Foo - Books - do you throw them away?

I just moved into a new apartment, and have been sorting through moving boxes.

Half of them have been unopened for almost 3 years. Most of them have books in them.

While almost all of them are keepers, there's a few that I bought on a whim, and never read, or others that are borderline beach/airport books, but not (think Fever Pitch, The Alienist, etc).

I'm tempted to leave them on the street, for people to take. Otherwise, I'll toss them, but that feels wrong.

Thoughts?

I never EVER throw books away.

I donate them to a homeless shelter, a crisis center or to the nearest library for their book sales. Another thing that I do is I bring them to work and leave them in the breakroom. We have a pretty good shelf of books that we all read and bring back for the next person.

Donate them to somewhere. Do not donate them to the bin

keep them. whenever i threw away books, i would get an urge to read them again. i keep everything now.

Take 'em here (http://www.deboekenmarktophetspui.nl/).
Set up a table.
Step 3=hours of fun.

NEVER !!
Donate, leave on street with "Free" sign,
or take to local book trader.
We've moved about 5 times in 6 years and the books
are a heavy PIA, but Id never get ride of them as in 'throw away' :)

Take 'em here (http://www.deboekenmarktophetspui.nl/).
Set up a table.
Step 3=hours of fun.

denkt ik niet. i'm talking +/-10 paperbacks.

NEVER !!
Donate, leave on street with "Free" sign,
or take to local book trader.
We've moved about 5 times in 6 years and the books
are a heavy PIA, but Id never get ride of them as in 'throw away' : )

i know. my thighs are still sore, and bruised, from moving 20+ boxes, most containing books, down 5 fligts of a steep and narrow amsterdam stairwell on sunday.

what siu said.

books are tough cause they're heavy, take up space and they do not fetch much on ebay or elsewhere. But like others here, I feel a book is too precious to discard. There is always someone out there who will take what you have.

We take and leave books in the laundry room of our building all the time. Recently I was killing time waiting for some people and grabbed Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" off the street for $.75:D Did the trick.

As a last resort there is recycling - I would only do that if there is no one who wants the content (outdated reference, for example - though there are always people who want what you have - someone in NE was just looking for old NYC DOT bike maps!) or if the condition is very poor.

I also have piles of books. My plan is to sell them to a used book store for credit or donate them.

Donate, it's the only way to go. My wife and I have well over 600+ books and will donate when the time comes.

I never thought of throwing a book away.

I always leave my paperbacks where ever I finish them. If I finish it at starbucks or other coffee shop I leave it on the book shelf or a table. A couple of other places I hang out have communtiy books shelves I dontate to a lot. I work at the VA and I often bring in books or magazines and leave them scattered around various waiting rooms. Just never throw books away.

In the US, or maybe just in my little part of it, goodwill does not take magazines or reference books, but they do take everything else.

Donate! There's gotta be a shop/community center/school/library situation of some kind in Amsterdam that would take extra books.

You could try to sell them to pay for a nice, brighty blinky light to put on the front of your bike??? Or a cute little horn? Beep beep!

My wife got me an Amazon Kindle. I don't think I'll ever buy a paper book again. It's amazing and the books are cheap! Most best sellers are under $10.

Out of date technical books- I throw them or sell them, usually throw

Books like 1984 and holiday books, geography refrnces etc, I keep

Books that I'll no longer read: give them away (usually novels), always find someone who wants them.

We have a place down here called Half Price Books. They over you pennies to dimes on the dollar for used books and then resell them for half of the original price. I seldom if ever buy a "new" book, although I think that many of the books they sell have never been opened, as they seem crisp and new.

No, I never throw books away.

Tape a "Free books!" sign to the box and place it by the street. They'll be gone soon enough.

First I agree with others. Do not throw them away. Donate them. If you must dispose of them and you do not dnoate them then at least put them with the recycling. That way they will be turned into something else that is useful.

If you must dispose of them and you do not donate them then at least put them with the recycling. That way they will be turned into something else that is useful.

/\Word

Tape a "Free books!" sign to the box and place it by the street. They'll be gone soon enough.

"Gratis Boeken" would work better.

Alright... how do you feel about tossing magazines?

I don't mean trash like People, I mean good stuff, like the New Yorker.

I love Gratis Boeken. Does your recipe called for fresh arugala? How do you bruise the cucumbers?

I only read The Family Handyman. I save the issue if it has a project I like, etc. Otherwise, it goes in the recycling bin.

Unless it's over a year old I think decent periodical reads like New Yorker can be left out somewheres (laundry rooms, etc) - I too sometimes leave paperbacks or mags around when I'm done - hopefully it is not misconstrued as litter.

If it's an enthusiast or special interest publication (cycling, sports, music, art, collectibles, etc.) they might have resale value on ebay, esp. if you sell them in small lots and offer media mail rate for shipping savings.

For many mags I clip articles (they go in an OCD file cabinet when I finally get around to it). I used to save entire issues of almost everything I'd buy but that gets crazy eventually. Now I pretty much only have all my bike mags from day 1 and some music things in magazine holders.

Otherwise, as with books, recycle rather than toss is my mantra.

We probably have 200 feet of jammed bookshelves in our house. I love books, but I'd love reducing that to 100 feet. Wife won't let me. If we ever do unload a few, it will be to a library.

Off topic a bit, but I walk into houses with almost no books a lot these days (i.e., post-geeky grad school). It's really weird, but either they never read books in the first place (not unlikely) or they tossed them with a vengeance (also not unlikely).

My wife got me an Amazon Kindle. I don't think I'll ever buy a paper book again. It's amazing and the books are cheap! Most best sellers are under $10.

but you can't share them with your friends and family, which is the best part of reading

I'm sure someone would love to read your gratis Cosmo mags!!

God I'm snarky this morning. Sorry botto.

Anywho, just toss (or recycle, if you can) the mags. No biggie.

My wife belongs to an online book swap. She also trades with my mother, grandmother, friends, etc. If she is the last one in the line, she lists them on the book swap. I think they only pay shipping to each other. It's a 1:1 deal OR, you can pay the lister shipping, and then they get credit for giving a book and can use it to get a book from anyone else on the site.

She handles it all, so I don't know the specifics, but she loves it.

As for magazines, I subscribe to a lot, so I just give them to riding buddies or neighbors when I'm done if I haven't torn pages out. If I've torn pages out, I recycle them.

Local library will generally take them.

btw: a great read (http://www.amazon.com/Double-Fold-Libraries-Assault-Paper/dp/0375726217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246542132&sr=8-1) for any bibliophiles out there, or anyone interested in the preservation of periodicals

Alright... how do you feel about tossing magazines?

I don't mean trash like People, I mean good stuff, like the New Yorker.
I keep the issues that have an article I like, recycle the rest.

Or better yet, scan and pdf.

Never thrown books away. Have given them away, donated them to the local library, and sold them to a store that resells them. But never thrown away (in the trash). I did, one time, use a college text book for target practice.

Take books and magazine to your closest hospital FTW.

Contact your local public library. They will appreciate your donation.

I organize an annual used book sale for our "Friends of XXX Library" group. We raise somewhere in the neighborhood of 5K for 4 hours of sales. All the money goes right back into the library for collections, museum passes, equipment, etc. that everyone in the town can enjoy. Books that are left over after the sale go to other charities.

Alright... how do you feel about tossing magazines?

I don't mean trash like People, I mean good stuff, like the New Yorker.

chuck em. i used to keep stacks of economist magazine, time, newsweek, and financial times surveys and special reports. I never ever read them again and never knew what article was particularly useful to go back and look up. Also, you can do online serches for these publications now, which is more useful than keeping a stack that is hard to search through.

Never ever! :twitchy:

talking about trashy mags, i read a few ok and hellos in the waiting room at the hospital. they are addictive! all those celebrity gossip stories. I'll never look down at readers of those things again.

Used book store. :)

I usually throw them in the fireplace or firepit and burn them.

I usually throw them in the fireplace or firepit and burn them.

You dont deserve books.:notamused:

Take books and magazine to your closest hospital FTW.

books and mags are not in local language.

I'm sure someone would love to read your gratis Cosmo mags!!

God I'm snarky this morning. Sorry botto.

Anywho, just toss (or recycle, if you can) the mags. No biggie.

what makes a copy of, say The Atlantic, any less worthy than a John Grisham novel?

I don't keep books at home.
and I do hours at the locol used bookstore/co-op

These nice fellows stop by and pick up my books on a pretty regular basis
http://rosenblumtv.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/fahrenheit451.jpg

That movie is probably why I am such a nut about personal freedoms.

If any of them were penned by Bill Shatner...

http://adairjones.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/burning-books.jpg

I bring magazines that are intact to work or the gym and let others read them. If I've torn out articles from them they get recycled.

Here is another groovy thing (http://www.librarything.com/tour/) for book lovers:)

From a librarians point of view:

Newer books in good condition are welcomed as donations and usually sold in the booksale. Magazines are timely and have little value when they are used. Recycle them.

No out of date nonfiction or textbooks please.

We are not a recycling center. Don't use the library as a way to get rid of your garbage without feeling any pangs of conscience. We recycle the junk just like you would.

At some point books get recycled. Fact of life, I'm afraid.