One area, where simplification was surprisingly easy for me, was the way I read. But even though the transition was easy in the end, I hesitated for a long time to make the switch from paper books to e-reader.

Bookshelves have a cozy vibe – for me they represent my mom as she has several walls covered with bookshelves. She loves to be surrounded by her books. But even though I grew up in between books, I was never a friend of how they looked. Yes. How they looked. As soon as I could read, I read everything I could lay my hands on. This quickly showed in my room, where – surprise – my mom installed a huge bookshelf. But already back then I started to sort my books by color and size. I couldn’t stand the visual mess my books created when they weren’t sorted that way. Later, as a student, I hid my books in big white boxes. So I can understand if someone says they need the smell of books, but for me switching to an e-reader removed the visual mess of books I was trying to avoid my whole life.

Why I was hesitating to make the switch is that the first devices still had a small battery life and I feared that they weren’t developed enough for comfortable everyday usage. Friends had problems with their devices and I wasn’t nearly reading as much as a kid anymore to feel the urgent need to switch.

But last year I found a really good deal on an e-reader from Amazon and I am so happy! I’ve been reading so much more since then and my mighty library is ‘hidden’ in the device. It’s magical! 🙂

I am even reading in the subway on my way to work again, since I don’t have to carry around books around anymore. Packing for vacations is so much easier, I only have to throw my e-reader into my bag and I’m done. I donated most of my books by now and seeing them go was an awesome feeling.

So overall I can say that introducing minimalism in the area of my books has made my life a lot better. Being able to rent books on my device has even reduced my overall spendings for reading. I reduced the clutter and am still able to pursue my love for reading.