I think you must be talking about me! I find it very difficult to part with things -- I get it from my Dad. I have been able to get rid of things recently, and I find it incredibly freeing.

Grade school? Pshaw! I have childrens books that belonged to my much older sisters (because mom doesn't like to throw anything away either). But I've gotten much better, especially with books since I donate them to the library for their book sales, which means they can buy new books for their collections. It makes me feel virtuous. I've also been weeding my own shelves because my tastes change (same with videos and DVDs). I've found that something I liked years ago may not hold my interest any longer (especially hobbies I've given up). So I can clear it off the shelf and make way for something new without any twinges (and some things really have gotten better with age).

Well, yes, I live the cluttered life. But I don't think it's due to mental illness for heaven's sake. I work full time, have a child, aging parents and I write. De-cluttering tends to be last on the list of things for Carolyn to do. And I do keep things my son has done. Some artwork, gifts, report cards and the like. Someday I will organize them. Really. I will.

For me the question is: How many copies of your favorite book is it okay to own? Three? Four? :-) It's not craziness, really. I have one copy at the cottage, a hardcover copy and another (or maybe two) paper copies--one pristine and signed the other tattered and well read.

Hi, I'm a hoarder. Phew, got that off my chest. The first step is admission. Forget about the other steps. One of these days the clutter will be organized. Yep, one of these days.

Thanks Barb for this blog because I still have all my college psychology textbooks (in addition to all TBR & saved books--hardcover & paperbook)--I have a room just for books!! It's getting a little out-of-control! But it's good to know there are alot of us out there!!

I hoard something for up to five years. If I've not found a use for it by then, it goes out into the trash. Of course, I am then doomed to buy another one because I threw the old one out two weeks prior to actually finding a use for it. I've even been known to buy something new because I forgot I saved the old one. I confess that my books are neatly lined on the shelf though, but then I just bought a new bookcase. ROFL Oh, and I'm bipolar so I'm compulsive about keeping things neat. I can't handle the disorder. It's nerve-wracking. *grin*

I too have books from my childhood. And research books that I'll probably never use again. And a hundred or more keeper romances. Sigh. They're all neatly organized on bookshelves, but I'm running out of space. Ah, the difficulties of being a book hoarder!

Oh yes! I still have books from grade school (proudly displayed on my library table in the living room), high school and college textbooks, etc. I have shelves in every room and in the garage. My office at work (i'm an educator, oh yeah, I collect books there, too) is full, full, full! I can't get rid of them. Ever! Yesterday at work (oh yeah, I work for a literacy organization) one of our staff was packing up books from a book drive. I spied a lovely hardback copy of THE HOBBIT. Oh! The Hobbit! I exclaimed, snatching it up. And there were two copies. The girl looked at me and she knew it was hopeless. It's yours. Take it. :) I was a happy camper all day long. Just another to add to my every growing collection....

Until I was 40, I was a compulsive book-collector, and any book I got rid of felt like an amputation. However, just before I turned 40, I sold most everything I owned (keeping only a handful of treasured and/or helpful books) and moved from Toronto to Nova Scotia. That was in 1995 (whoops...did I just reveal my age?). That experience pretty much cured of my bookaholism, not least because I've been pretty peripatetic ever since and have kept my collecting (of anything) to a minimum.
Mark David Gerson
www.thevoiceofyourmuse.com

You're definitely talking about ME! I never throw anything away anymore because the minute I do, I find that I need it! I think the key is to be organized about your hoarding. If I put all the electrical cords in one place, when I need one, I know immediately where to look. We won't talk about books, but suffice to say, I put them all in one place and have even begun alphabetizing them by category. I just need more TIME!!! :) Bianca D'Arc www.biancadarc.com

That's exactly what my office looks like. My wife threatens to bring in a hazmat team. BTW, Barbara, I added Beyond Her Book to the League of Reluctant Adults blogroll.

I say pass your books on! Donate to a library, woman's shelter or a hospital. What good are books if they are laying in a pile or in a box? I grew up poor and we could not afford to buy a book. We were so happy when someone gave us a book. So pack up all those books you love and share them with others! What a great gift that would be for someone else, and what a great gift that would be for you too!!

Oh I almost forgot, Nice picture of your boys! So handsome!! :)

If you don't count my shrine to Nora Roberts in my guest bedroom, the only books I save once I've read them are those that are autographed. The rest I give to friends or to a good cause, like a nursing home. Of course, my To Be Read pile rivals Mount Everest. ;-( But what's a bookaholic to do? -- Marcia ;-) www.MarciaJames.net

We had a house fire when I was 12, so I lost most of my books from childhoos, although some did survive. I've replaced almost all of the others. I will lend out my books, but I'm very picky who gets to borrow my books. I made the mistake of letting someone borrow a book one time, and the book came back in horrible shape. I do donate several boxes of books to the library each year. They are always books I've already read, but don't plan on reading again.

I learned my lesson the last time we moved. I no longer hoard or collect anything (okay, a few books here and there, but not box upon box anymore). Yes, like Marcia, the TBR pile is higher than it should be, but once the book is read, it must leave the premises!

To be fair, the only thing I hoarde is books, so that means I don't have a problem, right? (Don't ask my husband that question. He just installed another bookshelf last month.) But, ahem, I think that when you know what's on your shelf and love it and enjoy it, it's more of a collection than anything else, right?

Ah yes - the sav-a-holic! I have gotten some better. Its the kid's things I can't part with. But then my mother has MY grade school things - I think it's genetic! I have a good friend who owns an old 2 room school house - talk about books! They are everywhere - shelves from ceiling to floor, wash tubs, baskets, tables, bags, desks,cupboards and more. Every room! All kinds of books! It's amazing - really. So don't feel too bad. I know someone who has you beat!

Well, I'm a book hoarder, too--mostly TBR but also those that I've read that are keepers. My desk area is also a disaster, and the mail gets piled high on the kitchen table. Uh, oh. Now I'm worried! :) Missy

I have many of the health problems associated with hoarding. I also have about 500 books, including about 100 on horses, and no, you can't have any.

Thanks everyone for helping me not feel like a book freak. I'm sure there's a lot more of us out there afraid to say it out loud.

Wow! I am not alone! I, too, am picky about to whom I lend my vast, perfectly organized collection of books. But I have to lend them out all the time because I work for a library and they frown on my hoarding it all to myself. Seriously, it has helped me to reduce my home collection considerably. Except for those devilish used library book sales!

Wow! I'd love to be a card carrying member of Hoarders Anonymous....fits right in with my compulsion to save everything but time.

Wow Barbara--I didn't realize how much Andrew looked like Kieran Culkin at that age!! What a precious picture!! I have possessions dating back to the '50's that I can't let go of!!

Oh, man, I never throw anything out. I've got books and papers stacked to the walls, and shoeboxes full of tiny irreplaceable treasures. It's a maze in my office. And that's just how I like it!

Hubby is threatening to rent a dumpster. Totally unreasonable since I'm not a "hoarder" in the full sense of the word. There are just some things you cannot part with.

I like to think I am a professional procrastinator who delays getting rid of clutter. Loved your article!

When it comes to books and all things kid related, I'm with you. Although I'm a neat freak who has things in painfully organized and labeled giant rubbermaid boxes that I insist on carrying with me from one move to the next. If it's not a book or a kid related keepsake, then I can't wait to get rid of it once its outlasted it's appeal. It goes into one of four piles (ebay, Freecycle, donation, trash). So does that make me a semi-hoarder? Maybe that means I can only attend half the meetings?

I'm a hoarder too. And I always find I need something right after I get rid of it too. LOL. I have gotten better about the books saving only signed ones. The rest I donate to Hospice. They always need books. And hospitals too. And one time, I was in a doctors office reading a Nora Roberts book. A little old lady in the waiting room said Oh I love her books. I'll put it on my list to buy, I'm on a limited budget and can't buy many books anymore. I wanted to cry. I stayed an extra half hour at the office to finish it and gave it to her. Then she was so grateful, I went to my car for the handful of books I finish when I'm out that always clutter up the car. I gave her those too, I felt so good!!!

I am a hoarder. I jokingly call myself a library because I have books and cannot part with them. I loan books out but have a program that allows me to write who has what books so I know who's got books of mine. But like you its not just books. I too am sure I'll need it one day so I never throw stuff away. But I've come through many a time for a friend who needed something that normal people would've thrown away. So there. :D

I am a recovering hoarder, and now just selectively hoard 1 or 2 things. Books, I have learned to give them away after reading them. There are too many good books, and unlike music, I don't have the time to read them more than once or maybe twice in a lifetime.

I feel I am also a hoarder of books but this does not worry me as much as the fact I seem to be hoarding other things since my children got married, papers, pens, notebooks etc. and I do not know what to do about this.

...I am a recovering hoarder...started going to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings several months ago because my small town doesn't have any other 12 step programs. To get rid of things, I've had garage sales nearly every weekend since May. It's helped immensely. But the books -- oh my. So difficult to part with. Peter Walsh's book about clutter has been a life saver. He talks specifically about books as being so difficult to discard as they symbolize knowledge to many of us. So -- in my faulty logic, if I get rid of any of my thousands of books, I'm afraid I'll be loosing some of my intelligence! Go figure! I relate to all of your messages...your voices give me courage to plunge into the boxed, hidden treasures that are the last holdout & send on a few more to be used & loved by someone. Thanks!

Sonia, I've managed to get rid of a lot of stuff since I wrote this blog, but the books remain the hardest. I don't think I'm strong enough, unless I know they are going to a good home (seriously).