I try to put the small books together and then the big books together, maybe even on another shelf. Easy to find what I'm looking for that way.
Organising your books
- Thread starter Miss Chicken
- Start date
I used to organize mine nicely but now I have a pared down collection here and less shelf space. So things go where they fit, mostly. I don't even keep all the cookbooks together anymore. That's okay though. In my first apartment they were just lined up on the window ledge.
That's from years ago.
That's from years ago.
When I was married and we had several thousand books, we used Dewey. Now that I have only a few hundred, I don't bother.
Fiction is in the living room, alpha by author, with a few kids' and foreign language books at the end. Harry Potter books and DVD's have a shelf of their own.
Non-fiction is in my study. One shelf has dictionaries, grammar, Bibles, etc., just grouped by subject and language. The rest are alpha by author.
Current reading and library books are... wherever.
Oh yeah, my few cooking and gardening books are in the kitchen.
Fiction is in the living room, alpha by author, with a few kids' and foreign language books at the end. Harry Potter books and DVD's have a shelf of their own.
Non-fiction is in my study. One shelf has dictionaries, grammar, Bibles, etc., just grouped by subject and language. The rest are alpha by author.
Current reading and library books are... wherever.
Oh yeah, my few cooking and gardening books are in the kitchen.
I must admit I clicked this thread because I misread the thread title to be "Organizing your boobs".
I suppose that would make for a good thread, too but I'm not starting it. RM could and then follow that up with a thread about sexism.
I suppose that would make for a good thread, too but I'm not starting it. RM could and then follow that up with a thread about sexism.
HEY SHUT UP
Hateful misogynist!
Hmm...I did try to instil some order at one point but the lurking chaos crept back all too quickly. When I was attempting to become an adult who kept books on bookshelves and even cooked occasionally, I had them roughly grouped into categories. Sorting them by descending size or colour however has never appealed to me aesthetically. I like the higgledy piggledy look myself. 
I keep all my books in my bedroom!
I don't have anywhere near my front door where I could put a book shelf.
My husband and I are anal about books. We remove the dust covers because I can't stand seeing dust covers that are not in perfect condition. Most of our non-fiction books are in the lounge and they're arranged by subject. The history books are in chronological order. Where we have several books by the same author those are stacked chronologically by year of publication. Fiction books are stacked alphabetically by author and chronologically by date of publication when there are several books by the same author. There's a separate bookcase for sci-fi and fantasy books and another bookcase for crime and mystery fiction. The craft books are stacked by type of craft, such as knitting or cross-stitch.
Yes, I need to get out more.
Yes, I need to get out more.
Any kind of boxes that are one up from a cardboard box. Packing crates etc..
My books are in complete chaos both in the book cases and elsewhere (read, everywhere).
This is my least offensive, neatest book case. I can't show you the others because it is way too embarrassing.
I want to see photos of peoples nice book cases.
Oh and that fuzzy thing in the bottom corner, that's the xmas tree. Yeah, waiting for easter to pack that baby up.
I thought some more about it and, actually, I don't want to live like a student anymore. I'd like a real bookcase. I wouldn't mind crafting it myself, I think I could do it. I'd just need a plan to get finer touches, adornment-ish touches, right.
Stacked, more or less by size. And vaguely by topic. I must admit, I've never really experimented with different systems; it just sort of evolved organically. But I don't have masses and masses of books, only one (overfull) bookcase-worth so I suppose I never needed to think too much about it.
Or under your bed (I have several boxes of them), or on the shelf over your desk (my computer desk has all of Harry Potter on the shelf above it, along with a number of other things, including a tribble). I am guessing she would also be opposed to books being stacked on nearly every other available flat surface as well.
I think my room would be a nightmare to this lady.
As far as organizing goes. All of my Star Trek books are in one bookcase (they have taken over three of the four shelves, and could take up the fourth, I have enough of them). The two shelves over my unused desk have an assortment of random fiction, a bit of non-fiction, and some reference. The rest of that desk is littered with other books (usually more recent purchases, which have no where else to go).
My computer desk has the aforementioned Harry Potter series, some more non-fiction, books on writing, and usually whatever books I happen to be reading at the time.
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Such a great movie!! Rosalind Russell could convey so much with just her eyes.
Back on topic
I sort mine by subject, then author/size. But I agree, the big books get groups together regardless of subject, when possible.
But then, most of my books are SF, fantasy, or literature.
I have so many books and comparatively little space, so any structuring system goes completely out the window, I'm afraid. I'd love to have them all ordered neatly on shelves; as it is, that'll have to wait until I get a place to myself.
Like the Shadows I embrace chaos. My books are basically placed upon the selves where ever they fit in. (Although most of my trek books are in roughly the same area). Since my room is an abominable mess at the current time, my books shall remain in uncertain order.
All of this is rather amusing seeing as I'm a librarian...
All of this is rather amusing seeing as I'm a librarian...
