What to do when you have too many books?

Up until now I have been absolutely terrible for keeping books. Although I have been better recently in regards to taking books for review, I used to get a lot more and pretty much hoarded them. I knew when John and I moved in together that I had too many and did give some to my mother and sister in law which got rid of a large amount. 

But, recently we have been thinking about moving and the type of place we will be renting next. I know I will never have a house big enough to keep everything and this resulted in me really thinking about which books I want to keep and which I wouldn't mind not having any more. Also, at the minute, the books have been taking over our spare room as they were stored in cardboard boxes. I've been worrying a little about the weight of the boxes and so last weekend decided to invest in some huge plastic storage boxes to keep my books in. I managed to get 4 huge boxes for £24 which was a great deal!

So as I bought new boxes, I figured it was time I went through the books again with a strict head on. Even though I only went through them about 6 or 8 weeks ago, I was surprised at how many I put into separate boxes for not keeping. I hardly spent any time deciding which I was going to keep and which I was going to get rid of and even John was surprised at how many I was prepared to part with. 

My biggest problem at the minute is not having bookcases. We do have 3 at theminute but 2 are taken up with DVDs and the other is my whole TBR pile (which scares the hell out of me). I hate having the books in boxes and not on show but there isn't much else I can do at the minute. 

As most of us bloggers receive a large amount of books every year I was wondering what everyone else does with theirs. I know we can't keep every single book we get (unless you live in a mansion) but where do they go after you've read them?! Do you pass them on to family and friends or give them to a local library or school etc?