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Bernard, I love that term. I might steal it.

It is SO interesting to read about other people's libraries. I know homes in Minnesota where they don't have bookshelves or books. (Some also have no pictures on the wall - it seems so strange to me.)

I am in the process of downsizing as I just retired and taught German Literature. I probably have 1000 German books that I have been trying to fit into my home (and many more not in/for German).

My books are in 6 rooms (Heck there are book cases on just about every wall!):

The living room (5 cases - home repair, cooking, chess and nature/gardening and art).

The downstairs library: - wall to wall, with sections for history, classical literature (not German), German lit, philosophy, contemporary critical theory, languages and other popular lit (science fiction, detective novels, crime, bestsellers)

The back study: (Books on crafts, art, weaving, and a special case for John Dickson Carr my favorite mystery writer).

Downstairs painting studio: has folios and overflow

Bedroom: History of Austria and things I want to read soon.

Back Bedroom: Film, medieval lit and history and overflow.

I am so proud when I can find books that I am willing to part with. Yesterday I located 7 to give away! (Sad, isn't it).

(Of course my husband's study has even more reading material!)

I blame my mother. In school there used to be a shameless program for sellling students books called SBC (Student book club.) Every month I would check all the books I wanted and my Mom would narrow down the list and order a whole slough of them for me. (I still have a few of those old paperbacks - they were heavily edited for children, but still a great intro to classical lit.) I have never been able to deny myself a book I wanted since then!

Naphta what a horrible home that would be without books, bookshelves and no pictures! Who doesnt have pictures on their walls?

It is wonderful that you can find some to donate to others. When I donated I went a week later and the Church's Thrift Store had sold most all of them! It is a great feeling to donate and give a chance to others to read a book!

Naphta your love of reading started young and continued through to retirement when now you can enjoy them throughly :)

Leslie- Non-SF means everything that is not science fiction! For some odd reason, I have a whole shelf full of SF short story collections which I never read. I like the occasional short story but a whole collection is usually too much for me, with one exception, one of my favorite books The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu.

I am always drawn to organizing by color. I like the way it looks. I have very few repeat authors so there’s no point in keeping series or author collections, for example, together since I don’t have them!

I knew that I had a bunch of science fiction short story collections because they are all displayed together. I was surprised at how many other collections I had. They were scattered in different places. Now they are all together.

Well I guessed right Pam just sounded weird to me sorry! lol
Just couldnt figure how a book could be sci/fi and non at the same time. Of course you can see how my brain was not functioning to good that day :)

My library likely exceeds 1000 books, but I decline to more accurately track them, in terms of quantity. Until a couple of years ago books I had read were shelved with books I had not. But I hit a tipping point where books I hadn’t read were dominating the collection and yet, when selecting my next book I didn’t want to wander two floors, so kept forgetting about them. My solution is the current structure.

Downstairs are all books I’ve read, divided only by fiction and nonfiction and organized by authors� last names. Upstairs are “not read�, grouped into Japanese lit, MENA lit, detective/mystery, nonfiction, classics and contemporary lit.

I much prefer hardbounds, but many of my books are used book store and literary book sale finds and one takes those treasures in whatever form they present themselves. Also if I’m purchasing classics, as per the footnote, introduction, afterward thread, I prioritize supporting publishers who invest in those extra resources vs those who publish nicely bound but the “contents are unaccompanied by contemporary study aids� copies. If I can get them in hardback, I do, but NYRB, Virago and Penguin, and most publishers of translated fiction are in the quality paper market, so there go I. Probably 20% of my library is hardback. 5% mass market paper. The balance is quality paper.

I also have 200-300 somethings on Kindle but I can’t call them books and I don’t own them (only a license). Further I forget what’s there on my Kindle. Because intangible. My inability to organize them is a constant source of frustration for me as a bookish soul, too, so we’ve come full circle back to the starting point.

It sounds like it works for you Carol so that is all that matters.

By genre then by author. And yeah, kind of piles all over the place. :p

Thinking I need to donate some books! and do some rearranging.

I missed this since it came up during that intense, crazy team reading game of 2020. My I be sane enough to never join another game like that ever again.

I don't have a library, but do have bookshelves. Since my husband doesn't like to collect books I use the library a LOT. Still, I have hundreds of books, possibly even 1000, but haven't counted. However, I am counting all of the piano method books I have (I teach piano very part time, but at one time it was my main gig back when I lived in Ottawa). I know I have more books than I realize because when I counted my children's small book collection once to see if they had at least 50 (we did use the library a lot), they had 100 or so, but of course that was in the days they were mostly picture books.

I have some organization. All Most of my music books (including pedagogy and reference books) are in the same tall shelf as the remaining math and science books from when I homeschooled my kids (my eldest did NOT want me to sell a certain series and then we have some real gems that have been out of print a long time in math, etc), and my gardening books plus some other things such as my husband's dictionary from the 1970s.

Another tall shelf in a different part of that room (our dining room is the piano room/my office, but was supposed to be for homeschooling originally--all in university or past now) has some fiction, a number of nonfiction books in various genres, and some really good homeschooling history resources we just had to keep (high school level), etc.

I have a third fairly tall shelf in there that has all of my crewel books (or did--not sure if I moved them while re-organizing), knitting books, etc, theology books and various and sundry other things. My desk, which is buried right now, is fairly wide and has a row of reference books across the back. In our room I have some miscellaneous books on a shelf set that is really meant for something else. This is also where I keep the bags and piles of library loans I have, and I have more music books, including half of the ones I have bought since I started voice lessons. My husband has his book shelf here (plus he has some up in the attic, which is dry).

Cookbooks--I have a cupboard full of those above our stove/range.

Karin wrote: "Cookbooks--I have a cupboard full of those above our stove/range...."

I love that idea! I have stuff above the fridge in the cupboard that I have no idea what is in there! This would be so much more useful!
Thank you for the idea!

I have about 400 books. They add up so fast! Some are on two small shelves at my moms house still. Those are organized by fiction and nonfiction according to author’s last name.

At my house I have books scattered. Some are stacked under my bedside table. Some are on a tree bookshelf on my bedside table. Those are the ones I INTEND to read next. With 4 shelves on the tree. Hehe. I put the most intended next ones on top and move books up as their turns come. Library books take precedent usually, because they have due dates, and end up on the top shelf of the tree. I have a storage cube with books lined up on half the shelves and mass market paperbacks in fabric cubes in half of it. I keep my classic mass market paperbacks on top of my chest of drawers with fleur de lis bookends. In the closet I have what I think is a small headboard holding books. The shelf is organized by authors� last names. The cubby shelves on the ends have books randomly lined up and some stacked on top of those. More books are stacked on top of the whole headboard.

A storage ottoman keeps my special editions and leatherbound books safe, after one time a cat clawed a leatherbound cover. I also have a few leatherbound journals on there.

Library � book collection� it is what it is. I love to read and love my books. :) hopefully one day I’m in a good position to have one or two real bookshelves.

Samantha does not seem like a bad system right now! I love the tree shelf idea!

My books are organised by category, and by size, as my shelves are of different separations.

Lesle wrote: "Karin wrote: "Cookbooks--I have a cupboard full of those above our stove/range...."

I love that idea! I have stuff above the fridge in the cupboard that I have no idea what is in there! This would..."

You're welcome. I've done this for years starting with small apartments. I am not sure when I started it, but it was when I only had a few of them and didn't fill the cupboard with them plus my now collection of computer printouts. I like it because it's right there.

Lesle, my tree bookshelf isn’t the type that looks like a full-fledged tree. It has a back base and diagonal shelves in front of that, connected to the back and bottom base. I love it. Great way to store a chunk of books in a small space.

It sounds really different Samantha. Wish I could visualize it.

When I have time, I’ll try to put a picture of it on here or at least link to it.

Sounds great!

This is the tree bookshelf that I have on my bedside table. There are others out there of more levels than this. It did have to be assembled when it arrived.

Bamboo Book Rack,Tree Bookshelf,Desktop Organizer Office Storage Rack,4-Tier Bookcase,Free-Standing CDs Holder Organizer, Multifunction Display Rack for Books,Magazines,CDs and Photo

Samantha wrote: "This is the tree bookshelf that I have on my bedside table. There are others out there of more levels than this. It did have to be assembled when it arrived.

Bamboo Book Rack,Tree Bookshelf,Deskt..."

A great design! Thanks for showing this.

I have three tall Billy Bookshelves and I have got to tell you, two of them are the most god awful shade of yellow. I love them.

The two yellow shelves hold my read books.
Most are arranged by Genre and then by author with a few Exceptions.
Russian Lit has its own shelf.
Dark Academia recently got its own shelf due to space shortage on their previous shelf.
Anything that has to do with Greek Gods (whether ancient plays or Percy Jackson or Circe) have their own home.

The Black shelf is my unread shelf. My goal for 2021 is to read all the books that were on the shelf at the beginning of 2021.
The top shelf is all my unread series.
The second shelf is all my stand alones and literary fiction novels, these are arranged by color, with the very few non-fiction novels I have sitting in the corner.
Third shelf is currently reading and unread graphic novels.
Fourth down is Newly Aquired (as Of January 1st 2021)

Plus all the books on my Kindle (probably about 200 unread at this time)

Now I had the fortune (or mis-fortune) of getting rid of most of my books when I moved, as before I probably had close to 2000 paperbacks and randomly thrifted hardcovers. Now I have maybe 500. Not included in that count are the Barnes and Nobles leatherbound classic bind ups because... I am allergic to the gilded edging and am just waiting for my niece to age up before i pass them all on to her.
I use to put my mass markets in two rows the rear one propped up on empty Kleenex boxes so I could see them over the first row.
This time around I'm trying to be a little more selective about the physical books that I'm hauling.

Samantha I did not imagine what it turned out to be. That is really a nice item to be able to store many in such a small area!

Andy wrote: "I use to put my mass markets in two rows the rear one propped up on empty Kleenex boxes so I could see them over the first row...."

Another great idea! The one bookcase I have I can double up!
I had to look up what a Billy bookcase was.

Thank you for sharing Andy!

I got the Kleenex box idea from a story I had read and thought it was to ingenious not to use and pass on! This is an interesting thread, seeing how everyone organizes their books.

A brilliant idea Andy! May I use it?

Of course!!!

Thanks. I have found a ruler, so I can do it scientifically.

Trisha wrote: "Samantha wrote: "This is the tree bookshelf that I have on my bedside table. There are others out there of more levels than this. It did have to be assembled when it arrived.

Bamboo Book Rack,Tre..."

I love this! This could help rescue our bedroom!

And, Andy, the Kleenex box trick is a great idea as well.

I have a lack of Kleenex boxes, so could I use books laid on their side?

Karin, I highly recommend searching for tree bookshelves on Amazon. The one I have and linked is short. They have them twice as high! You can get the tall ones that sit on the floor and have shelves going way up the wall.

My daughter counted about 500, but I only have about 300 on my Owned Books shelf. They're organized mainly by genre, but shelf size determines a lot of placement. I may have to re-organize by author because I'm having a hard time finding books.

I know what you mean, Audrey, about putting the books wheee they’ll fit. Sometimes that can be an issue.

Andy wrote: "Of course!!!"

Dumb question. Tissue boxes are full? I would think that would be best and a perfect size too!

Lesle wrote: "Andy wrote: "Of course!!!"

Dumb question. Tissue boxes are full? I would think that would be best and a perfect size too!"

This may be particularly useful for storing books that are likely to make you cry!

Samantha wrote: "Karin, I highly recommend searching for tree bookshelves on Amazon. The one I have and linked is short. They have them twice as high! You can get the tall ones that sit on the floor and have shelve..."

I checked on Etsy since once or twice I've had things I ordered on Amazon shipped from China directly/ When I finally get birthday money (not in the winter when my birthday is, but in the summer during my husband's busy season) plan to get one there. There are a couple of places that make really lovely ones domestically and I can support a small business (but I am careful even on Etsy now ever since I ordered something that was made in China but designed here...Etsy has changed.)

Hey, I think it’s great you’re ordering from a small business. I’ve ordered a few things off Etsy in the past 2-3 years, and most of my experiences have been good. My only issue was a shirt I ordered last August that took over 2 months to arrive from California, but I largely blame that on the mess of shipping delays due to Covid.

Kleenx boxes empty. It’s kind of hard to use Kleenex’s when they are under a pile of books. Mass Market paperbacks tend to be light enough they don’t crush the empty boxes. It took me a while to collect enough.

If I ever have large enough bookshelves, I’ll use the Kleenex box idea for sure.

Samantha wrote: "Hey, I think it’s great you’re ordering from a small business. I’ve ordered a few things off Etsy in the past 2-3 years, and most of my experiences have been good. My only issue was a shirt I order..."

I'm not nearly as good at doing this as I used to be, though.

I enjoy this topic and wondering if any new Members would like to share about their bookshelves and little tricks you may have for more storage.

I like the tissue box tip!

My plan to organise my shelves is still in place. Indeed some surplus books have been recycled.

How many Books are in your Library? Consist of Hardbacks and/or Paperbacks? Do you prefer one cover over the other?

How do you organize your reads?
Color
Author
Genre
Piles all over
Your own system?
Do you use Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to keep track?

Do you have throughts on a new way to put your lovely books in an order?

Please share 🔖📚📕📗📘📖

I currently have 889 in my Library with 2 more delivered yesterday!

Piles here, there, and everywhere!

I try to organise by genre/author, and what doesn't fit on my shelf just goes in miscellaneous piles. I don't like the books to all be the same height and style, I'll purposefully put different editions and copies next to each other to make it look less uniform, because I think it looks better that way.

Lesle, you make my 335 seem a lot better than I thought it was.

Haha!
About 100 are YA for the Grandsons and about another 100 or more are modern as I really enjoy Richard Paul Evans, Nicholas Sparks and John Grisham as well as the Longmire series by Craig Johnson.

My library--this is a good question, how is it organized? On the one hand, there is some order. On the other hand, there is a bit of mixing up of things to make it easier for me. Most of my books are nonfiction--I read more fiction than non, but I borrow most of the books I read from the library. I am not sure how many books are mine personally, either, and of course there are a few non-personal books that are left over from our homeschooling days. Some are just too good to get rid of and others have sentimental attachment for either one of my kids or me. I have not remembered to go and count, but might one of these days. I also might reorganize some of it as I continue to slowly reorganize many other things.