If you don't already know, unhauls are basically when you get rid of books that you own. They're essentially the opposite of book hauls.
Recently I have started watching book unhaul videos on youtube. For some reason, I can just binge watch them! I watched an unhaul challenge, and I actually decided to clear out my shelves a bit as well.
I want to talk about how readers decide which books to keep, and which books to give away or sell. For myself, I tend to give away books I didn't enjoy, books that I am no longer interested in, or books that I did actually like but feel no personal attachment to.
These are a few books that I enjoyed, but I am still unhauling them.
I also unhaul books because while I may have enjoyed them, other people may enjoy them even more. I also currently have limited room on my bookshelves, so I am a bit more generous in my unhauling. I'm assuming that when I get my own apartment or house and have more room, I will be doing less unhauling.
I've seen some videos where readers unhaul books because they have multiple copies! I have two copies of Mask of Shadows, however I'm keeping them because one is an ARC and the other is a finished hardcover that I won in a giveaway. But if I had two of the same editions of a book, I would definitely unhaul one of them.
Something else I do when I unhaul books is offer them to my friends. Depending on if there is a need at libraries, youth centres, or other institutions, I may someday donate some of my unhauls. I've heard of programs that promote donating books to prisons, and while none of my unhaul books are in demand in these programs at the moment, in the future, if I have some that I think they may like, I might go that route as well.
Finally, I may unhaul certain books because while I liked them, I feel no need to purchase the rest of the series, and find borrowing the library copies a sufficient option. Some series, I absolutely must own all of the books, while for others, while I liked the first book, I don't feel compelled to spend money on a personal copy of the second book. In this case, I often feel like there is no need to keep the first book, as I won't be completing the collection. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, however I've found this to be the case for many books.
So these are my thoughts on unhauls! Why do you unhaul books? What do you do with your unhauls?
