UK Book Club discussion
Your Reading Experience
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Bookshelf
Mine are mixed! My bookcases have different shelf heights so I have them in height!The ones in my library are all to be read and my keepers are on bookcases upstairs.
I have put all my bookmark challenge ones one three of the shelves together as far as I can but it keeps increasing as I visit various places and buying more!
When I was a young lad I tried various methods , alphabetical , groups of authors , even size, now it's all random but we are having decorating done and my books are in boxes and some have gone to charity and I'm panicking that when it's over I'll be left with nowhere for my books!
We had a discussion about how people shelve their books a while ago in another group I'm in. I'd like to do alphabetical in fiction and subject/then alphabetical in non-fiction, but I can't maintain it because I can't work out how to fit new books in. I think I acquire too many!Anyway, the discussion was in Q&A with Josh Lanyon, What else are you reading? starting with message 9508 if anyone wants to read it.
Mine are stored very simply - by size ! Lol I like a level row or gently sloping - no higgledy piggledy rows for me thanks. Quite a basic view on storage really isn't it ! Lol
I tried to put some sort of order to my books - of which there are hundreds - but am rather short of space to do it properly! I started shelving alphabetically by genre...that was the idea, anyway. Need to start again and weed out some more for the charity shop, I think.
Mod
Mine are generally on the shelves in random order, although I do have certain series and authors filed together. Makes it difficult to keep track of them sometime, but I added a column to my access database on my books to indicate where they are in the house.. :0)
They tend to be in totally random order on my shelves with some attempt to put the ones I want to read next near the front.
I try to keep the ones I want to read in the next six months on one shelf but that is it.
Mod
Firstly, they're broadly divided by type (ie all my art books are together, all my novels etc), within these groups I then sort them by size (big heavy books on the bottom shelves etc) and finally, (the bit that makes my husband laugh) by colour. Hey, I can't help it, I'm a designer...
Borrowed books sit on top of the shelves to avoid being lost amongst the masses below.
Mine depends on a number of factors. First if I haven't read them yet they will go on one of my TBR stacks, generally divided by genre but with additional ones for my various challenges.For the ones I've read my books are divided between fiction, non-fiction and old books. Non-fiction is then divided between historical and environmental (I don't tend to read any other non-fiction types), while fiction is divided into classics, collections/series, multiple books by same author and others (not the typical divisions I know).
Then all are arranged on the shelves by size, by very precise size (to the point where I run my hand over the top and make sure even the slightest differences are allowed for (yes I'm slightly OCD there).
And like Liz, borrowed books are kept separate at all times to prevent them being lost in the ether.
My bookshelves are full up, I'm down to random floor-piles in every room. I really should have a sort out, get down the charity shop.
Liz wrote: "Ok, my husband laughs at how I order my books, but I know where everything is and can locate any book in seconds. Firstly, they're broadly divided by type (ie all my art books are together, all ..."
Love the idea of shelving by colour:)
Maya wrote: "My bookshelves are full up, I'm down to random floor-piles in every room. I really should have a sort out, get down the charity shop."I could have written your post!!!Piles of books in every room except the bathroom.
I could have written your post!!!Piles of books ..."I used to have some there, too, but they got damp and I was forced to shift them. I just bought another. I think I may have a problem.
Maya wrote: "My bookshelves are full up, I'm down to random floor-piles in every room. I really should have a sort out, get down the charity shop."I was actually quite good on the weekend and took two bags of books to the charity shop, trouble is that didn't really make much of a dent in my stacks (especially since my mum bought me another three books on Saturday and I've had a GR giveaways win arrive!)
Where are the competitions on good reads? I keep reading that people have won stuff. Thanks
If you click on the little arrow next to the Explore button at the top of the page you should get a drop down menu and the giveaways are second from the top. Click on that and it'll take you to the giveaways page and then you just browse through and enter the ones that take your fancy (and that cover your country of course).Good luck! :-)
Liz wrote: "Ok, my husband laughs at how I order my books, but I know where everything is and can locate any book in seconds. Firstly, they're broadly divided by type (ie all my art books are together, all ..."
My wife is the designer in our house, she also likes to organize books by size, colour, sometimes theme.. Hence my requirement to keep the location in my spreadsheet. I do like to throw her off at times by placing books in various shelves myself. Keeps her on her toes.. ;0)
Mine are Fantasy or not Fantasy, then by author. If 2 authors collaborate on something then they are joined. However, I moved my bookshelves for decorating back in the summer & they have yet to mo ve back so they are absolutely random except that each shelf is read or not. kindle is genres.
I get ragged by family and friends because I keep my books in careful order. The hardback nonfiction is according to subject, hardback fiction in alphabetical order. Paperbacks are separate, mostly fiction, all in alphabetical order. These are all in the living room where there is a wide expanse of shelving. Unread books newly bought or acquired are in the office in no order at all on the "to read" shelf. I did train as a librarian at one stage of my life. Do you think this has affected me? Anyway, I can always find a book I am looking for very easily!
Mod
My collection of books I have stacked in lines on my bookshelves in no set order. As long as they stand up straight, hold eachother up, and remain looking impressive, neat and tidy, with no threat of falling from their places, I do not mind. Oddly, though I have set them up randomly, I seem to know where each one of them is, even though I have quite a lot of them.
Mod
I recently sorted by books into author groups and that's as far as it went. All the books I new I would never open again went to the charity shop. The books to be read are kept separate.
No, Ian, I do not stamp my books once read but I do keep an account on my computer of what I've read, under author names, plus a short review of it. I have read so very many books over the years that I sometimes forget I've read one until I'm half way through and suddenly remember - this I find very annoying. I only keep books that I want to reread. Like Tania I give those I do not like enough for rereads to the charity shops. I have a very large collection of books. Luckily the house is big too.
We had to get brutal with the number of books we had as we had large book cases in every room of the house and couldn't move for them. We narrowed it down to 1 book case of books we couldn't give up. Lots of car trips to different charity shops as to many to give to one shop. But they are breeding again!
I have one for poetry, one for drama, one for novels (classics), one for novels (the ones I don't regard as classics), one for the Middle Ages (Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts and studies), one for Latin, one for 'other Classicist studies and languages', one for critical studies, one for theoretical studies, one for Milton and Miltonic studies, one for Art, one for Literature, one for Philosophy, one foe educational studies/pedagogy/psychology, one for Philology/Linguistics and grammars/dictionaries, one for Histories of English Literature and anthologies, one with 'random books' and I keep Atlases and Archaeology books in the hall. The last one is a mess, the others are always organised chronologically. That helps me remind myself of the publication date of each book. I keep Dante on my bedside, with the Bible, a dictionary of Literary terms, some collectibles and an old version of Milton's opus, plus whatever I happen to be reading or forget there.
I forgot... One for Shakespeare and Shakespearean studies. I am going mad because I don't know where I've put The Poems of Ossian...
Mod
Hope you share your reviews on GR as well. I also keep computer records of what I've read, what I've got on my kindle with a one line synopsis and what's on my Amazon wish list, plus details of my GR challenges. Maybe got some librarian DNA in me.....plus I like silence when reading lol.
Andy wrote: "How do people arrange their books on their shelves?Do you have them in random order, by author, by genre? Do you keep your favourites seperate? Do you split read and unread?"
Constantly evolving is the simple answer. I don't separate unread and read books, I have a pretty good idea of which I've read and there's goodreads for when I forget. I have split most of my nature and history books to separate sections but there are a couple of bookcases where some overspill occurs into fiction/science/general non-fiction. If I have a lot of books from a series or particular author I try to group those, but I decided to spread my Folio Society books out through the various cases as grouped together they were looking a bit heavy visually and in real weight terms (they're quite substantial things!).
I had 2 nice big bookcases and one small overflow until I decorated, one of the big bookcases collapsed! Found a few duplicate books that I'd never noticed despite having them in alphabetical order! Unread books are kept separate, in 2 kinds of order, I generally get a pile in a go rather than individual books so each pile is in alphabetical order. I'm trying not to keep them as I rarely re read books any more. I still have 50 paperbacks to read despite having mmy kindle. I try not to buy paperbacks but I do get given them frequently
My books are in disarray! You organisational freaks are making me smile!
I have some empty spaces among my books in my library - how good is that!
Gaps in the row are bad for the spines of your books as they are not supported - you should buy some more and fill those gaps. ;-)
Lynne, mind the gap! I've been inspired by the tidy-freaks of UK Book Group and have been spring cleaning and de-cluttering. Got a "charity" pile of books and moved two tall, slim book cases to each side of window in our bedroom, sort-of frames the bed. V pleased with my efforts!
Mod
Em wrote: "I'm emotionally attached to dtb's!!"Same here! Well done with your reorganisation Em.
Have been reorganising my nature books today, making space to fit in the books I bought while on holiday. Just realised I'm short of a space for the book I'm reading at the moment though! Hmm…
I don't keep books after I've read them. Most of my reading comes from the library but I do buy new occasionally and from charity shops if I see something I've been looking for. Maybe I'm strange!
I can easily get rid of a book I don't consider very meaningful you know crimes, chick-lits etc but anything classic or literary that I enjoyed then I find it difficult to handover. For one, I may read it again and also I take great pleasure in the recommendation and lending of such books to (trusted) friends and family!
Em wrote: "lending of such books to (trusted) friends and family!"My books are a little random on the shelf. I do have certain authors stacked together - these like Em can only be lent to very trusted friends and family :-)
Scott wrote: "Em wrote: "lending of such books to (trusted) friends and family!"My books are a little random on the shelf. I do have certain authors stacked together - these like Em can only be lent to very tru..."
Not that I am say Em should be lent out - just my books!
I have books everywhere. We used to sort alphabetically by author buy that went out the window ages ago. The only sorting I have at the moment is by hardcover and paperback - which is purely for space reasons. My mum has a few of my books - she borrowed them a while back and I told her she could look after them because I don't have the space, after all, I know where they are! She has had to buy a bookcase now and I think my books look lovely in it.
Mod
Even so Em, any chance of a loan? Do I count as a trusted friend yet? These online friendships are so tricky to judge lol.
Gay don't fret about it, sorting though the books is a winter job when its cold and wet outside, TV sucks and your partners in bed with flue. Half the fun is remembering when you got the book and the story of the book, and some good music and drink while doing it.
Room 1:Well on one shelf I have books I have read books which are organized in order of how much I liked them and below I have all books I haven't read organized by author A-Z.
Room 2:
I have these books organized by genre.
Someone please tell me what is wrong with me
Do you have them in random order, by author, by genre? Do you keep your favourites seperate? Do you split read and unread?