Wednesday 28 September 2011

Note-worthy: How Do You Organise Your Books?

Since starting this blog my book collection has kind of exploded. I've become addicted to obtaining books (even more so than I was before - not good!). My one bookshelf, which was already stuffed, is nowhere near adequate any more, and I've been stumbling over massive piles of books scattered around my apartment for months. Which is why I'm so excited to have finally gotten another bookshelf (seriously, YAAAAAAY!). It's the one pictured above, a nice little IKEA number. It's new home will be in our lounge room, with the other bookshelf taking up space in the study. So, with two separate bookshelves in two separate rooms, I'm rather perplexed as to how I should organise my books. Do I colour block? Alphabetise? Split by genre? Have a "smart" show-off shelf and a "fluff" shelf? A TBR shelf and a favourites shelf? I can't make decisions at the best of times, so the all-important question of what to do with my books is really troubling me. Hence, this post! I need help! How do you organise your books? What should I do with mine? Give me advice and I'll love you forever!

P.S. My first bookshelf looks like this, only it's currently considerably heavier with the weight of too many books (it's also a nice little IKEA number).

11 comments:

  1. Yeah, I have to constantly rearrange my books whenever I get new ones just so they can fit on my two bookshelves. But eventually I won't have room and I'll have to find new places to put them in my room. :)

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  2. I have two smallish bookshelves that are overflowing. I need new shelves but I don't have much wall space in my little apartment. I have a TBR shelf, a non-fiction shelf for my college textbooks that I chose to keep, a favorites shelf, and a classics shelf. (What doesn't fit on it's appropriate shelf is stacked on top, lol)

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  3. I alphabetize my books but I'm kind of OCD about that. I also have a row of signed books and a row of first editions that are separate from my other books. Other than that I separate my books my TBR and already read. I have six different bookshelf to keep everything organized.

    My friend has tons of books and she has the stashed all over her house and she does color blocking. I really like it and it looks awesome in her house.

    Good luck with all the decisions!

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  4. I need to get more organized...I have three book shelves...One on either side of my TV armoir in the living room and one in my guest bedroom/office. I plan to reorganize soon but am not sure how! I need at least a second in the office!

    I know I want a
    1. To be read soon and
    2. To be reviewed shelf (yes I am that behind)
    in order of date needed in the office.

    Other than that I will probably just sort by
    3. Nonfiction (by topic/size)
    4. Fiction (by author)
    5. Fabio style romance -I hide these in the office to (by author)
    6. Signed or special in some way!

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  5. I really really wish there was an Ikea in my area because I could really use a good bookshelf. My current one is stuffed to the max and I have book on the floor! GAH!

    I do have my book alphabetized by author last name, but it's really hard to keep track of when you are out of room and new books keep adding to the stack. Guess that's all my fault, eh.

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  6. That is EXACTLY the bookshelf I wanted for my birthday, but my fiance got me different ones... either way I am just happy to have a place for my books.

    As far as organizing goes, It depends on my mood and how OCD I want to be. Right Now I have my cases organized like this. One Self is Non-Fiction and then by size. Then one shelf is just my Harry Potter Books. Then I organize by series, so all my series are on two shelves, Then my read fiction are organized by color coordination and size. In a few months that might change.

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  7. Currently mine are organised by height so its easier to stack books on top of them. I tend to change my book shelf around every few weeks. I've tried alphabetised by author but I didnt like how it looked with everything looking randomly placed. The same height thing looks really neat. I might try alphabetising or colour coding the books as they are in height. (Problem with height - it can break up some of your series)

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  8. Thanks for the excellent comments! I'm leaning towards colour blocking at the moment... hmmm.

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  9. I'm thinking I might have to rearrange my shelves and keep my TBR on a separate shelf. I integrate them into author order, and keep a crazy list on Goodreads of what I own but haven't read, but the visual is more important, I think...I'm beginning to forget about some of them!

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  10. I have 3 old 80's bookcases my mom and dad gave me. I want an upgrade soooo bad but since the other ones are fine and functioning it's hard for me to give them up!!

    Angie

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  11. I have a bookshelf in the bedroom for favourite books, books I'm reading, and books I still have to read.
    I have a bookshelf in the study with all my non-fiction books, categorised (roughly) by topic. My fiction books (apart from my favourites) and poetry books are on two bookcases in the lounge room, alphabetised by author so I can find them quickly.
    I've gone through so many systems over the years but this one seems to work best for me.

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