Monday, August 19, 2019

#Microblog Mondays: Organizing My Library

This summer, I did a little book re-organizing. Never you mind that we just moved here in December, and so the shelves have only really been organized less than a year, because one of my favorite things to do is to rearrange books. I know it's only a small part of being a librarian, but it makes me think I would love to be a librarian in another life (all those books! All the opportunities to talk about the books and direct people towards books and display the books! Yeah, I could dig being a small town librarian, at least the kind that lives in my fantasy of what that would look like). 

I moved my to-read shelves from one of the big bookshelves on my office wall to the 2-shelf bookcase that matches my desk. 

They were here, the 3rd shelf and 4th shelf down from the top, in easy reaching distance from the chaise lounge
And now they are here, in arms reach from my desk, but way more visible. 

I read a McSweeney's Internet Tendency piece that describes how you shelve your books says something about you, and by color was a category, although I disagree with what they say it means (although others are oddly accurate). 

My To-Read books are grouped in a way that is pretty, and puts things next to each other that encourage me to read something a little different each time. Just in the small yellow section alone, I have Mudbound (Hillary Jordan's multifamily saga historical fiction), Born a Crime (Trevor Noah's memoir about growing up in South Africa under apartheid), Okay Fine Whatever (Courtenay Hameister's chronicling her year of doing things she was afraid of), There There (Tommy Orange's debut novel told from 12 voices about the urban Native American experience), and I Saw a Man (Owen Sheers' suspenseful thriller involving the widower of a journalist killed in a drone strike), all coexisting in the same space -- totally different books, living in same-hued harmony. Paperbacks and hardcovers, side by side. 

This does not happen on my other shelves, which are grouped by genre and then alphabetical by author, with the exception of my "Special Shelf," a small bookcase dedicated to only my most special books and authors. I have a separate space for hardcovers in all but my Special Shelf, Natural History, and YA Fantasy/Sci Fi Series shelves. 

I may have some control issues. I like things just so. It doesn't bother me, though, that I do have a handful of to-reads scattered in other sections, mostly Natural History, Memoir, and hardcover fiction. It's a little sick that I know where they all are without looking. 

Also a little sick that all Bryce's Stephen King books are shelved in the order they were published, with hardcovers separate from paperbacks.
This bookshelf has Harry Potter and Series of Unfortunate Events, Stephen King paperbacks, then travel in lower left and music in the one with the music art. I like to think that guy up there is keeping watch over that shelf for when I need to start filling it with more books. 

I love bringing this order to my own personal library. I love shopping for my next read on my own shelves (although clearly I do a fair amount of shopping for books on store shelves as well), and having such a variety of genres and titles. I feel lucky to have my to-read collection be so extensive (and always shifting as I read them, shelve them, and put new ones in their place), and to have the time to read and enjoy what I'm reading in a space that clearly values literature of all kinds. 

How do you organize your books? 

Want to read more #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy! 

13 comments:

  1. Your to-be-read shelf is so soothing being organized by color like that. I love it!
    I always wondered if people who had those huge bulky-in-bookshelves or libraries inside their homes had books organized a certain way.
    My husband has a Stephen king collection also! Although I don’t know if his are in any sort of order. My books tend to not be super organized, except by size as best I can. Books I am currently reading or want to read soon are left out and accessible. The only exception is my medical textbooks, which are all grouped together in one specific area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How funny that both our husbands are Steven King fans! I'll glad the to read shelf is soothing, it makes me happy when I see it. It makes total sense to group your medical textbooks, I have all my school books together, too.

      Delete
  2. I really like the organised-by-colour to-read shelves too. I'm a strictly alphabetical organiser, with a few outliers by genre (language books for eg) or with extra-large books that only fit in the bottom shelf. But I haven't bought any new books for years, since I became an e-book reader in about 2010. (And with our bookshelves already full to overflowing with my husband's books.) I like that in Goodreads I can list my favourite library reads along with the favourite ebooks I own or paper/hardbacks i can hold in my hand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those extra large books drive me nuts! Most of our shelves are adjustable, so I move the pins and the shelves when a book is weirdly tall. I like Goodreads but need to figure it out again...I set up an account for a school project and it did not work out, and so it's all sad and abandoned. Entirely alphabetical is ambitious! Lots of finagling if a new book joins the herd.

      Delete
  3. Love seeing all those shelves, full of books! :) I tend to group things by subject matter. Fiction all together, biographies/memoirs all together, music (books by & about bands/singers) all together, feminist/women's issues books all together, politics & history in their own sections. I have a special shelf for books about royal families (both British & Russian, lol). Most of my ALI-related books are in a Rubbermaid bin in (wait for it!) my bedroom closet. (Yes, in the closet -- what an apt metaphor, right?? lol) Within categories, I tend to organize by size -- hardcovers together, then paperbacks -- and more or less alphabetically by author name.

    My bookshelves were already overflowing when we moved here, so I've had to start double-stacking, which I don't especially like. Guess I will need to do some more weeding again soon, but it's soooo hard...!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh, you organize similarly to me! I have a twisty books section where you have royals... 😆 Double stacking is tough. Sometimes stacking some vertically can buy you more space... When we were in our old house and shirt in space, I would lend it books that I didn't feel I HAD to keep and then didn't expect those back, to test out giving away books. It's hard to cull, they are like friends!

      Delete
  4. Oh wow, those look lovely. I really like how you've organized the to-be-read books so that you get something a little different each time. That's a great idea.

    I have a (mostly) Tudor + assorted European monarchy shelf that includes both non-fiction and fiction accounts and a lot of books that are mixed around because I haven't really organized them. I chuckled when I saw the Stephen King shelf, that looks a lot like the husband version of the shelf in my house (except his is Tom Clancy).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't, but you're making it look like fun!

    Again, I WANT TO COME TO YOUR HOUSE.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my gosh, I love it! Right now I don't have an organization to my book shelf except for all books in a series go together. So lame, I know.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yay, I love this! I also have a special shelf of my most beloved books and authors. I'm glad I'm not alone in that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your organization strategy.

    I basically strive to keep things off the floor. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I guess I loosely organize by category such as crime, romance, fantasy biography, travel. I also have a section for books I haven't had time to read yet!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Of the many things I admire about you, I think your respect and care for your library is one of the most endearing ones. When I see your books, I want to go home and finally, FINALLY organize them in some semblance of order. My problem? Too many books! Yes, I've said it. Three different professors have bequeathed much of their academic libraries to me, both in music and in world religions. I love natural history and travel, and those finally came together among my cookbooks. Music theory? It's in with the art history and color theory tomes. I guess I'll just have to live with the fact that I store my books just like I load my dishwasher - all over the place. Gah.

    ReplyDelete