I decided that I would only get a hardcopy of a book when that book is truly amazing, when it becomes a favorite and I know I will read it many times. So I divided the books in two categories: favs and normal books. Favs will have a hardcopy and maybe also a digital version, normal will be only available in digital format. If, down the road, a books fails to be my fav anymore, then I donate the hardcopy.
I have been doing something like this for years with great results. If I am interested in a book I will first check the library for it - Boston’s library network is pretty amazing. After reading a book I will assess how often I will come back to it. With cookbooks that contain only a few recipes that I like I’ll transcribe them to text files, otherwise I’ll purchase it. Reference books that I would truly use I’ll look for as digital books (PDF or eBook) because being able to search a reference book is incredibly useful, though I do the opposite if a book contains a lot of images. The result is I have a large library of books on how to make things on subjects such as home building and repair, programming languages, watercolor, thangka painting, writing, and woodworking.
This cuts a lot of fiction out of my collection. I tend to acquire the best versions of the best that I read, such as the Marvel Omnibus series, or the anniversary edition of The Hobbit.
My wife has come around to this way of thinking, but we still horde her collection of english literature (her major in college) because, to her, they are the foundations of a good library (my argument being that a good library - the public library - already stocks them for us). For any new books she applies the same criteria that I do.
