Umberto Echo had a famously large library of 30,000 books most of which he knew he’d never read. When asked about his huge library he’d correct people calling it his antilibrary, a resource for all the things he didn’t know. It wasn’t about showing off all the books he had read, because he already had the knowledge from those books. It wasn’t about bragging rights to show how much he consumed, it was about showing the holes in his knowledge.
I recently said I wanted to purchase less books in 2025 at least in part because I own around 500 physical books in my office and have maybe ready 40% of them which felt like a lot of wasted space for books I hadn’t read. I was thinking about my library as a bragging tool to show how much I had read, instead of a resource to show off all the things I was interested in but hadn’t learned yet.
What is enough?
The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. Echo as quoted in Black Swan
That key quote with the provisions on taking your financial means into account is what made me think that maybe I was sending myself in the wrong direction to say I will buy less books in 2025. If I’ve budgeted for the books, have the space in my office, or on other shelves in the house or purchasing digital books, then why does it matter how many books I own that I haven’t read.
A better question is probably why do I still own books that I’ve read, taken good notes on1 and am unlikely to read again? Books that fall into this category are owned as performance, to show I own a lot of books.
There’s an inertia to ownership – getting rid of stuff can be a lot of emotional and physical labor (even giving stuff away!). Letting go of past selves – Tracy Durnell
Tracy continues to talk about the past selves that collected the books being precious to us, thus it’s hard to let go of the person that did the collecting because we’re saying goodbye to a part of ourselves.
About 15 years ago I made the hard move of getting rid of almost all of my physical books. At the time it was all about moving to ebooks so I didn’t have to haul around dead trees or store them in my small house (with our first kid coming). As I went through the catalogue of books I purchased some in electronic format, and kept about a dozen books that I couldn’t find.
During this purge I don’t remember feeling remorse at saying goodbye to my past self as I took books to the used book store in town. In fact I don’t remember being aware that I was saying goodbye to a self I was in the process of leaving behind. Looking back it was my first step in saying goodbye to the Christian church as many of my books were about the Christian faith and how it was the best thing I could be involved in and everyone else was involved in sin. While it took about 5 more years for me to realize I had stepped away from the church, and 10 more years to have a discussion with my wife, that was the first step in my saying I couldn’t stomach the self-righteous bullshit I saw enacted in church and read about in the books I had submerged myself in.
Which books are worth keeping?
The only books that are worth keeping are the ones that you’ll go back to. I keep fiction books that I’ll read again, or purchase physical copies of books I’ve read in other formats a few times. I have an almost complete set of The Wheel of Time in their original issue covers because I’ve read or listened to the series at least 5 times. The same argument applies to much of Brandon Sanderson’s work and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I’ve read each of these series of books in digital formats, listened to them, and read the physical copies I own. I’ll read them again at some point thus devoting shelf space to them is worthwhile.
I also have a collection of fiction books that are likely to interest my children at some point in their reading journey. From younger adventure novels, to teen stories dealing with child abuse. These are worth keeping until my children have moved on to building their own libraries for their own lives. Until that point, they represent an antilibrary of reading my children can access.
Non-fiction is where I likely have the most to cut. Am I ever going to read Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, I thought 12 Rules for Life sucked when I first read it in 2018 and every step he’s made since then shows I want nothing to do with his toxic misogynistic thoughts2 and toxic thought. I found Cal Newport’s recent Slow Productivity to contribute nothing new to his arguments on living a productive life so why do I have it on my shelf next to Deep Work and So Good They Can’t Ignore you, both of which I found excellent?
Is there any value in having a complete set of Newport’s books?
If at some point in the future I need any of these books I’ll be able to find them again so letting them go to make space, and free up funds, costs me almost nothing. For some of these books I’d let go someone out there will get value and have to spend less to purchase a used copy.
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Then I come to another class of books that changed how I thought or said everything I’d been thinking. This is where Deep Work falls into in my productivity journey. I’ve read it at least 3 times and taken new notes on it each time finding things I can improve upon. While it’s been a few years since I’ve read it, I expect I’ll go back to it again and dig in.
Many of Ryan Holiday’s books, like Right Thing Right Now which we’re coving in book club, fall into the same category. The content will read different to different versions of myself which come into being as I grow.
I need to do a culling of my bookshelf and think hard about each book I’ve read to determine if it’s worth keeping. Will I go back to it to check the meaning of the author, or read it in it’s entirety. If I won’t go back to the book for context I should try and sell it myself or take it to the used bookstore and get some credit to use in building my antilibrary.
Building your Antilibrary.
The first place to start building your antilibrary is by making note of every book mentioned in the current books you’re reading. I do this in Obsidian with the book search plugin, adding every book mentioned. This is where I find the graph view useful to note which books are getting mentioned in my reading which I haven’t read. There will always be books mentioned that don’t appeal, but choosing one or two out of each good book you read is one way to start your antilibrary.
Second, who do you follow that can recommend good books in your field of interest? Here are a few I’ve found useful over the years.
- The Marginalian
- Paris Marx – Disconnect
- Makoism 2024 book list
- My best books of 2024
- Maneet Paul’s book club
Then I’m sure you’ll find recommendations on The New York Times, Goodreads, Coles, and many other sources that I don’t follow. I prefer personal recommendations from people I read online where I can start to understand where they’re coming from.
Instead of making your bookshelf a fixture to show off your reading, make it a showcase of the topics you’re interested in but haven’t learned about yet. Thin your bookshelves of performative books, and use the space and money to purchase the ideas your future self will need as you grow.
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