Lol about all of this and finding my people on this here internet.
Color coded makes my eyes twitch. I also hate that I judge people on this! But today i judge myself less!
Hear me out:
A few years ago I found myself in a reading slump where my book shelves loomed threateningly around me. There I sat with my kindle and my books taunted me from their genre arranged spots. “I have to read them!” I thought to myself. “They are starting to haunt me.” So I crafted a living room vibes bookshelf.
Top shelf: books I adore. The books I look at that just make me smile. When someone asks what are your favorite books I point to this shelf. These are also books that I have multiple copies of and have bought pretty editions of. (Little women, The Hobbit, there is the stupid movie cover edition of Under the Tuscan Sun which will one day be replaced, Pirenesi, Station 11, Normal People- its a mixed bag- but these books are a part of me and make me smile!)
Second shelf: all the books I WANT to read this year from my bookshelf. The TBR stack. They are also there like friends saying “hello! You’ve wanted to read me for so long! Pick me up! This also helps with the book overwhelm.
Third shelf: all the books I read this year added one by one(to later be shelved by genre) but it gives me such a sense of completion to see these books stack up on the shelf (and easy to grab again for reference) of course I do have to fill the rest of the space up with other books which are the books I read the year before which I then rotate books out according to space. It also gives me time to think: will I read this book again? Is it worth keeping?
When the answer is no I have another bookshelf spot in another room where I put books to give away. I always direct guests to this spot and its so fun to see people take books they wanted to read or even love (though I don’t enough to read again/ keep)
Ok thats too much I didn’t realize I had so much to say but I finally have an outlet for this system lol.
Is it better than color coding? Of course… is it the same level of crazy? Probably
I love all of this, but especially a giveaway shelf and a TBR shelf! Swoon! My TBR is usually a pile in a cabinet or on my nightstand, and I have so little shelf space that I make frequent use of our neighborhood's multiple Little Free Libraries.
A hybrid works well. My daughter organized my shelves by colour - and it looks good and actually makes it easier to find or to scan the shelf for inspiration.
But - to explain- she organized the already organized shelves. So, of course, all the poetry is together. And all the TS Elliot or Robert Service are together. But within that they (were 🤣) organized by colour.
Different genres have different needs. So geography and history are by continent and time period.
Ooh, I am also obsessive on this subject. What works for me (but not at all for Jeremiah, whose books are in his office) is: 1. Philosophy, Theory, and Theology, just alphabetized by author, because I don’t have a great deal of this. 2. English literature by period, and within periods alphabetical by author, criticism mixed in (this is my largest section. 3. American lit by author (because I have much less) 4. World lit by author, 5. General nonfiction by author (history, self-help, nature writing, that sort of thing) then, scattered across smaller shelves: 6. Mystery novels by author 7. Fantasy by author 8. Parenting by author 9. Devotional (separated into daily use books like seasonal devotions vs. “Christian inspiration” reads. 10. Children’s books.
I’m pretty sure this makes me sociopathic, but I can always find what I need.
There are definite problems—for instance I keep all my CS Lewis together, in defiance of genre category. The rule is, if I use it for work, it pretty much lives in the English/world literature section. Not intellectually satisfying, but usable.
I love every bit of this! I also have strong feelings about organizing books. I worked in the campus library for 3 of my 4 undergrad years, so my system is vaguely Library of Congress; broadly by genre first (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and reference), then by topic (e.g. non-fiction is broken down into scientific/nature, theology and philosophy, personal essay/memoir, etc). Within a topic (as an example we will take personal essay/memoir), about the only hard and fast rule is that books in a series stay together, so Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks Journals are always adjoining. Books by the same author within a topic are almost always together and are generally in publication order, so her Walking on Water is to the right of this series because it was published later. But once we get into how to place groups of books next to each other? Now we are deeply into literary neuroses, or as you said, "a lot of it is vibes." I use personal essay as bridge between the scientific and theological, so on the scientific side of the essay shelf I have Aldo Leopold and Sigurd Olson, then Madeleine next to Annie Dillard, who then flows into the more explicitly theological works of Brian Doyle, Sarah Bessey, and Shannon K. Evans. I haven't moved house in nearly a decade, but I can confirm that the only two things I truly enjoy unpacking and organizing are books and kitchen items. Everything else is a slog!
Love that. I had a few laughs as I thought about my own bookshelves. I generally organize my books by broad genres. I have a self for picture book biographies, science books (homeschool mom), a shelf for classics, a shelf for newish fiction. I have a shelf for memoir type books, parenting books, spiritual formation books, and seasonal books. I also have multiple TBR shelves. I like to keep those books separate to remind myself that the books are there and ready to be read.
I loved this post! I recently moved, and I didn't bring all my books with me (alas). They have not been unpacked yet (alas).
I like to organize my clothes by colour, but this is theoretical. Practically it's very impractical.
Your points about arranging books by colour are valid, and I repent. Haha, it's impossible to arrange them properly by colour anyway. Make of that what you will.
so I just realized that outside of my 'genre' organization...there's nothing else guiding me. It's wherever I can get it to squeeze in. Sometimes double rows (so books in front of books), sometimes they have to lay on TOP of the books, and sometimes - like the two bookshelves my husband just built - he just grabs things and puts them together (the horror - I haven't had time to look at where everything is on these shelves yet). But *shrugs* I know I can still find things relatively easy. I only have 5 full shelves LOL
This is so funny, and true 😂 I basically divide by genre then author’s last name… or… in some genres, like my Christian spirituality shelf, I pair books by the same authors together, but besides that, they’re shelved somewhat randomly… but sort of in a flow of topics way that makes sense to me, like Dewey Decimal style?
The REAL debate in our house is whether or not my spouse and I should combine books… like, should his church history books sit beside mine? He prefers a clean separation, I prefer to combine.
Joy. I was once in a speed dating scenario where this very topic came up, and when I named “12 Rules for Life” as a book I would judge someone for having on their shelf, the previously present good vibes around the table just evaporated, and I was a little regretful, so thanks for validating that opinion a bit. 😆
Lol about all of this and finding my people on this here internet.
Color coded makes my eyes twitch. I also hate that I judge people on this! But today i judge myself less!
Hear me out:
A few years ago I found myself in a reading slump where my book shelves loomed threateningly around me. There I sat with my kindle and my books taunted me from their genre arranged spots. “I have to read them!” I thought to myself. “They are starting to haunt me.” So I crafted a living room vibes bookshelf.
Top shelf: books I adore. The books I look at that just make me smile. When someone asks what are your favorite books I point to this shelf. These are also books that I have multiple copies of and have bought pretty editions of. (Little women, The Hobbit, there is the stupid movie cover edition of Under the Tuscan Sun which will one day be replaced, Pirenesi, Station 11, Normal People- its a mixed bag- but these books are a part of me and make me smile!)
Second shelf: all the books I WANT to read this year from my bookshelf. The TBR stack. They are also there like friends saying “hello! You’ve wanted to read me for so long! Pick me up! This also helps with the book overwhelm.
Third shelf: all the books I read this year added one by one(to later be shelved by genre) but it gives me such a sense of completion to see these books stack up on the shelf (and easy to grab again for reference) of course I do have to fill the rest of the space up with other books which are the books I read the year before which I then rotate books out according to space. It also gives me time to think: will I read this book again? Is it worth keeping?
When the answer is no I have another bookshelf spot in another room where I put books to give away. I always direct guests to this spot and its so fun to see people take books they wanted to read or even love (though I don’t enough to read again/ keep)
Ok thats too much I didn’t realize I had so much to say but I finally have an outlet for this system lol.
Is it better than color coding? Of course… is it the same level of crazy? Probably
I love all of this, but especially a giveaway shelf and a TBR shelf! Swoon! My TBR is usually a pile in a cabinet or on my nightstand, and I have so little shelf space that I make frequent use of our neighborhood's multiple Little Free Libraries.
Id be so delighted to have you judge my shelves.
A hybrid works well. My daughter organized my shelves by colour - and it looks good and actually makes it easier to find or to scan the shelf for inspiration.
But - to explain- she organized the already organized shelves. So, of course, all the poetry is together. And all the TS Elliot or Robert Service are together. But within that they (were 🤣) organized by colour.
Different genres have different needs. So geography and history are by continent and time period.
Other subjects are, theoretically, by topic
Ooh, I am also obsessive on this subject. What works for me (but not at all for Jeremiah, whose books are in his office) is: 1. Philosophy, Theory, and Theology, just alphabetized by author, because I don’t have a great deal of this. 2. English literature by period, and within periods alphabetical by author, criticism mixed in (this is my largest section. 3. American lit by author (because I have much less) 4. World lit by author, 5. General nonfiction by author (history, self-help, nature writing, that sort of thing) then, scattered across smaller shelves: 6. Mystery novels by author 7. Fantasy by author 8. Parenting by author 9. Devotional (separated into daily use books like seasonal devotions vs. “Christian inspiration” reads. 10. Children’s books.
I’m pretty sure this makes me sociopathic, but I can always find what I need.
There are definite problems—for instance I keep all my CS Lewis together, in defiance of genre category. The rule is, if I use it for work, it pretty much lives in the English/world literature section. Not intellectually satisfying, but usable.
Haha, it's funny because it's true!
I've just moved and am looking forward to deciding how to put my bookshelves together. Love your delightfully spicy take. 😉
I love every bit of this! I also have strong feelings about organizing books. I worked in the campus library for 3 of my 4 undergrad years, so my system is vaguely Library of Congress; broadly by genre first (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and reference), then by topic (e.g. non-fiction is broken down into scientific/nature, theology and philosophy, personal essay/memoir, etc). Within a topic (as an example we will take personal essay/memoir), about the only hard and fast rule is that books in a series stay together, so Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks Journals are always adjoining. Books by the same author within a topic are almost always together and are generally in publication order, so her Walking on Water is to the right of this series because it was published later. But once we get into how to place groups of books next to each other? Now we are deeply into literary neuroses, or as you said, "a lot of it is vibes." I use personal essay as bridge between the scientific and theological, so on the scientific side of the essay shelf I have Aldo Leopold and Sigurd Olson, then Madeleine next to Annie Dillard, who then flows into the more explicitly theological works of Brian Doyle, Sarah Bessey, and Shannon K. Evans. I haven't moved house in nearly a decade, but I can confirm that the only two things I truly enjoy unpacking and organizing are books and kitchen items. Everything else is a slog!
Love that. I had a few laughs as I thought about my own bookshelves. I generally organize my books by broad genres. I have a self for picture book biographies, science books (homeschool mom), a shelf for classics, a shelf for newish fiction. I have a shelf for memoir type books, parenting books, spiritual formation books, and seasonal books. I also have multiple TBR shelves. I like to keep those books separate to remind myself that the books are there and ready to be read.
I organize my books in stacks. I put the big books at the base for stability of course.
I loved this post! I recently moved, and I didn't bring all my books with me (alas). They have not been unpacked yet (alas).
I like to organize my clothes by colour, but this is theoretical. Practically it's very impractical.
Your points about arranging books by colour are valid, and I repent. Haha, it's impossible to arrange them properly by colour anyway. Make of that what you will.
so I just realized that outside of my 'genre' organization...there's nothing else guiding me. It's wherever I can get it to squeeze in. Sometimes double rows (so books in front of books), sometimes they have to lay on TOP of the books, and sometimes - like the two bookshelves my husband just built - he just grabs things and puts them together (the horror - I haven't had time to look at where everything is on these shelves yet). But *shrugs* I know I can still find things relatively easy. I only have 5 full shelves LOL
This is so funny, and true 😂 I basically divide by genre then author’s last name… or… in some genres, like my Christian spirituality shelf, I pair books by the same authors together, but besides that, they’re shelved somewhat randomly… but sort of in a flow of topics way that makes sense to me, like Dewey Decimal style?
The REAL debate in our house is whether or not my spouse and I should combine books… like, should his church history books sit beside mine? He prefers a clean separation, I prefer to combine.
Advice anyone??
What to do with “inherited Bibles”.
A well read leather KJV from 1880 seems cool to keep. But what about my parent’s Bibles - large NIVs in zipper cases?
(They take up bookshelf space)
The question of the day 🤷🏻♀️- to reply here or on Instagram?
Joy. I was once in a speed dating scenario where this very topic came up, and when I named “12 Rules for Life” as a book I would judge someone for having on their shelf, the previously present good vibes around the table just evaporated, and I was a little regretful, so thanks for validating that opinion a bit. 😆