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I’ve been trying to adopt a more minimalist mindset, but I keep hitting a wall with my books. I love having them around, yet the sheer volume feels overwhelming. How do you decide which ones are truly essential to keep when each one feels like it holds a piece of your identity?

I tried a real live exercise last month. I pulled every book off one shelf and asked myself three questions: have I opened this in the last year, did it change how I think about something, and would I miss it if it disappeared tomorrow. I found about a dozen that clearly fit those tests. The rest I boxed up for donation or to swap at a book fair. It was rough to part with some favorites, and I wasn't sure if I did it right, but the shelf finally breathed.

I still keep a lot of margins and post-its. The ones with my own notes or marginalia feel tied to me, even if I won't reread them. I let myself keep those because they remind me of the person I used to be, even if the book isn't essential.

I tried a borrowing is fine rule for anything I wouldn't miss, and I tested it by leaving a small stack in the living room and seeing if I reached for them. I didn't, for most of them. Still, I couldn't bear parting with the poetry collection I bought on a trip, so I moved that into a personal display. Not great.

Do you think the real issue is the number or the space you associate with it? Or maybe the feeling that part of your identity lives on the shelf, not in the things themselves?

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