Show Your Love of Reading Without Burying Your Home in Books

Do you love books?
I do too! Let's tackle the dilemma of how to love books and pass along a love of reading to those around you while avoiding becoming buried by book avalanches in your home.

While many of us love to read, books can become a clutter problem. It sounds lovely to live with a house full of books, but realistically many of us do not have enough shelves, much less a dedicated library, to house a full collection of all that we’ve read.

Inspired by a recent client whose need to pare down her book collection due to space constraints conflicts with her love of reading and desire to instill that love in her children, here’s my:

Top 10 Ways to Show Your Love of Reading Without Burying Your Home in Books

10. Keep a list of books you’ve read (I do an annual list.) so you don’t have to use your shelves as your booklist.

9. Set strict criteria for what books you keep, e.g. classics, all-time favorites, work-related or reference books that won’t become outdated, favorite series, books that you will reread (Be honest!).

8. Commit to passing along 90% of the books you buy after you read them. Books want to be read, so give them wings to fly to other readers!

7. Swap books among friends or coworkers.

6. Always have a book with you so you can digest a page or two during down time.

5. Use a Little Free Library in your neighborhood.

4. Start your own Little Free Library at your house.

3. Read on an e-reader (Kindle, Nook, your phone, etc.).

2. Get familiar with your local library, including downloadable e-books and audiobooks.

​1. Be seen frequently with your nose in a book!