Thanks to a recent house project, I recently removed all of the books from our living room bookshelves—for the first time in 20-plus years. When I reshelved them a few weeks later, I found myself wondering if there was a better way to organize them all. (Don’t worry, I never considered “by color.”) I quickly realized that my seemingly haphazard approach still made sense, so other than some culling I returned them somewhere close to their original spot once more.
By size
In many cases, there was actually no real choice; the bookshelf’s builder (me) created top shelves that aren’t tall or deep enough for anything other than small paperbacks. Books are no longer produced in that format, so to those top shelves returned the same mystery authors: Dick Francis, John le Carré, Ken Follett. Even my favorite detective fiction author, Elizabeth George, had to be relegated to a lower shelf.
By topic
At the opposite end of the “cozy” spectrum are several college textbooks. All of those that still seem worth saving came from one particular reading list, put together by the professor who inspired me to major in European History. (One is actually a novel, which might help explain that choice.)
Of course the dominant subject is boating; everything from kids’ stories to Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling. Most sailors refer to that book only by its author’s last name, “Chapman’s;” thanks to the reshelving project, I discovered that we own two copies, now shelved side by side.
By memory
And then there are the books that have nothing to do with sailing or boats. I’m sure I wouldn’t have bothered holding onto (or even reading) Carol On Broadway by Helen Dore Boylston if not for the main character’s name. But just the sight of its faded red spine brings me right back to childhood, reading myself to sleep.
By author
I’ve saved the best for last: the growing collection of books by authors I’ve actually met—maybe even befriended and/or edited. Over the years, those tomes have outgrown their original section; I can’t think of a better way to show off the rich life of this author and reader.
More please
Thanks to passing along a few old favorites, there’s now room for new additions (note that gap on the bottom shelf). Perhaps some of the books in my enormous TBR pile (currently occupying the entire bedside shelf upstairs) will earn their spot on these shelves? If so, I’ll try to fit them in where they make the most sense—haphazard though my “system” may seem to others. I might not sort books by color, but it’s an inspiring palette nonetheless.
How about you; how do you shelve your books—never mind decide which to keep? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send me an email. I read every single one, with gratitude.
Thanks for reading, and see you next Thursday.
What a great post-one near and dear to my heart! Having recently moved (again) downsizing our home-I had to edit my massive book collection which I found incredibly difficult-I think of my books as friends and it pains me to not have them move with me (much to the chagrin of my movers) who have hauled many boxes of books with me over the years. To ease the pain, my daughter and I did three round of edits and brought the books to all the Little Free Library boxes that are all around the city of Providence. We found ourselves shelving many of these “libraries” as they are often a mess with books shoved in, books ripped and quite frankly old-how many Danielle Steel books can a little library hold?! Those books we would shelve in the back or even recycle if they were too damaged. We started to feel a sense of shared ownership for at least 1/2 a dozen of these little libraries, and took pride when we would return and our books were no longer there-imagining what new friends were enjoying them again. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoy these when I see them around-we also travel a lot-and I note when hotels have shelves that are similar-leave one, take one. Not having the bookstore still pains me, but curating and populating these little free libraries makes me happy. I particularly love the shelving-I usually do it by size and then by books I want to highlight front and center. Thank you Carol-always enjoy reading and sharing with you.
Thanks Liz. We miss you and Curiosity but so glad (and not at all surprised) that you continue to support and improve the book lives of those around you!
The best part of a book collection is being able to locate a book when you think of it and looking over a particular part of it that may be on your mind. Books have so dwindled in importance overall that having a good bookshelf is an act of support for encouraging people to read and setting a good example for all. With this post you share the joy of reading and the joy of sailing reflected in reading nautical books.
Larry, that’s an excellent point about being able to locate a favorite when needed. I must admit, my system wouldn’t work for anyone else on that (and it sometimes doesn’t even work for me). Thanks for the comment.
This topic really hits home for me. My collection of books numbers somewhere between 500 and 600 (mostly on nautical topics) and I haven’t a clue how to organize it. Last winter I discovered that I have 3 copies of Sea Struck by WH Bunting. There a couple of other similar duplications that have happen over the course of 50 or so years of collecting and reading. Also, very intimidating is the thought of creating a list (spreadsheet) of all those books in an effort to avoid future duplications. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to it.
Bob, thanks for the comment. Spreadsheet of books we own—argh, I think I’d rather spend that time reading! Good luck with your organizing, and maybe you can give away/loan out the duplicates!