Good morning, bookish friends!
As a long time reader, that’s something I actually never done before; Un-hauling books. So far, I had only received some from my godmothers, who love to un-haul her own after she read them once and thus bring them to me to read and do watever I want with them afterward.
Being a picky book buyer, or maybe i’ve just been lucky about buying only books I wanna keep, it never really occured to me that it was someone I was able to do.
Until last week, upon meeting the hashtag #BookishWish on twitter – where people would say what book they’d want the most, for a kind soul to grant it. And it got me thinking.. how about I did just that ?
I can count atleast three books on my shelf that i’ve attempted to read, but ended up DNFing as it wasn’t for me, or I got lost in it.. which I used to shove them back on my tbr, hoping i’d get back to them later and appreciate them. So I thought “mmh.. how about, instead of letting them take a place on my shelf.. that I can see if someone would want it and just give them ?”
Though there’s one problem with that … they are all three from the period I could only read in french. So two are translations while one was mainly written in France’s french, but translated in english also. Luckily, one girl did stood up to take one, which made me so happy !! She loved it in english and wanted to see how it was written in french.
What’s the “plus” side of un-hauling books ?
- More shelf place !! and thus, can buy more books !
- No more “guilty” feeling about how we should go back and read them..
- Giving that book a chance to have someone who really appreciate them !
The “less good” side?
- In this particular way, postal cost.
- Mostly all my books are not in the main language people read in the bookish community, AND in my area. making things much harder.
How to un-haul book?!
- Sell them for money (Facebook, Kijiji, Twitter, etc.)
- Give them away for free
- Bring them to a thrift shop to donate them
- Simply throw them away ??
- Use it to make art with their pages
Are you a fan of un-hauling books ?
What method do you prefer ? Any ones that I missed ?
Can you think of other +/- side of un-hauling books ?
Great post! I’ve only i hauled books twice in my life and it was because they were ones that I was definitely never going to read and when I did, I just donated them to a library. The one time I tried to send a book to someone by mail, the price of shipping was almost as much as what the book had cost me! Still, I think it’s great to let unwanted books have a second chance!
Right? And bonus for us we can get more books!! One that we would really enjoy!
Aww thats a bummer :/ I shipped the night circus (french copy) and it costed me $14. But it was within my country- im sure itd be more than some would pay for shipping but id rather her have it and really want it than it staying on my shelf so..
Im not sure what I wanna do with the two other .. one is a heavy book so shipping, even in country, will proobably cost me way more ..
Yeah shipping prices are insane!! Maybe find someone in your area to give it too, or if there is somewhere you can donate it. That’s what I ended up doing.
Yeah.. ithink Id try the fb market, in case ..
hope that works out for you!
Great post. I never in-hauled a book until 2016. I then made a list and offered them to anyone that wanted them. It felt so good to give those books to people that would enjoy them. I have a stack that I’m going to pose a few at a time and see if anyone wants them.
Yes!! I agree.. though you need to pay shipping out of pocket, it felt good after i shipped it out. I had made my good action, you know?
I really was excited the moment she told me she had wanted it.. that was crazy! Ahah
I have many books I want to unhaul. Some of them I have already sold or given away to my friends. I just need to figure out what to do with the rest of them. Maybe I should try if a thrift shop would donate them.
Yeah, I have that problem too.. though most thrift shop here have english copies. Maybe I shall try FB market, and see from there..
Well I used to unhaul books through thrift stores until I began bookstagrams! Now I keep them to take pictures 😉
ahah well that’s an idea !
Goodness I’ve unhauled so many books. During my last three moves, I’ve gotten rid of one full six foot tall bookcase of books each time. I tend to donate them to my local library since they could use the money off the sales. I usually get rid of books I’ve read and know I’ll never want to read again. Plus, it’s an excuse to buy new books again!
Ohhh wow so many books !!
I dont know if my local library would take them .. ours is quite big. Thing is I usually wanna read them back ahah 😂 so far ive got books i dnfed and felt kinda « eh » about..
I haven’t had to unhaul just yet lol
Well if you love all your books, thats not a bad thing! Hehe
I almost never un-haul books but when I have to I try to find a friend who likes the book and just give it to them
good option – I just dont have reading friends xD ahah and mom shares my bookcase with me
I didn’t find reading friends until I studied literature for a year 😂 I get you
i end up giving loads away for free :’)
i dont mean too but it happens
I could for one.. my problem is how thoses are in french and nobody read it .. eeeerh…
I belong to several book clubs and we trade books all the time. We all have varied enough tastes that it works. I think gaining shelf space and knowing someone else is enough for me. A book should have a happy home! ❤️
Damn right! Again, my issue is most of my books are in french 😪 .. very few people read that on here, and thats not even with our different taste in books ..
I’ve seen a lot of people unhauling books and I always support it because I sometimes buy books from other people for a bargain at secondhand or receive them for free! I also love shopping at secondhand bookstores and that only happens if people unhaul. I don’t really unhaul often because I love to hate books so even ones I don’t like I still am entertained by reading them? It’s so strange. But when I don’t like a book and don’t want to keep it I usually host a giveaway either on Instagram or my blog or see if someone wants it.
That’s so nice !
at our thrift stores it’s mostly really old adult english books I have no interrest in … so it’s kinda meh. I never seen any young adult or something rather popular so far – and the copies are quite damaged and clearly wasn’t cared for.
I have bought only a few english book, thus thoses I dont want anymore are french – which add to my struggle xd I posted the two remaining on fb market and nobody even wants them either, merp.