How do you organize your books? [Archive] - Literature Network Forums

LadyWentworth

11-21-2007, 06:59 PM

I used to organize them by size and category. Then I became overloaded with them and put most of them away in boxes (that can be quite frustrating when there is a book that you want to read again and you have NO idea what box it is in! :mad: ) Now I am have started to buy more books again (after all, I had the "room" for more!). I now have them organized by category and that is it. Wherever they fit, they fit! I am afraid I need to get a box for these again now. I need to make more room for newer ones! :p

Etienne

11-21-2007, 07:00 PM

Well, all over the floor and furniture, if that counts as organization.

Idril

11-21-2007, 08:40 PM

Alphabetically by author and then chronologically if I have more than one book by the same author. I'm really anal about it, I can't stand to have a book in the wrong place. My kids will sometimes take something out, which is not technically allowed although it doesn't normally elicit a swift or severe punishment either...as long as they put it back where they found it. :p

Petrarch's Love

11-21-2007, 08:54 PM

I have different sections, like a library, and then I alphabetize by author within each section. For Literature in English I have seperate sections for poetry, drama, early prose and novels, and then I have foreign language works (poetry and prose alike) in sections according to language. Within my non-fiction I have sections for general reference, philosophy, religion, art, music, biography, history and general literary criticism (crit. about specific poets or subjects I usually keep next to the primary source). Some sections also have chronological subsections, for example my early prose section is divided into classical, medieval and renaissance periods, and my philosophy section is similarly broken up into broad periods. I love organizing books, though I'm running out of room, so my literary theory section currently resides under my bed. Frankly, that may be the best place for most of it. My friends tease me that they're going to find me printing out call numbers to tape on the spines of my books one of these days. :)

Virgil

11-21-2007, 09:00 PM

Good God, I'm shocked at how organized some of you are. :eek2: Mine are a complete mess. All over my study, under the bed, and in boxes in the basement. I admit it's hard for me to find something that is not at hand. But to me such organization and neatness is :alien: :alien: spooky. :p

Dori

11-21-2007, 09:09 PM

I'm one who frequently organizes and re-organizes my collection. Good thing my collection only numbers ~250 books...

Actually, I started this topic with the intention of finding a better way to organize my books. I would organize my books like Petrarch's Love, but I fear some books might be put alone.

Sparrow

11-21-2007, 09:17 PM

I constantly reorganize as well... I used to have them organized by author's last name, and then by title within that frame, except for series, which are placed in the right order for the series...

But then i got sick and tired of all the oddly shaped books next to each other... so now they're organized by publishing company and general size, with a few exceptions so that authors can remain together.

It's pretty hard to organize my books, since I own over 100, and am trying to fit them all into a tiny little cabinet, and have to tripple stack them to get them in... I was supposed to get a bookshelf, but i never got around to it...

Shalot

11-21-2007, 09:28 PM

I have textbooks and reference books on one book case organized by subject and size and whether they are hardback or paperback.

on other book cases I have novels/books for fun arranged according to size, whether they are hardback or paperback and by subject as well (and embarrassement factor - there are some guilty pleasure books I have but I don't necessarily want other people to know I read them so I keep them some place special so that I can take them to the used book store and trade them off)

B-Mental

11-21-2007, 09:32 PM

I gave away most of my books. It was just too hard to move around frequently. I ended up with maybe 150 which I break up by subject...Reference, Scientific, Activity, Fiction (trash and Classics separated), and finally nonfiction.

Old Crow

11-22-2007, 05:30 PM

I'm really weird about the way my books are arranged (since I can't really call it "organized"). I set specific authors next to each other based on how interesting I think the pairing of the two personalities (of the authors) would be. For instance I set Mark Twain between Goethe and Zora Neale Hurston since I think he would have alot to talk about with those two, and beside Hurston I have Ayn Rand, which, I imagine, results in alot of fights, but Rand needs some one to keep her ego under control. Same thing with Nieztche and Alejo Carpentier....kinda weird, I know, but it's kind of entertaining, when I'm bored to rearrange my shelf and see what kind of pairings I can come up with.

trippy star

11-22-2007, 06:05 PM

I have my books arranged by author in no logical order. However, I have the author's I most often read on my beside table (The Great Gatsby and a selected works of Keats reside there now).

ivette

11-23-2007, 04:17 PM

Well...I don't organise them. I simply put them where there is enough room for them :p
My mom organise them sometimes but I don't know how. She has her own order. :)

aabbcc

11-23-2007, 04:33 PM

Literature chronologically, other works first by category (e.g. philosophy) than within category alphabetically; but even despite theoretically good organisation, in practise they end up to be on piles everywhere in the room, and my favourites are grouped together somewhere.
I must have some kind of order, though, at least partially, for I have got too many books to be able to let them in creative mess - I'd never be able to find anything. :D

andave_ya

11-24-2007, 08:38 PM

by genre ~ mysteries, children's fiction, fiction, children's classics, classics, fictionalized biographies, Christian fiction, Christian classics, theology, law, romances, poetry, reference books.

papayahed

11-24-2007, 08:47 PM

I don't organize. I have most in boxes in my storage closet, some in my mom's basement, and the rest (most current) in a book case.

stlukesguild

11-25-2007, 08:14 PM

In theory my library (and I assume you can call it a "library" when you have long ago passed the 1000 books mark) is organized by language and chronologically. My art books are a separate collection in and of themselves... but they are also loosely (and I cannot stress the word "loosely" enough) organized by nationality and period/style. I am quickly able to locate a book on Bellini, for example, by going straight to the Italian Renaissance section while Robert Motherwell is easily to be found in American post-WWII art. The rest of my books are shelved together according to the primary language of the author and then era. Thus... as long as I know the author's language (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, English, French, etc...) and have a good idea as to when he or she was active, I can rapidly find anything: Beowulf, Dante, Baudelaire, Garcia-Lorca, etc... of course... as I noted above this is all theoretical... There are many over-sized books that find their way into stacks on top of the book shelves... or at the bottom of teetering stacks around my room. Most of these stacks are the results of books pulled out "briefly" for reference purposes... or set aside with the attention of my attending to them shortly (either reading... or putting them away). Nevertheless... in spite of some 3000+ books I can usually find a needed volume on short notice:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/books1small.jpg
-The Italian, German, French and Spanish shelves

thescholar

11-25-2007, 08:16 PM

reading frequency, ie: brave new world, Orson Scott Card books, Dracula, some T.S. Eliot etc on the top shelf, all the way to Lord of the Flies at the bottom :P

Walja

11-25-2007, 11:08 PM

recently read, or used books are scattered all over the floor and under the bed, those, which are untouched for more than three months are on the bookshelves in order according to color... hmmm.. maybe I should clean up again...

bazarov

11-26-2007, 04:00 PM

In any way they can all fit in.

Zelly

11-26-2007, 04:10 PM

By color. I know I'm a dork, but they look so pretty that way. =)

Nico87

11-26-2007, 06:30 PM

Well, I have about 40 books published by Everyman's Library so I've sorted all those in alphabetical order by authors last name. Looks pretty neat as almost all the books have identical dustjackets. The other books I usually sort by size actually.

kiz_paws

11-26-2007, 07:40 PM

How do you organize your books?

Alphabetically (author's last name? first name? title?)?
Publisher?
Color?
Size?
Chronologically?

Right now, my books aren't very organized at all.
Interesting thread, Dori! :thumbs_up

My books are 'kind of' organized. I have all my Russian Literature organized by author, I have my Steinbeck books together, my Hesse books together, my literature on Classical composers, Canadian Authors (Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence, W.D. Valgardsson)... ummm well, I don't want to get boring here, so I'll leave it at that. :p

cracking muse

11-27-2007, 10:55 PM

My books started off being organized by how much I liked them...with all the books by same authors together. Now, I don't think my bookshelf qualifies as organized.

DigitalLove

11-27-2007, 11:40 PM

I don't really organize, my books are everywhere - in the car, on the floor, at work, and in every room of my house including all closets and bathrooms. I like books ;-)

NickAdams

12-02-2007, 08:44 PM

http://a159.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/120/l_e8d25965c310f5ad96991e3177622f56.jpg

Sloppy, sloppy.

Aiculík

12-03-2007, 04:41 AM

Nico87

12-03-2007, 09:42 AM

Haha, Nicky, thats pure class!

Lioness_Heart

12-03-2007, 04:16 PM

I organise mine into fiction and non-fiction; the non-fiction is divided into topic, then the fiction is sorted by how much i like it, and my favourite ones (the ones that i reread lots) go on my top shelf. But this is now rather full, so they are organised into piles according to autor and general theme, and arranged into 2 layers on the shelf.

I'm looking at my bookcase right now and feeling virtuous.

http://a159.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/120/l_e8d25965c310f5ad96991e3177622f56.jpg

Sloppy, sloppy.

love the organisation ;)

NickAdams

12-03-2007, 04:30 PM

Well I have over 3600 books. If I had them on the floor, there wouldn't be any room for as much as a pin, so I can't afford that.

So I have them divided according to the language then by genre and then alphabetically by the last name of the author. And I have an Access database, with all data, including publisher, town, the year, ISBN, language, topic... and row on the shelf where it's placed, so it's really easy to find any book whenever I want to.

That's amazing. How many rooms have you dedicated to your treasures?

Haha, Nicky, thats pure class!

love the organisation ;)

:lol:
My landlords want to fumigate my apartment on Sunday and I don't have any means of protecting my books.:bawling:

Annamariah

12-03-2007, 06:57 PM

Err, I don't have just one method :D

If I have the whole series of books by one author, they're usually together. However, sometimes they're not in chronological order. For example, I have L. M. Montgomery's books in several different prints. The same goes with L. M. Alcott, Jane Austen and Brontë sisters. I've organized them by their prints and colours.

Most of my random books are organized by their size and colour. Also those that are in the best condition are usually on the best place and those that look like they've seen a bit too much life (I buy most of my books second-hand) are sometimes "hidden" on the lower shelves.

browneyedbailey

12-03-2007, 07:18 PM

By size in the spine.

Aiculík

12-05-2007, 03:36 AM

That's amazing. How many rooms have you dedicated to your treasures?

Luckilly we have pretty big hallway, and by three of its walls there's book case from the floor up to the ceiling. Then there's normal bookcase in my room and small one in the living room - only the best and best looking books get into that one. :)

edsbar101

12-06-2007, 12:58 PM

Alphabetically definately...I have OCD....but it does bother me when the books are different heights on the shelf.....grrrr...

1967Impala

01-01-2008, 11:23 PM

Genre and then author. But I need to reorganize...the closet is getting messy again...

biscuits

01-02-2008, 06:43 PM

i organize them by genre, then by author (last name), then chronologically.

LadyW

01-02-2008, 06:47 PM

I organize mine by author....
Normally I am big on everything being in a straight line, perpendicular, right angles, but with books I LOVE towering piles all wonky and messy :D

Wallnutters

01-02-2008, 08:12 PM

organized into genre, then by size (though its really where they look best in that genre, which usually goes by size). series are seperated on their own shelf, in order. magazines and comics are kept in a drawer. i like to try to keep authors together.

some of your organizations are quite creative and imaginative! im impressed...

Topekachu

01-04-2008, 02:58 PM

I organise my books by the chances I'd read them again. Weird, yes, but that helps so that I have all my favorite books on the top shelf and all the notsomuch ones on the bottom. ...And all my library books, messed up in a giant pile in front of my closet. Oh, the shame.

Schokokeks

01-05-2008, 06:39 AM

I have different sections, like a library, and then I alphabetize by author within each section.

Same for me :nod:. I thought of using the Dewey Decimal System, but realised I don't have enough non-fiction books to exploit the system to the fullest :D.

I also keep an extra shelf for books I've currently taken out from the library; it has been happening so often that they got mixed with my own books and I got fined because I couldn't recover them in time...

grace86

01-05-2008, 01:38 PM

Same for me :nod:. I thought of using the Dewey Decimal System, but realised I don't have enough non-fiction books to exploit the system to the fullest :D.

I also keep an extra shelf for books I've currently taken out from the library; it has been happening so often that they got mixed with my own books and I got fined because I couldn't recover them in time...

You know you own a lot of books when you are losing library books amongst your own....seems like you're drowning in books Schokokeks. How I wish I could do the same! :D

Don't know if I mentioned how I organize mine. For Christmas I received a second book case (I probably need another one), but truthfully I don't own all that many books. So I have them organized in alphabetical order by author. Then multiple books by the same author are put together alphabetically as well. I am not sure I like the different sizes of the books, but then sometimes I look at them again and love the way they are organized. My textbooks are in the spare bedroom in a box still. Some of those I want desperately to hide!

ben.!

01-06-2008, 07:17 AM

I'm reading Penguin Classics, and the Modern Classics series. I organize them so they can stand together on my bookshelf and make me look well-read. :-P

Kafka's Crow

01-06-2008, 11:23 AM

Make sense who may:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i72/Raz1/IMG_0416.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i72/Raz1/IMG_0415.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i72/Raz1/IMG_0414.jpg

Chaos, an absolute chaos!

Dori

01-06-2008, 02:34 PM

I'm reading Penguin Classics, and the Modern Classics series. I organize them so they can stand together on my bookshelf and make me look well-read. :-P

:lol: Welcome, ben.!, to the forums.

Kafka's Crow: Yikes! How do you retrieve books from that chaotic mess without making a bigger mess? :p :lol:

I've been meaning to post pictures of my books, but I'm in the middle of reorganizing them. :D

Bakiryu

01-06-2008, 02:44 PM

by order of favoritism and space. My favorite, favorite books are on a night table next to my bed and to the side is my philosophy stuff, some books and anime! You can find piles of vampire literature and faves next and under the tv table. the other stuff sits in boxes 'til I can get a decent bookcase since I just moved.

Schokokeks

01-07-2008, 05:21 AM

You know you own a lot of books when you are losing library books amongst your own....seems like you're drowning in books Schokokeks.
Oh no, actually I don't, I take almost all of my reading out of the library (ever the cashless-student-problem :rolleyes: ...); they then grow so dear to me that I put them next to my own books in the relevant section in my (two) shelves. Now the trouble is that the library books at my uni aren't properly marked as such, just a tiny little sticker on the front cover that won't exactly jump at you if you've put the book into the shelf with the back facing you :D.

I am not sure I like the different sizes of the books, but then sometimes I look at them again and love the way they are organized.
Hihi, a friend of mine just came back from a trip Georgia (not the US one, the Asian country, I mean :D). The university library in the capital contained about 500 books, and they were organised precisely according to their size because that was more practical :D. Of course that made it almost impossible to find a book, but for that you could ask the librarian who knew their places by heart :D.
Maybe you should try that, too, grace. Might look even better ! ;)

Oomoo

01-07-2008, 08:01 AM

Make sense who may:
Chaos, an absolute chaos!

I really, really want to know what your favorite books are... Da Vinci Code and Derrida in one library is... quite unusual :)

Kafka's Crow

01-07-2008, 10:40 AM

I really, really want to know what your favorite books are... Da Vinci Code and Derrida in one library is... quite unusual :)

The Brothers Karamazov is my single most favorite although I like all Dostoevsky novels. I have a copy of Angels and Demonsas well:brow:

DickZ

01-07-2008, 01:13 PM

I arrange them randomly, and didn't think that was sufficient an answer to warrant posting. But having seen thelastmelon's post (number 2 in this thread), showing an adorable little kitten, I went ahead and reported my random arrangement anyway.

Oomoo

01-07-2008, 02:39 PM

The Brothers Karamazov is my single most favorite although I like all Dostoevsky novels. I have a copy of Angels and Demonsas well:brow:

Do you read it with an eye towards Derrida? :)

kilted exile

01-07-2008, 04:53 PM

I used to sort them by genre, but since moving I am considering attempting to organise them by musical association

AimusSage

01-07-2008, 04:59 PM

I just wish I could tag my books like I do with my music. It's a good thing I don't have as many books as I have songs.

They're pretty much randomly organized. I know exactly where they are. Don't ask me why Nietzsche is next to the dictionary and why Kierkegaard stands side by side with a book about painting still lives. It just is.

Weisinheimer

01-07-2008, 08:48 PM

I don't really have that many books, but the ones I have are just random all over my room. Some in boxes, some are on shelves, most are in piles under my desk. I keep a pile of books I'm planning on reading soon on a table by my bed.

F.Emerald

01-08-2008, 11:24 AM

Definitely by size as in height, it looks so much neater that way!

Kafka's Crow

01-09-2008, 08:50 AM

Do you read it with an eye towards Derrida? :)

I live and breathe with 'an eye towards' him!

Remarkable

01-11-2008, 07:57 AM

I organise my books by the author's nationality and than,into these groups,mostly by size.It's easier for me that way,I don't know why.And my books in foreign languages are organised this way too,but also by the language.

Tersely

01-18-2008, 10:45 AM

I'm a little anal about the way I did my bookshelf. I recently moved so all my I havent read so fars are in a green tub. When I had my bookshelves, first off because it was flimsy, the heaviest hardbacks were at the bottom. My top 1/2 was paperbacks which was organized by publisher. Then alphabetically. :D

Lost Arts

01-18-2008, 02:23 PM

The dining room (2 tall bookshelves)has half of my husband's history library - the other half is in his office at the university. It is organized by subject matter.
The livingroom has an 8 foot long shelf under the window with two shelves of literature, art and gardening books.
In our bedroom I have another tall shelf with dictionaries, Bibles, commentaries and books of a more reflective, inspirational or philosophical nature.
The family room/piano studio has books about music and musicians, more books on art and architecture, children's books, and my ever-growing collection of books by or about L.M. Alcott.
There are always stacks of books on the coffee table, bedside table, dining table, kitchen counter, computer desk, bathroom shelf... wherever we leave them to pick up again later.
The books the library has been calling about are under my daughter's bed.;)

Anarchy Device

03-03-2009, 01:28 AM

I don't organize my books because i don't have a proper shelf for them :) but when i have a shelf for the books then i'm going to organize them probably by size/height.

Chava

03-03-2009, 01:55 AM

Working in a store where my job amoungst others is to realphabetise books after customers (and some brainless co-workers) muddle it up, I used to organise my books alphabetically. But. I have too many now, and they are only placed in order of where they will fit. On top of other books, in a crooked gap, etc. I've tried somewhat to keep books that belong together in the same vicinity, but it's been so hard to find the thin books lately. I almost rebought A clockwork Orange, untill my friend conincidentally pulled it out of a shelf.

crystalmoonshin

03-03-2009, 08:44 AM

I tried organizing my books once but I guess organizing things is not for me. I don't arrange them, just keep them in a bookshelf, on my table, and practically on any vacant space in my bedroom.

semi-fly

03-03-2009, 12:08 PM

For literature I organize alpha-numeric for history books I tend to organize by subject or location.

Wilde woman

03-03-2009, 05:25 PM

Haha...organize my books? I barely have room for books in the cramped studio I share with my roomie. Whenever I buy a new one, it's a challenge simply finding some place for it to sit where it won't be in the way.

bree

03-03-2009, 09:03 PM

I just organise mine by reference, poetry, prose and drama.

Mag Master 21

03-04-2009, 10:06 AM

Sorted by the Russians, then everyone else.

Ultravox

03-04-2009, 11:26 AM

When I'm at uni - like I am now - I split my books, half here and the rest at home so I'm fairly unorganised with them. Newest acquisitions get put at the front and everything else is randomly placed. When all my books are in one place, ideally I have them ordered alphabetically using the author's surname. The only exceptions to this rule are my larger books, which get placed first though still alphabetically.

promtbr

03-04-2009, 01:13 PM

I recently reorganized my fiction library into a 'World Literature' library...
Alphabetically by author, within country partitions... (yeah, I'm anal)

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii219/promtbr/Library1.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii219/promtbr/Library2.jpg

weltanschauung

03-04-2009, 01:54 PM

something like this:
"I'm reorganizing my records tonight.
It's something I do in times of
emotional distress. When Laura was
here I had them in alphabetical
order, before that, chronologically.
Tonight, though, I'm trying to put
them in the order in which I bought
them. That way I can write my own
autobiography without picking up a
pen. Pull them all off the shelves,
look for Revolver and go from there.
I'll be able to see how I got from
Deep Purple to The Soft Boys in
twenty-five moves. What I really
like about my new system is that it
makes me more complicated than I am.
To find anything you have to be me,
or at the very least a doctor in
Rob-ology. If you wanna find
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac you have
to know that I bought it for
someone in the fall of 1983 and
then didn't give it to them for
personal reasons. But you don't
know any of that, do you? You
would have to ask me to --" (high fidelity)

kiki1982

03-04-2009, 05:14 PM

We moved a year ago to Germany and that apartment has a great big shelving unit, so I was able to organise our books (mine and my husand's) properly...

Books are divided in my books his books for fiction. (his style is different to mine)
His fantasy books are on one shelf, his funny books on another. The crap we bought (Dan Brown and consorts) on a bottom shelf, because we don't want to see it again, but we can't find it in our hearts to throw them away. All are randomly organised by writer and size.
We have a considerable amount of dictionaries, which are organised by size.
The books about geography, cities, touristic information and such are also organised by country/city and size.
Religious books (Bible, Quran and hymn books) stand together.
Non-fiction is also organised by size and subject, randomly.

My books are randomly put together ithout seeming order, but with boks by the ame writer together and in series.

Our library is not that big, so I can still find the book I want. I tend to buy when I want to read, not in advance, because it saddles me with a lot of books I haven't read, and it makes me sad. :( Now I see my collection and my repertoire grow. :)

mystery_spell

03-06-2009, 07:25 AM

I organize my books by author and genre. I don't alphabetize my authors because I want to be able to readily read my favorites. :)

Phangirl7

03-07-2009, 12:33 PM

By content. Like all the dog books are together, the Phantom books are together, the micellanious stuff is together. The only exception is all 50-some of my V.C. Andrews books are together in order of publication and the stories are arranged according to storyline.
Ex. Garden of Shadows takes place before Flowers in the Attic, even though it was published last.
P.G.7.