gomommyblogger: How to Reset your Space for 2019 ☀️Reset Your Life Challenge (Day2/4 Blog)

Yesterday we began day 1 of Muchelle B.'s mini life reset.
We are, today, on the same challenge: reset our space, and today my focus is on books.

I have a lot of books.
A LOT.

Many are packed in boxes which are still unpacked in my basement. There is one large box in my living room, sitting there getting picked through on occasion.

In our front room, there are two bookshelves which Big Strong Man has brought into our marriage and carried with him from childhood.
They used to be in his boyhood bedroom.

In the present, I have a #goal to read through ALL THE BOOKS I own with purpose before 2019 is over.
The "own with purpose" portion speaks to this criteria: if I purchased it, put it on some sort of "must read list", or still desire to read it, it needs to be read this year.
Why?
Simple. I collect. I collect with good intention, or find something in a free library or at a yard sale and then I stock. I go to libraries, scour friend's bookshelves, join another book club.

Wells Branch Neighborhood Association

I have a running list on my phone of books I still want to read.
Here it is:

My lists are very detailed, including if my library has a copy (under LIBRARY), if a friend owns it (OTHER),

if I requested my library get a copy (LR), and if I am still searching for it (SEARCH)

But when I keep doing all these things, the books which currently take up space in my home and mind get neglected and then I feel the overwhelming burden of them all. Books ought to be friends, not foes.

Here's the plan.
The box in the living room needs a new home. All the books currently on the bookshelves need placed into one of three piles:
Keep, donate, return.

The Keep pile then needs to be in a "loved and want for always" pile, or a "needs to be read this year so I know how I feel about it" pile.

Also, because I am a stickler, they need to be color-coordinated.

Here are some before photos:

This box is FILLED TO OVERFLOWING

with scrapbooks, yearbooks, and photo albums.

It's been hanging around, homeless, in the living room for a year now.

Here is my progress:

All the books, sorted

Books to read...2019 #goal

Workbooks...tba

Keepers. Favorite books, authors, etc.

Books to donate. Second copies, already read, authors I don't love.

P.S. Notice some LEFT BEHIND books?

I wrote posts about these (here and here) and they are great reads> the post and the books!

Borrowed books. These need to be returned to their owners.

I decided to dedicate an ENTIRE shelf to my 2019 book #goal. This way, once I have read and returned all the books I am currently borrowing, I know right where to look for my next read!