Could You Live With Just 30 Books?

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Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and the star of a new Netflix show, says that’s all you need on your bookshelves:

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In her book and on the show, Kondo says the value of books lies in the information they contain and that “there is no meaning in them just being on your shelves.”

If you have a lot of unread books or books you hang onto in the belief you’ll reread them one day, Kondo recommends getting rid of them.
She says that as a result of practicing the KonMari method herself, she owns no more than 30 books. Kondo considers that number ideal.
Kondo also suggests that if only parts of a book spark joy, viewers might consider tearing out those pages.

As I read this, I am staring at a bookshelf of a at least 400 books and that’s just in one room. I have been forcing myself to get rid of two books a day so I at least haven’t doubled up on shelf space, but I am sure this would not be an acceptable method to Kondo, who wants you to put all the books in a pile and throw most of them out. Here is an example of how her method works if you want to know more:

Anyway, there is no way I could get down to 30 books, as I write about books and get books in the mail all the time. I try to get most of them as e-books but it’s hard not to be able to reach physically for a reference when I need it.

Could you live with just 30 books? And if so, what are the most important books you would keep?

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