Bookshelf Purge Challenge

OVERVIEW
If you're an avid reader, you may find you have more books than shelves. There are the books you've read and loved, but most of your shelves are likely filled with books you haven't read--gifts, recommendations, books that seemed interesting, books you want to read but haven't had time. If you find you acquire books far faster than you read, this challenge will help you clear out your shelves and make room for more books!

WHAT TO DO
The method is how book editors evaluate fiction submissions. You read the first 50 pages. If the book holds your attention and you're invested in the story and characters, keep reading. Give yourself permission to not finish a book if you lose interest at any time. In some cases, you may not even make it to 50 pages, or you may be willing to give it more of a chance to interest you. But generally, if a book hasn't hooked you by page 50, it's not going to. If you want to find out what happens without reading the whole book, read a few pages in the middle, and the end. If you want to skim, read the first few words of every paragraph to get the gist of it.

Set yourself a goal of a book a week. Those books that don't hold your interest can go in a box to get rid of.  You can also use those environmentally friendly shopping bags which are large and generally sturdy enough to carry a lot of books. You can find them for about $1 at most grocery stores and big box retailers (WalMart, Target, etc.) When you've filled a box or bag, you can donate them to a local shelter or charity like Goodwill (http://locator.goodwill.org/), or to your library (libraries often sell book donations to raise funds for new acquisitions).  A local school may be interested in children's, young adult, or classic books--call ahead to find out if the school takes donations and what kind.

You can also search on line for local used bookstores, where you can sell or more often trade books in for store credit. You may want to call ahead as some stores have specific hours for when you can bring books in, or may not be acquiring certain kinds of books. Granted, this means refilling the shelves, but you'll walk out with fewer books than you brought in if you limit yourself to only using the store credit.