My Bookshelf Needs Your Help

bookshelf

In case you’ve been absent lately, let’s recap things we know about Shannon’s bookish situation:

  1. She has a lot of books on her TBR. (References here and here and here.)
  2. She has a lot of ARCs that have fast approaching publication dates (References here.)
  3. There are basically just a lot of books on her shelves, period. (Check the Goodreads list for proof, here.)

That isn’t a problem, so much. Who doesn’t love books, amiright? Great. The problem is, my organizational skills… leave something to be desired. That’s putting it as nicely as possible, because the sad truth is, I am pretty much a mess. Right now, I have two shelves, but I need to obtain at the very least, a third. One is full of books I’d like to read as soon as I can, and is oddly organized, especially when looking at the rest of the room:

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But then my larger bookshelf, which has absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, because quite simply, the books do not fit in it anymore looks like, well, this:

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I also have a super fun habit of taking all the books out to do Bookstagramming, and then…. well, clearly, just tossing them back on the shelf.

So, the situation is ,I need a new system, and I’d like to know…

How Do YOU Organize Your Shelves?

I have always, since I was a kid, organized them alphabetically by author surname. Which is, in fact, how the nice-looking shelf is organized. But I am not sure if this will work for all the shelves. Do I organize by:

  • Book Title?
  • Rating? (For the already read books, of course)
  • Author name?
  • Color?
  • Genre?
  • Desire to read?

This is where you all come in: How do you organize, and most importantly, what has worked the best for you in the past? What has been the easiest to keep up with as books inevitably get added to the mix? And would it be wrong to turn my kitchen into a library?

Kidding (mostly) on the last one 😉 

Posted April 2, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Discussion, Discussion Challenge / 57 Comments

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57 responses to “My Bookshelf Needs Your Help

  1. I try to organize mine by genre but since my book shelves are all scattered, I’m waiting until I move and get new book shelves to do this and stick to it. I find it easier because if I’m in the mood for fantasy, I can simply go to where all of my paranormal books are and pick one. Same for contemporaries. That way, they are separated and I don’t go crazy trying to find a contemp in a paranormal area 🙂

    • See, I DO see the merit in that. Because I often look around in a sea of different books, totally overwhelmed! And I am with you- I am trying not to stress TOO much until I get new shelves, because why bother? 😉

  2. I used to organise by title, then series, and then most recently author. But then my main bookshelf started to break so I haven’t really had a clear system for a while. I would like to eventually have some sort of system where I have my absolute favourites in different genres clearly laid out and then I guess the rest in author order? Not completely sure yet…

    What I do with books I haven’t read is keep them in a completely separate pile to the ones I have read. I thought about buying a small separate shelf for my TBR books and am still thinking of doing that.

    Zareena @ The Slanted Bookshelf

    • That is what I have- the small bookshelf is my “imminent TBR”. But then I have all the OTHER TBR books that don’t fit on the small bookshelf. Or any reasonably sized bookshelf. And then there’s the read books. AND I want a shelf for special elite favorites. It’s hard!

  3. GIRL I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. I’m the least organized person I know. But I just organized my shelves a few days ago (the manual labor was a pain), and I separated my paperbacks from my hardbacks. And then I split the shorter ones with the taller ones, etc etc. Then I went by author’s last name. It took me roughly five hours. Breaks not included. D:

    • WHOA. Five hours?!?! Damn, you must have a lot of books! I will be honest- I LOVE organizing my shelves. Once I get into it… well, it is ON. But it isn’t as fun when I A) Don’t have enough room, and B) Don’t know where/how to begin! Hopefully some new shelves will do the trick!

  4. I generally try to use the most of my bookshelves by having two rows of books on each shelf. Have a back row and a front row. The back row can be books that I didn’t really like and the front row can be books that I did. In many cases, I also use series of books as an advantage. I can have the majority of the series up the back and only one or two up front to designate that they’re in that general area.
    Personally, I don’t really bother with author / title organisation; if you love your bookshelf enough, you ought to know where they are. That’s just my personal opinion, though.

    • THAT. IS. GENIUS. Oh my goodness, that is the best solution EVER. Especially because there are a TON of books (and some long series!) that I can’t bear to part with, but hate having crowd up my shelves. My goodness, you just solved a HUGE problem for me, thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!! 😀

  5. I think many of us with Review Blogs totally relate.
    I hve one set of shelves for the authors who personally contacted me to review their books. I put them as they arrive. The Top shelves are those who have waited the longest.
    I have four other shelves of books I have for Book Tours and Blog Hops. I have them shelved by week and month.

    • That is a really good idea! I should do something similar with my soon-to-be read books. Because now, they are kind of hard to see, hidden with ones that aren’t so soon to be read. Great idea, thanks!

  6. Okay, so. I have separated hardcovers from paperbacks. Then I separated the paranormal/fantasy/dystopian from the contemporaries (YA and NA). And then they’re organized by author, so I have all the books in a series or all the books by the same author together :3
    Does this help? 🙂

    • Ohh, that is a good idea!! I hadn’t thought about HC and PB being in different sections, but it does make sense! ANd yes- the series HAVE to stay together, I agree! Thanks so much 🙂

  7. I think you could totally turn your kitchen into a library. We have super high ceilings at my house, and I suggested getting rid of the dumb stuff in the lounge room (like, you know, furniture and coffee tables) and turning the ENTIRE WALL into a bookshelf. With ladders! That spin and stuff! My parents rejected.
    Oh gosh. There are SO many things I’m going to do with my own house. Except, of course, I’ll be permanently broke from buying books. *shrugs* I SHALL OVERCOME.

    Now, anyway, what were you saying?! OH YES. I organise mine by colour. Unread books go on top of my bookshelf (including a library stack that’s always cycling new/returns) and everything else goes in colour on the shelf. Unless they’re my favourite series, like The Mortal Instruments. Then there’s a colour exception.

    BUT MY OCD IS TINGLING AFTER THOSE LAST PICS, SHANNON. FIX IT. FIX IT BEFORE I EXPLODE.

    • Your parents are simply no fun! I mean, I hate cooking, so the kitchen would best be served as my library anyway.

      I am sorry. I knew it would hurt the hearts of the bookish. My shelves are angry with me too, as you can see by its picture. Very angry. I WILL fix it though! I need more bookshelves. Off to Amazon I go, before Cait explodes 😉

  8. Ohhhh, I see your dilemma. I divide my shelves into “read” and “TBR”, and then in those shelves divide by genre, wherein I group together series and authors. I don’t much like dividing by alphabetical because it doesn’t have the same thrill, you know 😀

    Good luck with your shelf arranging, Shannon!

  9. Most of my books are actually on my Kindle so that makes things a bit easier. The only ones I own are ones I really, really, really love. If I were you, I would organize by genre but then place the TBR books on their own personal shelf.

    • Ohh that IS easier! Though I never know which books are actually ON my Kindle, so maybe that is a problem for another post 😉 See, the TBR books are on a shelf but they don’t all FIT in one. Basically, my problem is general book hoarding.

  10. My physical shelves are organized as follows : those I have read (the novels, by author, the documentaries, by subject) kept separate from those I have to read (all filed by author, it’s easier to find them when I need them). Those I haven’t read are the easiest to access.
    My to-read list (Excel sheet) is organized differently : first the books I absolutely want/have/need to read – about 20 of them. Then, all the other books I want to read are filed by category (next, steamy, historical, mystery/suspense/thriller, rock, urban fantasy and so on). So when I’m tired of reading one genre, I know what to pick in another 🙂
    Anyway, eating is overrated : empty your kitchen and turn it into a library !

    • Wow, this is a very detailed and impressive organizational system! I really like your idea of having about 20 that are “next up”. That is what I really need to do. Because right now, I have like, 60 next-ups. And that is way too many. I am going to need a lot of bookshelves to get this organization in progress. And I agree- screw the kitchen 😉

  11. That is so cute, haha. The larger bookshelf looks like my third bookshelf. 😉 My first and second one is totally organised and pretty, they’re mostly the ones I’ve read so I’ve organised tem by rating. My third one, the top shelf is all nice where I started organising it and then the next four are…nope. It’s mixed with some I have read and the rest I haven’t and it is a disaster zone. Funny though, since my fourth is totally empty, apart from a few books where I’ve done some on instagram, and yet I still have books on my floor…
    I started off really good at organising my books, I still only organise by rating (for ones I haven’t read yet I just shove together until I have) and same author I keep together.
    Haha, who needs a kitchen, a library is better.. 😉 I’m slowly turning my landing into a mini one.

  12. I have one book shelf, shelf that I use just for TBR books. I put the rest into one of two shelves, either the erotica shelf (I have about 60 books from one publisher who loves) or the living room bookshelf. I arrange them kind of by genre, cookbooks with cookbooks, ya with ya, adult with adult. I like to put the hardbacks together but if it is a series, I put them together. I don’t have quite as many books as you do. I wish I had more. I have a books shelf around the bar of my kitchen, only one shelf has anything related to cooking, so there’s that.

    • I am afraid to have books anywhere but my room, because the kids are scary creatures! What if they hurt the books!? Hahha. Luckily, I have a big room, but it has a really weird layout so it is hard to fit shelves in. But I have to buy more for sure!

  13. techeditor

    The simplest and easiest to keep up:

    Do as you have been doing, that is, shelve books alphabetically according to author name. However, keep separate reference and reference-type (for example, dog training) books. Keep those on a separate shelf or, at least, together at the end.

    • techeditor

      Also, TBR books are not shelved, leaving more shelf room for books I have read. Rather, TBR books are stacked (in neat piles) on tables in the same room.

  14. I organize mine by genre, mainly. At least, that’s for my main shelf 😉 All my favorites/the ones I REALLY liked are on the main case. The rest is just a mishmash all thrown into the tiny shelf – ignore that one. But yeah the big one is by genre, then by color. Like my contemporaries: I have one shelf for the super bright spines, one for the dark spines, and one for the “they fall somewhere in the middle” spines. I should get a pic… I’m going to tweet you a pic. PREPARE YOURSELF

  15. I feel so boring compared to others! I organize mine by author’s last name. That’s it. The only problem is that my shelves are really weirdly done so when I move one book, I have to move EVERY book AFTER it. It’s a scary process.

    • YES! That is my issue too- EVERY book has to move when a new one gets moved from TBR to read, and ugh! It is so annoying, especially when you have to move them down to a new shelf. I feel your pain!

    • That’s how I do it too. It’s alphabetized by author’s last name. Otherwise, there’s no organization. I do, though, have a separate shelf for books borrowed from either the library or my friend so those don’t get mixed in with the others.

  16. I’m actually envious that you need ANOTHER shelf to put yours in 😉 I wish I had that many books in my arsenal, but I’ve always resorted to digital copies as I can carry them everywhere I go. I wish I had any organizational skills to share, but I’m on the same boat as you. My shelves are a mess as well, as in, there is no organization whatsoever. I just put a book wherever and I hope it resembles a book shelf XDD I will have my own library soon, though, and I promise to be more creative. I’ll probably do it by author!

    • I know, it is great to have so many books but… where to put them? (And you won’t envy me when I have to move, I guess 😉 ) But yes, I mean, it is certainly a good problem to have! And ooooh your own library soon!? That is wonderful! You’ll have to show us pictures 🙂

  17. So many books, have fun organizing now – I actually like cleaning my bookshelf, it makes me excited for some reason 🙂 I usually organize hardcover books first, then paperbacks – I do it by height order as well. Then, I put the same books by one author together, I don’t go by genre though. I have a favorites shelf, ARC’s shelves, and the everything else shelves lol xD

  18. After several years as a bookseller, I think I’d have a breakdown if I tried organizing books any way other than author’s last name! It took years before I could go into a bookstore without pulling books that were in the wrong place, but that’s a discussion for another day… 😉

    So I do my books alphabetically, but have different bookshelves for different catagories. I have one for read paperbacks (double stacked) and one for unread paperbacks (also double stacked). Then there are the bookcases for unread hardcovers/trade, BEA books, books read, my favorites, and one where the books didn’t fit anywhere else. Sad to admit that there are also several stacks on my floor, so guess I need to do another book purge. My husband calls me a book hoarder, but I tell him I just want to be prepared in case there’s ever an international book shortage!

    • Hahhah I do that at the bookstore too! Because in my house is one thing, but in the bookstore… that is how I find stuff!

      I am most definitely a book hoarder, so I feel your pain. And oh my goodness- you just reminded me that I am going to have a whole NEW pile of books after BEA. I am going to have to just replace my walls with shelves. Actually, that isn’t a bad idea 😉

  19. Your shelves look like mine!! I have a ‘favorites’ shelf and it organized so pretty…and then I have my 3 large shelves and they are not haha. I’m out of room to put my books so I just pile them up. I’m hoping to get more shelves this summer and then I *plan* to organize all the books!

    • Hahah my goal is to at least get my favorites organized ASAP, because I care most about them. Then we’ll get to the rest. We need stock in IKEA, it sounds like 😉 Good luck with your organizing too!

  20. I organize by genre and series, primarily. The two series that I have all 20+ combined books for share a shelf and are excluded from the genre shelves, and these are organized in order of the series. My bottom shelf contains classics mixed with what I consider literary YA, and a few nonfiction books (because they’re way too big and stick off any way I put them). I have a handful of romance reads and books similar to Kristin Hannah’s writing, so those are all grouped together. If I just want to randomly read something, or re-read, or pull out to reference, I know exactly where to find it. I don’t organize the books by author within their genre shelf; I organize them by height and width so that I can maximize the space on my shelves. Right now I have an entire shelf, double stacked, of TBR books, so once I read through these I might be reorganizing the shelves a bit!

    • Whoa, those are some big series! And you have quite the specific system! I think that is what I need to do- customize a bunch of the suggestions, and make it into something that will fit both my space needs, and my reading needs. I love that you know exactly where to find books- that’s my ultimate goal! Thanks so much 🙂

  21. I usually have mine separated according to genre, and then alphabetically by author, then further by title. If I pull something out, I’m so anal, I have to put it right smack back where I got it in order to maintain order. I also leave the unreads on another shelf so they’re separate. Once they’ve been read, they’re slotted into the other shelves as described above.

    I will admit this though… I’ve had to box a great many of my books. I only box the ones that I liked but which I don’t think I’d hurry to re-read any time soon. I make sure to only keep out the ones that I can see myself re-reading. I’m weird. LOL!

  22. At the moment, half my books are in boxes… But before that I had them organized by genre and then author last name. However, I am notorious for reorganizing my books every three or four months! I also have a separate shelf with my TBR that isn’t organized at all, then when I read a book it gets shelved in its spot.

    P.s. It is totally not wrong to turn your kitchen into a library, my mom and I turned our dining room into one! Seriously, no joke, we did. =)

  23. I don’t have a really good organization system. My shelves are kind of for certain things, but the shelves themselves aren’t really organized. I DO have a shelf of books I own that I REALLY want to read, a shelf of books I want to read sooner rather than later and some shelves of books that I want to read eventually. Then I have a shelf of books I’ve read and want to keep and a shelf of books I’ve read and plan to trade or give away. Oh, and a shelf of books that I’ve read, but my mom hasn’t yet (she’s here every weekend, so she grabs from that shelf). Then there’s a shelf of MG or YA books that are appropriate for my 12-year-old son, so he can grab them if he wants (he has tons of books in his own room, but I don’t trust him to keep the books I care about in there – he’s not as careful with his books as I want him to be!). The one shelf that IS organized is my physical review books. This is actually really important for after you go to BEA – those books are organized in order of release date. I REALLY wish I would have thought to do this right away when I got home from BEA because it totally would have helped. Of course, back then, I didn’t have all my pretty bookshelves, so most of my BEA books were in a pile on the floor!!

    Okay, so I said I had no system and then gave you a really long description of my system. 🙂

      • Bookstagram: Basically taking pictures of books (in various places, for various reasons) on Instagram. It’s such a useless and fun hobby 😉

        So, you DO kind of have a system! I think my small bookcase will work for review books after BEA (right now, it seems a bit ridiculous to have all 3 of them sit on a shelf by themselves hahah), and then I can probably have my TBR on my one BIG bookcase. Though that creates a problem for the read sooner vs. read laters. UGH. And I need to get MORE bookcases so that I can put my read books somewhere, and a separate one for my favorites…. I need money. That is the problem, really. Ironic, since I spent all my money on books 😉

  24. Since I’m a movie fanatic any books that are connected to movies and/or signed by the author are out on the bookshelf in my living room. They aren’t alphabetized just organized by series and/or author. I kind of arrange them somewhat artfully.

  25. I don’t buy books, so organizing my shelves isn’t such a big deal. The few I have are arranged by genre: Christmas books, cookbooks, books about teaching, etc. They all fit on my 1 childhood bookshelf!

  26. I try to keep mine organized by series and desire to read. I have one nice-looking bookshelf on which I keep my favorite series, with my most favorite right around eye-level and easiest to reach. Then on my smaller bookshelf, the first shelf I use for TBR books, and almost all the rest are standalones that I don’t keep ordered (though all the spines are visible). Least favorites are on the very bottom shelf. It’s a system that works for me, which I think is the most important! I’ve been through several reorganizations, just for fun 😀

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