acquired this year and compare it with how many books I have decided to declutter. Some books have already been hauled off but there are a few bags in my car and apartment waiting to be taken off to be donated or exchanged for used book credit.
In 2017, I acquired 106 books. That may seem like a lot but it is still a lot less than last year. I’m proud of myself for mostly buying books that I would read immediately or in the near future. While I still failed with that for some books, I am going to strive to read more from my own collection and the library for 2018.
So, onto the unhaul. These are from the beginning of the year to the end. I have always gotten rid of books that I didn’t enjoy, but this year I decided there was no use in holding onto books that I liked but didn’t love and/or would never re-read. Here’s all of the books that I decluttered:
So not counting a couple of books that were being replaced for better editions, I decluttered 90 books! There might even be a few more that I forgot to take photos of. So even through I brought a ton of books in, I am proud at how many I was able to part with.
Hopefully I can continue to do this moving forward. I still have trouble parting with books that I haven’t read yet, even if they have been sitting there for years. The only way I have been able to declutter unread books is if I lose interest or they are part of a series I have no intention on finishing (such as those Private books). But as I plan to read more from my collection in 2018, hopefully that means more will be decluttered as well.
Let me know if you enjoyed the unhaul segment or not. I have been loving them on Booktube and they help keep me accountable and inspire me to declutter one of the hardest areas of my life so I hope that mine will help inspire one of you.
There is one more 2017 post coming up (Book Pics) and then I promise to you that everything will be moving forward. Happy 2018!
