Books, books, and more books, as far as the eye can see

I haven't mentioned it lately, but I'm still working on my Forty Days, Forty Boxes project. (You can read about it here and here.) I'm not counting boxes anymore, however. I missed a few days here and there, and trying to keep up was just stressing me out. I decided last week that as long as I continued to make progress, going through boxes whenever I was able, the number of boxes didn't matter.

I took a look at another box of books today, and I'm really starting to get overwhelmed. I have to admit something to you. I'll just get it over with now, if that's okay:

My name is Dana, and I'm addicted to books.

I feel better.

Seriously, I had no idea I have so many books--and certainly no idea that I have so many books that I haven't even read. I really thought that I'd read nearly ever book I owned, so I was flabbergasted (love that word!) to find so many that I hadn't even started.  I have no idea what to do with any of them, both the read and the unread. I mean, some of the decisions are easy, of course--I have favorites, like Little Women, that I could never bear to part with. Other decisions are harder because even though I didn't love a book (or think I won't love it, in the case of all those unread ones), I can't seem to part with it. It's like the books are my children, and I feel guilty about putting any one of them in the "Get Rid Of" pile. I feel like I'm abandoning them! So far I have a tiny, tiny pile that I plan to bring to Goodwill or to the library and several gigantic piles of books that I think I need to keep. I know I probably sound insane to non-booklovers, but I'm sure that my fellow booklovers understand just how hard it is to part with our beloved books.

Anyone else facing this dilemma? How do you decide which books to keep and which ones get axed from your collection?