The Beginning of an On-Going Project

I've read on other clutter blogs that everyone has that one thing that they have way too many of. There's definitely more than one thing that I have too many of ;)

Books are one of the things I have a problem with:

Here's my bookshelves in my office. They are pretty much full to over flowing. (Sorry this pic is blurry something was up with my camera.) I also have 2 stacks of paper boxes from floor to ceiling of in the closet that are full of books. I don't have a picture of them, you'll just have to believe me :)

Now, my goal for books for 2014 is to get rid of more than I take in. This may not sound like a difficult goal to you, but for me it is HUGE! I have had this goal for the past 3-4 years and it hasn't happened. This year, it is going to happen. The reason I say that is because I am more focused on my goal and on keeping track, which I think will help. Plus, I'm hoping this blog and stating my goals "out loud" will keep me accountable.

How do I get rid of books? Books are difficult for me to "get rid of". I love books and I don't want to just trash them or send them to the thrift store. I am a member of Bookcrossing and this is how I "get rid of" a lot of my books. But I also share them with friends and family and tell them I don't expect the book back (unless I do of course ;) ).

This is an updated picture of the top shelf of the same bookshelf as above. It is missing 4 books from the previous picture. Not a huge difference, but eventually the small things add up to be a huge difference.

A day later, the shelf is missing 3 more books and now looks more like this:

3 more books are gone today. That is a total of 10 books I am free of now, but I did replace two with books I've been wanting to finish a series I've been reading, for a net reduction of 8 books.

Ahhh progress!