Winter Decluttering the Easy Way

This will explain my plan to declutter without moving off my chair by the fire.... at least, not if I don't want to.

I'm going through my book closet again.   Last time through, I got rid of the easy stuff -- books we had never used, things that just didn't suit our family, books that I knew I wasn't going to read and that weren't of interest to anyone else.

This time I thought of a way to work on my personal bookshelf -- the one with all the educational and devotional stuff, parenting and mother's issues.   It works with the upcoming fall and winter season, too, when I slow down and spend more time reading.  

So what I'm going to do is:   Read through one book at a time on my personal shelf.   After I read it I'll decide if I really need that book on my shelf anymore.   Almost all of them, I have already read, sometimes more than once.   But if I've already read it, and don't really need to read it again, shouldn't I pass it back into circulation?  Someone else could have a turn. 

If I can't bring myself to reread it, it probably doesn't belong on the shelf.   That's number one.  If I can't read it, and it's of no interest to family members, out it goes.  

Number two:   If I read it this winter and don't think I really need to keep it around for 5 or so years, I'll pass it on.

Number three.  There are a few treasures that I probably couldn't pass on because I know I will someday need them, or they are very hard to find, or I want my daughter to have the option to have them when and if she starts her own homemaking.   Those ones I will keep, but I'll probably try to read them first to see if they really need to be in our home. 

Finally:  I'm going to TRY to write some notes or journal a bit about the books as I read them, but I can't totally commit to that because it's harder than just reading them.

A couple of side benefits for this project (besides clearing my shelves a little):

1. Revisiting some books that got past the first and second cut.  In other words, books I cared enough about to keep when I went through boxes and boxes last spring.   This will bring back memories, and I love thinking about  past memories during the fall and winter.  Don't you? 
2. Two words:   stationary biking!   I found my personal exercise secret (especially when I can't hike outdoors in our forest for whatever reason).   I can bike AND read.   The trick is not to bike too vigorously, because then I can't focus and I get too tired out.   But it works GREAT for basic aerobic fitness of the over-45-sedentary type ;-).   Yes, this will rule out sitting by the fire but then I can't do that ALL day.