TRAINS

For many of us, books are like old friends: faithful companions that provide a safe haven in times of trouble. But if you accept friendship requests from every battered paperback you find on your travels, you’ll end up with bookcases bulging with dusty tomes and a reading pile that makes you feel intimidated rather than invigorated.

So grab a duster and get your literary shit together, one shelf at a time. You’ll soon transform your chaotic collection into an ordered and appealing library, and you’ll feel less guilty about relaxing with a book next time you have half an hour to spare.

Don’t try to declutter your bookshelves by randomly searching for individual books to throw away. You’ll spend half an hour fondly running your finger along their spines before finding just one item for your sacrificial pile – probably belonging to someone else – and needing a little lie-down to recover.

You’re going to have to be brave and take all the books off your shelves at once! If you have a huge collection, it’s a good idea to gather together all books in one category at a time, so you can make an informed decision. I mean how many Regency romances do you really need?

Now go through and decide which books you absolutely must keep: beautiful books, books that move you and books that contain a loving inscription from someone special. If they deserve a place in your heart, they deserve a place on your bookshelf.

You’ve identified your keepers and now it’s time to sort out the rest of your fiction collection. The books you’ll definitely read (or re-read) deserve a permanent home, but be honest about which these might be. Many of us have shelves of novels that we’re planning to read someday, but for most of these babies ‘someday’ will never come. Restrict yourself to keeping a dozen or so books that you’re dying to curl up with, and you’ll feel a buzz of excitement at being able to choose your next read at a glance.

CHARITY SHOPS ARE GRATEFUL RECIPIENTS OF BOOKS, ESPECIALLY PAPERBACKS. YOU CAN ALSO FIND BOOK BINS BY MANY BOTTLE BANKS – A HANDY OPTION FOR DROPPING OFF YOUR LITERARY LEFTOVERS OUTSIDE BUSINESS HOURS.

For some of us it’s cookery books; for others it’s science, travel or the history of dentistry. Whatever your nonfiction crush, your well-stocked library will contain dozens of volumes about it, and a few other subjects too, all bought in a quest to expand your mind. But reference books aren’t small and chances are you’ve ended up expanding your bookshelves, too.

Be ruthless and sort through your collection, keeping only the books that you refer to regularly, such as titles relevant to your work or studies.

BEFORE YOU LOAD UP YOUR CAR WITH ALL THOSE REFERENCE BOOKS, HAVE A THINK ABOUT WHY YOU’VE BEEN STOCKPILING THEM. IF YOU OWN 20 BOOKS ON GRAPHIC DESIGN AND HATE WORKING AS AN ELECTRICIAN, YOUR TOMES MAY BE TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!

Books bring life and character to a room. Once you’ve decluttered and regrouped them, you can enjoy displaying them (and removing them from the shelves without creating an avalanche and knocking yourself out). Grouping together all the titles by spine colour can look very effective; alternatively, a series of related titles displayed on a single shelf somewhere quirky will look good too.

If – despite your best decluttering efforts – you still find yourself with a few extra books to shelve, remember that many bookcases are fairly deep and you can double up with a second row of hidden gems behind the first. You could even stack a column of books in a corner, as this takes up minimal floor space. (But shhh – you didn’t hear that from me!)

“THE BOOK MUST OF NECESSITY BE PUT INTO A BOOKCASE. AND THE BOOKCASE MUST BE HOUSED. AND THE HOUSE MUST BE KEPT. AND THE LIBRARY MUST BE DUSTED, MUST BE ARRANGED, SHOULD BE CATALOGUED.”

It’s great when you discover that there’s a magazine devoted to your hobby, however obscure it might be. Trouble is, soon your favourite knitting/railway/ concrete mag is not just out there on the newsagents’ shelves – it’s in your home, too, piled knee-deep on the stairs.

Magazines are a luxury. They give us an excuse to take time out and indulge our interests, so parting with them can be a bit of a wrench. But, if we’re honest, few of us ever revisit back issues of magazines. It’s best to cut out any essential articles (if you must!) and then pass the magazines on to another concrete enthusiast. (If you don’t know anyone else who shares your hobby, doctors and dental surgeries, nursing homes and libraries may be interested in rehoming your reading material.)