2024 Summer Unhaul: Part One

I've had to get rid of a lot of books lately. I was unpacking a bunch of them after moving them back from my parents' house, and, even though I enjoyed a lot of these, I couldn't see myself keeping them when I know I won't reread them or, for some of them, even read them in the first place. I'm getting older, and maintaining a large library of books is difficult, especially if I have to move again. So I've decided that I'm only going to keep books I really want. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm terrible about having a "cleanse the shelves" summer only to start hoarding a few months later. It's really difficult now that I don't live in a city with a nice library system like my previous city had. It's easier to buy books instead. But, I've been pretty good lately. At least since I've made the decision to read books from the library or via ebook before I purchase the physical copy (with exceptions to authors I know I'll enjoy and book subs). I've only ordered things that I've already read and/or authors I've already read and enjoyed.

Now, I managed to sell these in two different ways. The first was going to a used bookstore in my old city and selling about 20 of them for only $20. I used that cash to immediately buy a book at Barnes & Noble, so that wasn't super profitable, especially since the bookstore was a two-hour drive one-way and I took off work to drive there on a Monday when they were accepting books for cash. Also, funny story, I ended up going to the mall immediately afterwards and spent money on a cookie at Mrs. Fields, which apparently is what I did after my last 2022 unhaul. It made me laugh that I essentially did the same thing twice. The second method of selling the books was through Facebook Marketplace for a grand total of $25 for the remaining books. I just wanted them out of my house by that point.

 

Anywho, here's Part One of a gigantic unhaul. It's 83 books in total that I sold for $45. The low price kind of works out, though, since ARCs aren't really sellable and I got a lot of the others free or used. So I didn't lose too much money.

So here is the largest part of the first unhaul. This is 62 books. I'm going to break down the reasons I'm getting rid of these into four categories: books I won't/don't want to read, books I've read and won't reread, books I have duplicates of, and childhood books I just don't need anymore, which is kind of a sad category, but I can't keep everything and some other kid may enjoy it more now. 

 

Books I won't/don't want to read: The Princess Bride (love the movie, probably won't ever read the book); The Last Wolf by Maria Vale (got for free at ApollyCon one year, likely won't read); The Dragon's Bride and Wicked Beauty ARC by Katee Robert (more ApollyCon freebies); Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene (has meh reviews and was an ApollyCon freebie); Saved by Wolves by Eva Chase (an ApollyCon freebie that looked good, but it's a spinoff book and I don't have the first series); Songbird by Victoria Woods (ApollyCon freebie); After by Anna Todd (it's Harry Styles fanfic. I wish I hadn't brought it back from ApollyCon); The Wicked Deep by Erin Ernshaw (had this one for years, tried to read it and never finished); Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (got this one back when I worked at Tor, just doesn't sound great to me anymore, and I can read it from the library if I change my mind); Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan Illumicrate edition (another ApollyCon freebie); A Queen in Hiding, A Broken Queen, and The Queen of Raiders by Sarah Kozloff (tried to read the first book a couple of years ago and it was kind of dry); Ship of Smoke and Steel (I've had this one since my Tor days too. I can read it from the library if I ever want to); A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik Owlcrate edition (it's kind of ugly); Valiant Dust by Richard Baker (got this one when I was back in my adult sci-fi show phase and I was working at Tor); The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King (I do want copies of these, I think, but I'll wait until some nicer editions come out or I'll just read it from the library. I've had these for years and never read them); Breakaway by Grace Reilly (ApollyCon freebie); An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan (a FairyLoot YA box freebie I don't plan to ever read); The Traitor's Kiss and The Traitor's Ruin by Erin Beaty (had for years, likely won't ever read); Ever the Brave by Erin Summerill (read book one years ago, never got around to the sequel and don't plan to any time soon); The Defiant by Lesley Livingston (same as Ever the Brave); My Lucky 13 by Piper Rayne (ApollyCon freebie, not interested in MF hockey romance); and The Origin by Lexi C. Foss (ApollyCon freebie). There's another ApollyCon freebie in there that's super thin, and I don't remember the title of it.

 

Books I've read and won't reread: The Hotter You Burn, Can't Let Go, The Harder You Fall, and Can't Hardly Breathe by Gena Showalter (I like Gena's paranormal stuff, but I don't think I'm gonna collect her contemporaries anymore); A Court of Honey and Ash by Shannon Mayer and Kelly St. Clare (this was not a good book); A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen (was meh); Whatever Life Throws At You by Julie Cross (liked and kept this one because it was based on the KC Royals, but I'll never reread it); White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart by Holly Black (enjoyed back in the day, but I've moved on); Winterspell by Claire Legrand (was meh); Under the Never Sky, Through the Ever Night, and Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi (it's a YA dystopian series I really enjoyed in high school, but I've grown out of YA dystopian now); Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill (enjoyed back in the day, but never read the sequel and don't plan to); The Valiant by Lesley Livingston (same as Ever the Hunted); Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (enjoyed the first book, but the second was bad. I'll probably read book three for my book club, but I'm reading a library copy); and Angel Burn and Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly (I may have been convinced to keep these ones if I'd had all three in the series, but I never ended up buying it, and I don't feel like tracking it down, so they might as well go).

 

Books I have duplicates of: Fall With Me and Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout, A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross (ApollyCon freebie), The Bone Shard Daughter and The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart (bought FL editions), and Sire by Jex Lane (this was a damaged copy that I got replaced).

 

Childhood books I just don't need anymore: The Secret Country, The Hidden Land, and The Whim of the Dragon by Pamela Dean (these were a lot like Narnia, and I did enjoy them a lot) and Fall of a Kingdom, Rise of a Hero, and Forging the Sword by Hilari Bell (also enjoyed these, but I'll never reread them. They don't have any magic or romance, and I'm a romance junkie now. They do have great worldbuilding, though).

Next up, I have 11 ARCs and UK copies. I just don't keep ARCs unless they're special for some reason. I have read The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes, The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem, Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman (signed), The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart, and The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe. I haven't read Sherwood by Meagan Spooner, The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, or Winter of Ice and Iron by Rachel Neumeier. I figure if I want to read them, I can get them from the library. I also got rid of my UK copies of Kristen White's And I Darken, Now I Rise, and Bright We Burn, because, boy, was the series mega disappointing.

This is a smaller group of eight books that I decided to get rid of after I'd already photographed the other two stacks. The only one I've read of these is A Darker Shade of Magic. I wasn't super impressed with it when I read it, but I got the series for free while working at Tor, so I figured I'd give it another chance, as that was the year of the great 2019 reading slump. But, I still haven't picked them up, and I figure I'll just borrow them from the library or buy the ebooks in the future. I don't really like the covers anyway. I also got rid of five books I haven't read yet and probably won't ever, or I'll read them from the library: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey (signed), Cold Iron by Miles Cameron, Talon by Julie Kagawa (I'd like to read this, but the copy I had was super old, so I'd like to find a better one maybe), and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor UK edition.

  What's pictured here is what I sold on FB Marketplace. The books from above that aren't pictured here were the ones the used bookstore took. I'm not looking through the pictures to see which ones went where, though. That's too much work. I will say that I added To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to this stack. It's another childhood book that I just didn't need to keep. (Note: I also sold Leigh Bardugo's King of Scars to the used bookstore, but it was in photos from Part Two, so you'll set it then.)

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Have you unhauled any books recently? Let me know in the comments below!