Are your books lined up on shelves or stored in boxes?
Do you arrange your books according to subject? By size? By color? By author? Or artsy-crafty?
Lined alphabetically by author name, or by book title?
Is it important to situate your books with titles right side up and books that are standing up with titles facing the same direction?
Are your books a personal thing or on view on your shelves for others to notice?
Do you take a book with you to appointments to read while you wait in the queue? Or do you pick up a magazine in the waiting room and mindlessly flip pages to pass time?
Would you describe your book life as "literary snob", "casual but chic", or "slob"?
35 comments:
Ha, I'm first! Interesting theme. I don't own many books, they are expensive and take up space. But I go to the library religiously, once a week, and always have a good selection at hand. I like to stack them the biggest on the bottom and the smallest on top. So art books on the bottom to a little poetry book like a cherry on top!
Other than blogs, I don't read much anymore. It makes my eyes cross. The books I do have, are arranged much like my thoughts... rather haphazard, jumbled and hard to reach.
Our books are grouped by subject if non-fiction, by author if fiction. All are the right way up, except for more recent additions which are wedged in on top until we have time for a reshuffle to fit them in properly.
I always have a book with me if I expect to have any sort of wait.
I guess I am a bit of a book snob - I pick my subjects and only read things that interest me - I don't read a rubbish book just for the sake of reading, prefering to re-read a good one instead.
my books = NOT organized, except art books, which are together :)
We have bookcases everywhere, even in the bathrooms, and I still have boxes full to over spilling in my bedroom. I have a cull once in a while and lug a load over to the goodwill shop. I do tend to have poetry, humour, general knowledge type stuff lined up in the bookcases in the loo - easy stuff to dip into (giggle). My kitchen stores only cookery books - but everything else in the hallway, etc, is a lucky dip - biographies next to gardening tomes, true life crime standing side by side with philosophy - all shapes and sizes, and in no particualr order.
I always have a book with me, even when I go out - I virtually never read magazines.
I have bookshelves in my studio. They are not organised at all. I have no fiction.
The books are about Music, the 50's, Youth culture, Art, Graphic design, etc.
My books on serial killers are hidden away in the cupboards. :D
i usually keep a book with me...and every one on my shelf i have read...as far as my tastes, i will try anything once...
I visit my public library often and keep those books in a library bag to avoid mixing them with my home books. As a retired librarian, I don't arrange my home library according to Dewey or LC. The whole principle of a system to arrange books is to successfully find what I want quickly. At home, I like to keep "coffee table" books,art,and nonfiction in the family room with spines showing so visitors can quickly scan them, but in no particular order. I like to arrange my fiction books in my office by author. Eventually, I foresee moving to an e-reader such as Nook and downloading any book I want to see from a huge public library such as the Philadelphia Public Library which will negate any need to store any paper books. As much as I have loved books, I also love the idea of downsizing to holding a complete library in my hands, but stored electronically.
I have bookshelves in my bedroom and my office with an overflow shelf in the basement. The books are all upright with spines out but there is no particular order. I almost always have a book with me wherever I go.
I have bookshelves everywhere in my apartment and they are overflowing, with books piled on top of books. I do go through them occasionally and get rid of ones I know I won't read again. They are in no way organized, except that I do have the titles visible.
Stickup Artist, love it, poetry book on top like a cherry on top. Like you, I go to the library very often.
Ms.A, Haphazard is good sometimes, but not the hard to reach part.
Rock Chef, You sound pretty organized.
Oh, wait till I tell my hubby about you being just like us, a book with you all the time. Even five minutes wait is time to read a chapter.
Gary, your priority books, art, are together, handy for when you need them.
Shrinky, hooray, another reader who carries a book with you all the time. Welcome to the club.
LL Cool Joe, your book interests coincide with your DJ gigs. Interesting you have no fiction.
Brian, I have read all our books too and some are regulars for me.
Betty, we would never have a home large enough if we kept all the books we buy. Have fun going through your books.
R J, Interesting to hear your opinion of e-books. I am not there yet.
Jeanie, I like that you have some of your books in your bedroom too.
DJan, Your place sounds similar to our place. I know you like reading as much as I do.
I have a hug bookcase with books mostly lined up and then the extras all helter skelter. My reading nest is in the living room - a love seat up against a wall - right now my current reads - most all of them library books - are stacked along the backside of the love seat where I can reach up and grab one. I've been reading up a storm the last while. It's lovely.
I have bookcases in every room and books are grouped together so I can find them easily. I always have a book in my purse for those expected (and unexpected) wait times. I also have short stacks of books - ones I refer to often (like dictionary, gardening books or bird reference books) - on my desk. Books are like friends to me - my life would feel empty without them.
We don't use the library. We only use Amazon. My husband is an avid reader. I'm not as much. We need a library!
Oh, have to try again!
Just left a comment but it got eaten up again by Blogger!
Anyway, I love books and have tons!
Lots of bookcases!
I take books with me in my car and will stop to read at a nice peaceful spot!
I always take books with me when I travel.
My hubby tells me that maybe I need to get rid of some of my books as i have so many.
But I just can't as I love my books!
Most book shelves and of course there is my better half who arranges totally differently than me. Most the books are probably by subject and/or size of book. We typically get the books from the library so the amount stays reasonable.
Book life - never thought of it that way. There's real life, blog life, after life, night life, work life, no life - don't know if I have a book life.
I have some books arranged on bookshelves and some piled in boxes. But none of them is neat....... just don't get the time.
Maggie X
Nuts in May
Questions.. questions! I have no rhyme nor reason to how I store my books except I have one spot for those I haven't read yet, but intend to read soon. I get most of my books from yard sales.. usually at 25 cents each.
What an interesting topic! Come to think of it, I have bookshelves for easy access.
Thank you for sharing!!
Oh, I love my books. I have them everywhere. Everywhere. I am not sure you can find a room in my house without a book. Maybe the dining room? I have a couple of bookcases that hold my fiction books (arranged by author, two deep and double stacked), but my nonfiction are typically wherever I most use them. I serve as a library for my friends and family; they typically turn to me when they need something to read. My husband was pretty excited when I got a Kindle because he's ready for the constant influx of books to end (he's not a reader and can't share the passion).
What a happy post. I now want to go wander through my books, greeting old friends and rediscovering past passions!
On shelves, arranged, roughly, by subject. Except for the stack by my bedside. I don't typically take books with me to waiting rooms unless I know I'll be there a llong time.
Hope, I like your description of your "reading nest".
Talon, Bookcases in every room sounds like a true reader to me.
Kristina P, Interesting that your husband is the avid reader.
Margie, Sounds so peaceful to take a book with you on a drive and stop somewhere to sit and read.
lisleman, We get ten books apiece every two weeks at the library and we exchange books with friends and find used books various places.
Glad you and your wife are readers too.
Maggie May, That says lots about you. To me, it says you are more interested in reading books than displaying them. Good for you.
Hilary, Yes, finding books to read at yard sales and thrift shops is like finding treasures.
Fancy, I know you are a reader because your vocabulary bounces my brain off the wall.
Whitney Lee, Books everywhere in your house sounds like a great place to be. And being a lending library to your friends is awesome.
secret agent woman, You sound pretty organized and it shows in your posts.
I love real books. I love to hold the physical book and turn the pages. Mine are on a shelf, by author.
I love books, but I must admit the reading ebooks works very very well for me. I have my iPad on me at all times and it is incredibly handy.
We have a four shelf standing bookcase here plus a built-into-the-wall bookcase too. The bottom shelf of the built-in unit and the top shelf of the standing bookcase are a mess -a jumbled-up mess consisting of the kids books. The other shelves which contain Mandy's and my book -plus some very old books too that had belonged to my grandfather, are fairly orderly -at this point in time -but yet, not organized orderly. Meaning -no rhyme or reason as to how the books are placed on those shelves! But for the moment, I'm content that those shelves anyway or fairly orderly in appearance because you see, I happen to be a mega slob!
This is a fun discussion, Technodearie. I majored in English Lit so I have hundreds and hundreds of books. On shelves, sorted by genre ~ fiction, poetry, ancient, criticism, la la la. Then in front of them are more books stacked flat on top of each other willynilly because I've run out of shelves. I usually take a literary journal to appointments so I can enjoy poetry instead of agonizing over the disrespectful whoever is keeping me waiting. What do you do with YOUR books?
On the shelf and grouped by subject, more or less. But then I have a shelf for oversized books of any subject, a space on top of the bookcase for smaller books with two thick hard-cover books that act as bookends, also any subject.
Probably 95 percent of my books are non-fiction. On the other hand, my wife's book collection dwarfs mine and I would say 99 per cent of her books are fiction. I think we have three bookcases, more book shelves, and other storage areas on desks, below coffee tables, etc. None in boxes that I know of.
And we're having a garage sale this week but no books will be offered up for sale.
All of the above!
Hey Techno, Most of my favorite books are cookbooks and I have a TON of them. I usually take a cookbook with me on vacation to read-- weird, I know, but I find them fascinating.
My books are stacked so the ones I am loving the most are the easiest to reach.
And there are always a couple of fiction books on my nightstand for when I need to wind down at the end of the day.
xo jj
We have a lot of books in a real library room in the house. There are shelves all around, a fireplace, and a couple of comfortable chairs, and a reading table. Books are a huge part of our life.
I always have books with me. Keep a bag in the trunk of my car. Mine are organized by subject mostly...but my books multiply and are creeping into every room of the house... I have a "thing" with books...I have been trying to get rid of some...but all I am able to do is make lists and then box them and store them in the garage... I guess I realize I can live without it or not look for it for a year or so...then I can let it go....
I take a book with me nearly everywhere I go. It's even easier to do now that I have an e-reader. At home, I still have a collection of actual books. I like to arrange them by author. I don't intend to read them again, but I like to see them on the shelf... like old friends keeping me company.
I am a book slob. They are everywhere. I have bookcases in every room and even had some built in when we bought the house. I love the smell, sound and feel of books. Reading is pure joy for me.
And yes, I always have a book with me.
My reading style is what I'd call eclectic. This year, I've read To Kill a Mockingbird (classic fiction), Three Little Words (a memoir) and a parenting book. I'm also trying to get through an audio book of Jane Eyre. I guess I don't like to be predictable. I do like to collect books, but when I get an amount that hints of hoarding, I donate most of them to the library; if you're not going to read them again, what's the point in keeping them--Books are meant to be shared.
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