Welcome to my bookshelves! Scroll on for a quick peek into how I organize (brb dying laughing) my books/shelves/piles.

I’ve tried different methods, based on the bookshelves I have available to me at the time. Always alphabetical by author, sometimes with fantasy on a different shelf, or adult titles on a separate one. A few months ago, my sweet friend (hi Laura! Sorry for what I’ve done) helped me set me up a reading nook in my spare room and re-alphabetize and shelve all of my books. As you’ll see, I’ve ruined all her hard work already.

Shelf 1

My husband won’t let me put books on the top shelf because he think it’s more likely to fall during an earthquake if it’s heavier on top and he’s afraid it will squish one of the dogs. This sounds insane to me, because it’s going to fall in an earthquake no matter what and I keep the door to this room closed so the dogs wouldn’t be in there anyway. But okay, there are no books on the top shelf. Just old workout DVDs that I don’t use anymore. The first shelf has some old ARCs, and then it starts alphabetizing by author’s last name, beginning with Renee Ahdieh. Sort of. One of Renee’s books is there, but I own 3 others by her and they aren’t there. Where are they? WHO KNOWS? Let’s move on and see if we find them. P.S. how pretty are the new paperback editions of The Darkest Minds all next to each other on the 3rd shelf from the bottom?

 

Shelf 2

Again, look at all the wasted space on the tall top shelf. But, not a hill I’m willing to die on, so moving on. Organized by author’s last name. You’ll notice that I’ve started to place some single books on top of other books because the shelves are full, and that’s the general direction it belongs.

The shorter shelf I purchased and put together when my husband wasn’t home, and he somehow hasn’t noticed it yet so TOP SHELF, BABY! This is where things start to really go awry, though. Notice the books stacked on top of the shelves. Those belong on various other shelves, but don’t fit. So there they live, because now I’m out of bookshelves and I don’t know how to go on.

 

Shelf 3-aka, The Floor Piles

All hope is lost. Avert your eyes. I tried to organize some into bags but honestly that’s madness because you can’t see into them to know what you’ve stacked there. The piles out of bags are mainly ARCs I need to read and review, which are also not in anything resembling “order”. I have plans to at least stack them by release date but it hasn’t happened yet. IN MY DEFENSE–the tallest stack in the back that’s one breeze away from toppling over is all books to donate. When I find somewhere to donate them. And the will to box them up. (What will actually happen: the pile will stay there forever until a., we move and have to dismantle it or, b.; Laura gets tired of looking at it on a weekend visit and makes me pack them up, where they will then live in her car until she drops them off for donation because she’s the nice friend and I am the trash one.)

 

Shelf 4

I know what you’re thinking. “Katie, you’re a liar. You said you had no more shelves.” And I did. I did say that. Because I forget about these shelves 87% of my life. They are weird built-in chest-high shelves that jut out into the middle of a different room entirely. My husband insists that I should make use of them, because he is NOT a bookworm, and does not understand the importance of all my books living together in one room. (Note that even in a built-in bookshelf, I am not allowed to put books in the whole thing, lest it unattach from the wall AND floor in an earthquake and topple. Behold my many The Hills/Laguna Beach/The Newlyweds/One Tree Hill DVDs.)

These books are in no sort of order except they are mainly adult fiction and most of my nonfiction titles. They are on the shelves according to height, as the second shelf from the bottom will accept a very certain height but nothing more. The only ones in series order are Outlander, and to be honest, I’m not even sure about those. There are a lot and they aren’t numbered and I haven’t read any of them.

 

 

Shelf 5

Shelf 5. The last shelf. A built-in directly across from the first one. I was allotted a single shelf at the bottom, because obviously we had to make space for our bobblehead pug and stuffed animal pug, and small wooden box that contains nothing. But hey, there’s my nice friend Laura, in the bottom picture! You can’t see very well, but we’re on the train at Harry Potter World in Hollywood. And look! This is a fantasy genre shelf! Except for…at least one title that I can make out from here. But there are two more of Renee’s books (where is the 4th? WHO KNOWS? Probably in a floor pile!) This is where some of my most beloved series, like the Lumatere Chronicles and all of Sarah J Maas’ books reside. But this is not where I WANT them to live. I never see them here. I want them to live with the rest of my books, where they can all keep each other company and I can find them all in one place. This is especially important because I’m a mood reader, and I rely on choosing my next book by what catches my eye and I feel like at the moment.

SO guys, PLEASE SEND HELP! What do I do with all my books? Do I get more shelves? Where would I put them? Do I downsize more books? What do I do with the leaning tower of books? How do you organize your shelves?