Off Subject Episode 5: How We Organize Our Shelves

“Anyone who arranges their books by color doesn’t truly care what’s in the books.”

- Hanya Yanagihara,

Shelf life: Novelist Hanya Yanagihara on Living With 12,000 Books, The Guardian

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JOSIE

Ok everyone. Hope you’re in a comfortable seat with a snack and a drink to wash it down, because -- unsurprisingly -- my system is a little intricate. I don’t want to say complicated, but it is detailed. I’ll start by saying that I have two sets of shelves. I have a three-bookcase set in one room reserved for my favorites -- meaning books I’ve already read and want to keep around, and I have another three shelves in another room that houses the TBR. I lovingly call it “The Wall.”

I’ll start with the Library of Favorites. The first bookcase is categorized by author, with Louisa May Alcott, Jim Butcher, Dorothea Benton Frank, and JK Rowling each getting their own shelves. In the next bookcase, I have two rows of childhood favorites alphabetized by the author’s last name, followed by two rows of my “adult classics”, also arranged by the author’s last name- Rainbow Rowell, Neil Gaiman, VE Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Lauren Weisberger.

The third bookcase is all music, theater, history, and my old World Book encyclopedias. I’m already making plans for bookcases in Cathryn’s bedroom when she moves into her own place. I'll place my stand-alone favorites on that new shelf and make room for more series in the original three cases.

Now, The TBR Wall is a little different. I shelve those books by year of purchase first. I have books that I bought in 2012 that I haven’t gotten to reading yet, so my TBR shelves go back to 2012 and run through 2021. My 2021 shelf is already in an overflow situation. The TBR wall is located above what used to be my sewing corner, but that’s moved into the main room, so I’m going to completely purge that area so that I can place a low bookcase in there. I have a problem and I probably should be medicated.

ANYWAY. Within each year, the books are organized by the author’s or editor’s last name. And that’s it. Now that I’ve said it out loud, it really doesn’t sound that complicated.

How are your shelves organized, Christy?

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CHRISTY

I want to be able to find the book I want quickly and easily. For that to happen,

groupings have to make sense in my mind. As my Pinterest shows, I can tend

toward over categorizing.

Since we moved as I was going back to get my Masters, I am really just getting around to figuring out how to organize in the space I have and get as much use as I can out of every square inch.

I love my books but also like for there to be visual interest from art and objects we’ve collected over the years. Those things have stories too. So trying to make space for the collection of books and objects without looking like a hoarder can be tricky.

Books are divided on shelves by general subject/genre and within that, keeping author’s works together (like all Anne Tyler or Alice Hoffman or Dottie Frank), though not in chronological order of date published. Though, each series should be in numerical order!

Bedroom:

Bookshelf 1: Books from my childhood (young children's books, Archie Comics, River Heights, Spring Valley High, Heart Quest, other middle grade & high school paperbacks from back in the day). The top shelf is Ryan’s and if he doesn’t fill it soon I’m taking it too!

Bookshelf 2: Romance paperbacks; christian fiction that I’ve already read (romance & other); some of my dad’s books (Game of Thrones, John Grishams, Tom Clancy, Stephen King, etc. that I haven’t read yet); Anne of Green Gables series; Nancy Drews and RL Stein.

Bookshelf 3: Bibles and Bible Studies & concordances; Christian non-fiction .

Dining Room

Cabinet: Classic Lit (paperbacks & anthologies from college); plays; poetry; even a couple Cliff Notes.

Bookcase: Some of the boys’ collections (Harry Potter; Percy Jackson; Disney’s Kingdom Keepers; etc.); comic book anthologies; financial/business books; catch-all for other odds and ends.

Livingroom

Bookshelf 1: Classic Lit (hardbacks & collected works); a little literary fiction; history/anthropology; philosophy; local/state history; home and garden (primarily home); Cozy mysteries; world religions; poetry; smaller anthologies.

Bookshelf 2: Literary fiction; Christian thrillers; Agatha Christie; books borrowed from Josie; Travel & outdoors; home and garden (primarily garden); herbs & herbal remedies.

Bookshelf 3: This is a small one. Recipe books - Top shelf is bread baking (and where I stash my Bible for church and a couple of journals); second shelf is all southern cuisine & BBQ books; and the bottom shelf is a collection of all our other cookbooks. Also, the tiny cabinet above the stove hood is filled with local recipe books and recipe cards & fliers collected from different places like grocery stores or magazines.

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Book Report:

The Good House by Tananarive Due

Year One by Nora Roberts

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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Tell us how you organize your books? Do you have a shelving system? Use book stacks? Keep a spreadsheet? What works for you?