Spilling From Every Corner: A Guide to Making the Most of Shelf Space

All writers have known the joy of being lost in a good book. This month, we’ve asked NaNoWriMo participants from around the world to share their personal libraries with us–the books that give them insight, inspiration, and that keep them turning the pages again and again. Today, Amanda Tong, our Municipal Liaison for the Asia :: China :: Hong Kong region, talks about utilizing bookshelf space in cramped quarters.

In Hong Kong, space is scarce. People cram into tiny flats stacked upon one another, reaching up to the sky as the “most vertical city in the world.” My bedroom is a cozy 8 x 6 foot box–where I’ve practiced the delicate art of using every available inch.

1. Main bookshelf. My main bookshelf is packed! There’s everyone from Laura Ingalls Wilder and Jerry Spinelli to Susanna Clarke and Douglas Adams. One row is dedicated to back issues of children’s magazines Cricket, Cicada, and Muse. But not all you see in this photo are ALL of my books…

2. Back Row. Most shelves have TWO rows, like this collection of Star Wars lurking behind A Song of Ice and Fire! Say hello to my Sci Fi & Fantasy shelf.

3. Manga Shelf. Draw back the sliding door beneath all this, and you’ll find manga and more comics. Seconds was my favorite read of 2015.

4. Bed Shelf. The nook at the foot of my bed is home to the oversized volumes that can’t fit anywhere else - mainly my MFA thesis and graphic novels like Marvel 1602. It’s also where I store my favorites: Fried Green Tomatoes, Neverwhere, The Golem and the Djinni, Goddess of Yesterday…and my hedgehog plushie collection. Six hedgehogs in total so far.

5. Cabinet Shelf. But it’s still not enough! I had to clear out part of my closet for books I’ve bought from local fairs and festivals. Many are by writers based here in Hong Kong. There’s also a library book. I should return that.

6. Book list. This year for NaNoWriMo, I’m writing about my city. I will create a mythical Hong Kong existing in the present and the past, visited by a main character both an outsider and a native. To get myself “in the zone,” I threw together a reading list for October. Fiction, nonfiction, even (once again!) a graphic novel. And after I’ve finished them, I’m going to have to find somewhere else to put them too…

For those with roomy homes, treasure your shelf space! In the meantime, I’ll just continue to squirrel books away until they’re spilling out of each corner–as they inevitably will.

Primary-aged Amanda would haul home entire boxes filled with books ordered from Scholastic’s colorful catalog. In secondary school, her friends learned to lend her two at a time since she’d usually finish the first one by lunch. Even with frequent use of libraries to save both money and space (a habit picked up during undergrad), books still manage to pile up on her bed, desk, and floor.
She teaches creative writing in her hometown of Hong Kong.