I’ll admit it–I’m a Kindle Hoarder. If I see an opportunity to download a free book, I’ll eagerly hit that “Buy Now” button without stopping to consider I’ve already got 300 books on my Kindle which I haven’t read. Well, that was 2013, folks. In 2014, I’m a new person. And, to prove it, I’ve cleaned out my Kindle.

I don’t have a problem. I can stop any time!

Inspired by one of my Facebook friends and her New Year’s resolution to clear out over 2000 free books from her Kindle, I was determined to clean out my library until less than 50 books remained.

First, I started by removing many of the books I’ve already read, though I did keep a few out of sentimental value. If the book is part of a series and I might have to re-read it in order to refresh my memory before the next book releases, I kept it. Stand-alone novels got the ax. Part of me wanted to keep some particularly beloved books out of sentimental value. With all the books that I still want to read, I know I’ll never have a chance to re-read most of the books I was holding on to, so with a heavy heart, I deleted them from my library.

With less than 200 books, I was on a roll, but the hard part was yet to come…

There were over 100 freebies on my Kindle which I had downloaded with the intention of reading. Since I have to eat and sleep and occasionally write, I knew it was unlikely I’d read that many books this year. I’d been thumbing past many of those books since the end of 2012 and still hadn’t read them, so why hold on? I looked at covers and blurbs, and if the book no longer interested me, I deleted it. This process was time-consuming, but helped weed out over half those pesky freebies.

(Sorry to any authors whose books didn’t survive the Kindle Purge. I know somewhere out there, someone is deleting my freebie. We can’t read ’em all, so no hard feelings, okay?)

I still had over 100 books on my Kindle, so it was time to make some hard choices. I went through my “already read” list and forced myself to get rid of a few more. This hurt, but it had to be done.

Then, I tackled the list of unread books. I’ve got a bunch of classics on my Kindle that I’ve been meaning to read, so those automatically made the cut. Books I’ve promised to read for review remained as well.

I began to sift through the freebies. If a book didn’t hold my interest after the first three pages, it got deleted. In the past, I might have given those books a chance, but I’d rather use my time reading books I enjoy. I’m sure I missed out on a few gems. I’m sure some of those books got better after the first few pages. Unfortunately, I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. (This is why beginnings are so important authors. Hint, hint)

I now have less than 50 books on my Kindle. Less than 50! I feel like I can finally get to some of those books I’ve wanted to read for a long time. They’re no longer hidden behind the clutter.

This week, I read and reviewed two books that survived The Great Kindle Purge of 2014. In the Beginning by Jane Dougherty and MER: The Captain’s Secret by Jade M. Phillips. (You can read my reviews HERE) Anyone who likes epic fantasy should give these books a try.

So, anyone else out there a Kindle Hoarder? How many unread books are on your reading device? How do you plan to tackle your reading list this year?