What Order is Your Library?

[Karin]

Today I counted. Not including any of music books (but including books about music or music pedagogy) or anything of my husband's or joint-owned by us, I have at least 360 books, not including duplicates. The majority of these are nonfiction and/or reference books, but I read more fiction than nonfiction, so most of my reading are books from the library. I did just buy a book through Amazon, used, but it was a reference-only book.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Karin that is wonderful that you enjoy Non-Fiction and reference books.

My Mom always enjoyed the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region mammals, insects, plants, trees you name it she had a version of it. Now I have them and enjoy them just as much.

[Bernard]

In addition to recycling some books, I am also removing some non-book items from the bookcases. Of course these should not have been there, but one has to start from where one is.

[Karin]

Lesle wrote: "Karin that is wonderful that you enjoy Non-Fiction and reference books.

My Mom always enjoyed the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region mammal..."

Well, I enjoy using reference books for a certain kind of studying when I need them as a reference tool, rather than for leisure reading :). That said, I have read a number of them cover to cover. Many are too heavy to want to be lugging two and from the library plus I like to have them on hand. I started collecting them nearly 40 years ago (ouch!)

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

I think my mind must be slipping.
I thought we had talked about a Member having a 2022 shelf of what she had hoped to read next year?
Does anyone remember this?

I was considering this I hope over winter break (if we get one this year haha!) clearing an area for just this.

Does anyone else like to have an area of your next reads and where is that??

[Helen]

Because my bookshelves are full, I put the books I'm probably going to read in the near future in a pile on the floor next to the shelves. The theory is that the pile will eventually go down as I read books and then pass some of them on, or find shelf space for the ones I've read, but somehow it just seems to get bigger...

[Bernard]

The slimming down of my library continues, with some progress. The arrangement will be -
* fiction by author
* non-fiction by subject

... hopefully simple, but effective.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

Lesle - It might have been me that you are thinking of. I keep a shelf with ~20 novels I plan to read during the year, for the ATY 52 Challenge. It’s a constant reminder to pick a book from that shelf! I also have a small bookshelf with just classics (alphabetic by author) and a different bookcase with only sci-fi. I also keep most of my non-fiction separate.

[Audrey]

I have a bookcase of unread books and try to read the top shelf during the year. But I'm accumulating books faster than I'm reading them.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

You sound just like me Audrey!

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Pam wrote: "Lesle - It might have been me that you are thinking of...."

I think you are right Pam.
I like your idea very much!

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

All of my bookcases are my unread books, with the exception of classics which my husband refuses to part with. I have one plastic tub of books of favorites that I keep in case I decide to reread them or pass them on to a younger family member. After I read a book, if a family member doesn’t want it, I either donate it or sell it to the used bookstore. 2022 is going to be the year of culling the book herd!

[Brian E]

For the past 30 years, I have my library organized as follows:

FICTION - in author alphabetical order in these divisions:
1. American
2. British
3. Other English language - Irish, Canadian, South African etc.
4. Translated World Lit - organized by country and looser with alphabetical within a country;
5. Drama and Poetry
6. Comedy - mainly PG Wodehouse
7. Hippie Lit - because those were the books guests asked about early on;
8. Pop Lit - so Kate Chopin doesn't have to find herself next to Suzanne Collins and a place to keep certain odd books;
9. YA - Hardy Boys, Chip Hilton, Anne of Green Gables etc.

NON-FICTION - much looser on alphabetical order and grouped by author and similar subject
1. Sports
2. Pretty much everything else but put historical events and historical bios together and contemporary commentary and bios together

There is obviously discretion in deciding where a certain book may go, a discretion I enjoy exercising in an arbitrary and capricious manner without any appeal. For example, I keep my Doris Lessing's grouped with the Other English language African authors like Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee even though Lessing is actually a British citizen. Coetzee is now an Australian citizen, but that's still in my same Other English language section.

I'm thinking about this now as I may change my categorizing soon. We are putting in new flooring in the whole main floor and I have to move all my books to the basement and may use the move to reorganize.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

I love looking over my books and thinking of how I can reorganize better.
I have all my collections of short stories or more than one novel on one shelf. But they are on the shelf that is hidden behind a chair. So I often forget about them. I move the chair out and just stare at the books thinking about how to make them more efficient for locating.

Brian I like the mixture of Author or Genre organization instead of all Author!

[Bernard]

An interesting scheme Brian. It is the first time I have seen a Hippie Lit section!

[Brian E]

Bernard wrote: "An interesting scheme Brian. It is the first time I have seen a Hippie Lit section!"

It includes fiction like Jack Kerouac's On the Road and The Dharma Bums, Tom Robbins' Another Roadside Attraction and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues; Lennon's In His Own Write
and nonfiction like The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
and fictional non-fiction like Carlos Castaneda's Journey to Ixtlan and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

I have my system. This is Goodreads': https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

[Bernard]

A nice collection. I have read some of those, but I do not own any. But I do have some books on the Grateful Dead.

And of course, it is the inalienable right of every person to have their own system.

[Chad]

I’m getting ready to build two new bookshelves for the living room as I currently have stacks here and there. I keep nonfiction organized by subject and fiction by genre and then author. Penguin classics have their own bookshelf as they just look so nice together and I have enough of them to almost fill that bookshelf.

[Bernard]

Good luck with the bookshelves Chad. Are you making them from scratch, or from a kit?

[Chad]

Thanks Bernard! From scratch. I did most of the woodwork in the room myself so I’ll build and stain the shelves so that they match everything else.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

That sounds lovely Chad. I wanted built ins from scratch, had offered two woodworkers to name their price but both backed out on me at different times. Of course Covid was the main reason for one and the other had family issues going on.

So I bought two wall units and now have four and two half units. Still seem to run out of room.

Good luck with your build Chad!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Your bookshelves sound nice and even organized, Chad.

I don't yet have the space for full bookshelves, so my books are a little scattered. I have some random ones still at my mom's place. An old headboard that I use the shelving on for books sits in our closet. I currently have mass market paperback classics in a row on top of the chest of drawers, but I'm considering moving some things around and putting my box sets up there. I have one of those cube shelves from Walmart with various books in. 3 cubes high, 2 wide. There's a 4 tier bookshelf tree that sits on my bedside table with books I intend to read soon.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Samantha wrote: "There's a 4 tier bookshelf tree that sits on my bedside table with books I intend to read soon...."

I remember you talking about this Samantha! I looked it up and it is a really neat idea and intersting to look at too!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Lesle, there are several sizes of those bookshelf trees, if you want to get one. There are sizes to sit on tables and trees tall enough to sit on the floor! Much more fun than a traditional bookshelf.

[Emily]

i put my books in size order, biggest to the left smallest to the right. and i have my read and unread books in different sections but my collection is still pretty small for now!

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Sounds like a simple plan Emily and effective.

Putting your read books on one shelf is really smart. I cannot tell you how many times I have picked up and started reading The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier not thinking I have read it before and be around half way through before it dawns on me! lol...

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

I like the idea of separating out read and unread books, Emily, but my problem is I hate separating works by one author... Even though I end up doing so because of available space.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

I do the same thing, group the Authors together. I would hate to find some of their works in another case or shelf even!
I would feel like I lost the work :(

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Speaking of separating works by the same author, I really need to reorganize my books, but that feels difficult when I have limited space.

[Karin]

Samantha wrote: "Lesle, there are several sizes of those bookshelf trees, if you want to get one. There are sizes to sit on tables and trees tall enough to sit on the floor! Much more fun than a traditional bookshelf."

I wanted to get one, but have nowhere good to put it.

[Chad]

Lesle wrote: "That sounds lovely Chad. I wanted built ins from scratch, had offered two woodworkers to name their price but both backed out on me at different times. Of course Covid was the main reason for one a..."

Thanks Lesle! I recently did a build at a friend’s house. It was a radiator cover (old steam radiator) with bookshelves, knick knack shelves and some closed storage built into an old bay window alcove. Great fun but a lot of work.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Oh I am sure it was a lot of work but I am also sure they so appreciated every cut and measure you did for them. It sounds really nice with the shelves for both books and knick knacks!

[John]

Chad wrote: "Lesle wrote: "That sounds lovely Chad. I wanted built ins from scratch, had offered two woodworkers to name their price but both backed out on me at different times. Of course Covid was the main re..."

Sounds great, Chad - books and bay windows just belong together!

[Bernard]

I am sitting by the window,
Reading a book,
And baying at the moon.

[John]

That's good - very good, Bernard, and a vivid image. (Although I'm still kind of a traditionalist for 5/7/5).

[Brian E]

Bay Window Books sounds like a great name for a used bookstore I can start in my mid-80s, which I can stock with my entire collection as I expect, due to old eyes, to switch to audio at that time,
I googled and there is a Bay Window Books in Mississippi, but as their Facebook account says they are closed, the field is clear for my BWB brand. Now if it can remain open for 15 or 20 more years.
The BWB logo could be a silhouette of a Bernard-like person sitting and reading while a wolf is baying at the moon, combining these two images:
https://www.kindpng.com/imgv/JRioRi_g...
http://www.clipartsuggest.com/howling...
(The first choice, of course, would be to commission someone to design a logo where the Bernard-like person is reading AND baying , but one doesn't seem to be available now)

[Bernard]

Do you mean the syllable counts of the haiku John? I eschew such oriental forms in favour of an Anglo-Saxon one, though my poem doesn't use any of their expletives.

[Bernard]

Yes Brian, audio books are a modern marvel, and a boon for those with poor sight, and especially for those like Milton who go totally blind.

[John]

Bernard wrote: "Do you mean the syllable counts of the haiku John? I eschew such oriental forms in favour of an Anglo-Saxon one, though my poem doesn't use any of their expletives."

🤣👏

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Brian if your Bay Window Books does not include plenty of bay windows to peruse books at, I'll be highly disappointed in your bookstore. ;)

[Dave]

I had a large library which overflowed six large, floor-to-ceiling, custom-built, bookshelves most of my life. I was in the Navy for 24 years and moved about every 30 months. At each move I had movers unpack the books and place them on shelves without direction.

I always enjoyed browsing the shelves and enjoying the serendipitous juxtaposition of books, genres, colors. Also remembering books I had read and forgotten about or books I had forgotten I owned. Many read, most unread.

When asked why I bought more books than I read, I would say that I saw no point in having a library if there were not unread books in it.

I retired from the Navy in ‘96 after serving my last tour here in San Antonio. We had built our first house in ‘93 and lived their 25 years, accumulating books. In addition to the shelves, they were stacked on the floor, in boxes, and tubs.

In 2019 we built a new house and I resolved to give almost all my library to the public library. I took eight carloads of books to our nearest library. I sorted what to keep very quickly, making snap decisions. When we moved into the new house I had about 200 books. I put them on small antique bookshelves or carousels that belonged to my parents or grandparents, one or two to each to three bedrooms. As I unpacked the books (a self move), I was intrigued to realize what I had kept was all my poetry and short stories.

Ever since Kindle was invented, I began shifting more and more to electronic books for lack of space in the other house. About ten years ago I begin transitioning to audiobooks.

I have “shelves” here on Goodreads, but mostly just organize by currently reading or read.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Dave what a lovely story about your books!

Some of the Members have moved over to Kindle or Audio for different reasons. I am still a book reader and enjoy my Library even just to go in and sit in my wing back chair and stare at the shelves! If I read in there I find myself doing that often!

[Stuart]

My books are generally grouped by subject matter and i generally try to keep like books together. And distinct groups apart. I have a separate shelf with fiction and literature in my bedroom that seems to be swelling lately... but the logical ordering isnt that different from the non fiction shelves. I never used to buy much fiction.

[Alicia]

Right now bit chaotic

[Penelope]

Im a bit chaotic in my organisation too . And I worked for 25 years as a librarian. Not sure what happened there. 😳

[Alicia]

Penelope wrote: "Im a bit chaotic in my organisation too . And I worked for 25 years as a librarian. Not sure what happened there. 😳"

🤣

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Oh dear Penelope!
But maybe that is why it is chaotic too!
Being organized for 25 years you just wanted to mix it up lol!

[John]

Penelope wrote: "Im a bit chaotic in my organisation too . And I worked for 25 years as a librarian. Not sure what happened there. 😳"

For those of us lucky enough to get our first library cards as young children, libraries will forever have a special place in our hearts and minds. One of my grand-daughters (age 6) has just joined her local library, and her face was a picture as she stood in the middle of the children's section stunned by the choices.... we barely managed to get her out by closing time.

[Penelope]

John wrote: "Penelope wrote: "Im a bit chaotic in my organisation too . And I worked for 25 years as a librarian. Not sure what happened there. 😳"

For those of us lucky enough to get our first library cards as..."

That is such a wonderful thing to do and yes I remember well the joy when children (and adults) received their first library card. Hope she enjoys her visits to the library and the joy of reading.

[Penelope]

Lesle wrote: "Oh dear Penelope!
But maybe that is why it is chaotic too!
Being organized for 25 years you just wanted to mix it up lol!"

I actually have glorious periods of arranging and rearranging everything in alpha order and sometimes the nonfiction in Dewey. but then new books arrive and I change my mind about what to read next and on it goes. Chaos reigns again. Usually it begins with the pile beside the bed toppling.......