HALLIE EPHRON: This picture (it ran in my local paper) caught my eye... Someone’s idea of home decorating with books?
As a decorating idea, I give it two thumbs down. But, to be fair, this is a house which is rented – the people who flipped the books didn’t acquire them. Books are so personal, So I suppose this is a way to live with someone else’s collection of books.
Still, It reminds me of a restaurant meal I had somewhere in Ohio – scallops (4 of them) served with a mound of naked spaghetti. And it needed salt. And pepper.
I do think how you display (or don’t) your books is a bit of a Rorschach. So today’s question: How do you shelve (or not) your books, and what does it say about you?
- On shelves or in stacks on the floor?
- Spine out or spine in?
- Sorted by category? In my house there are shelves of books about New York City, and shelves about birds, and shelves of illustrated chidren’s books, and shelves about cartoons and illustration, and of course shelves of crime fiction and other shelves of how-to-write books.
- Randomly organized or alphabetized? How anal are you? My fiction is all shelved by author. And I have several bookcases devoted only to crime fiction. I save the books I've loved.
- Any under glass? I keep the ones have resale value under glass. Especially illustrated children's books or signed firsts.
- Stacks in the garage waiting to go to Goodwill or your library's resale shop?
What does the way you keep your books say about you?
Definitely not stacked on the floor or in the garage; my bookshelves may look haphazard, but books are loved here. So, shelved, spines out . . . not necessarily sorted by category and definitely not alphabetized [although I do try to keep books by the same author together], so mostly random . . . .
ReplyDeletea sensible arrangement
DeleteHow timely ! I’m currently reading The Plot and the pendulum with a character who has a giant book collection ( two thousand books!!!). I shelve books by authors. I shelve books in the categories of current reads, to be read soon And books to be written about on Instagram, which I’ve been meaning to do soon!
ReplyDeleteSo, the keepers shelved by author?
DeleteI scream at the TV every time I seen one those remodeling shows and they have the books shelved this way.
ReplyDeleteOrganizing my books is on my very long to-do-when-I-have-some-time list. Right now they are all over the place. On shelves, spine out, stacked on the floor waiting for the addition shelving Hubby is supposed to make for me now that he has retired, mostly organized by author. Mostly. I tend to pull out a book from one of my upper shelves and then it sits with others on my work table, waiting for me to return it to its spot.
The only ones that are on their way out are a pile of ARCs that are on their way to a Little Library.
I used to get a ton of ARCs and gave them to my local senior center's "lending" library... they're tricky because I'd never want to intercept an author's income stream, given how meager that can be.
DeleteExactly, Hallie.
DeleteMy fiction books that I have already read are shelved alphabetically by author then title. Children’s books separate but also aloha by author then title. The non-fiction ones are shelved by subject roughly by Dewey. The books that are waiting to be read are stacked on the headboard shelf of my bed or in a book bag or basket near my bed.
ReplyDeleteYes, I used to work in a school library and when I go to libraries I straighten their books.
YOU are most definitely a librarian right down to your tippy-toes!
DeleteWe have shelves in the family room organized by author and subject and type of book. Poetry, plays, short story collections, history, sci-fi, religion, French and Hebrew lit, kiddie lit, adult fiction and engineering are separated on shelves.
ReplyDeleteThere is a stack of books (10) waiting to be read in the living room. Library books are waiting next to that stack.
In the office, I have a bookcase with books I have read and will keep and books that I intend to read. Irwin made me purge our books recently. There still are lots here and more arriving every week. I am mostly purchasing books for my Kindle, but certain books must be on paper.
That line between "purchased for Kindle" and "purchased for keeps" is another Rorschach
DeleteMine are alphabetized by author, spines out, and there are subject matter areas, like bird books and nonfiction and research. But they're mostly crime fiction and largely by authors who are friends, at least the books I own. I often don't keep books by authors who aren't friends. I have very limited shelf space.Hugh, on the other hand, has stacks of nonfiction books on the floor of his den. I don't touch them.
ReplyDeleteA wise woman doesn't touch her partner's books.
DeleteOn shelves. Spines out. By category and, within that category, by author. Top shelf is reserved for my favourite books from childhood that I still read when the world overwhelms and I need solid comfort.
ReplyDeleteOh, I keep childhood specials in a separate place, too, especially now that the grands have more or less outgrown (or grown tired of) them.
DeleteMine are organized by authors and/or series. Books are spine out.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how many...
DeleteMy books shelved on 22 bookcases are organized into 4 categories: cookbooks, work-related reference materials/my published reports, mystery/crime fiction read and TBR books. The crime fiction & TBR are alphabetical by author and title.
ReplyDelete22?!?!? You'd win the bookshelf count contest, hands down Grace.
DeleteIn piles. Here, there, and everywhere.
ReplyDeleteScary.
DeleteThe books that I have finished go on shelves or if I'm not keeping them they go to the library for their book sales. If they are mystery novels, I first offer them to the people in the mystery book club I co-run at the library.
ReplyDeleteSPINE OUT!!!!
I group them by author but not in alphabetical order. In the living room, the book shelves are in the process of being "dedicated" to a single author. When that is done on a per-shelf basis, I usually get a photo taken to put on my FB page. It's been a while since I've added a new one of those but it is going to happen soon.
As for the books I haven't finished reading, they are either in my To-Be-Read corner of my room (To be read piles are for amateurs, don't you know? LOL). I also have them on the kitchen table and on the living room coffee table. Once they get read (because I'm going to live to be 1,000 years old if I'm to finish them all) they start being winnowed down as keep or donate which keeps the flow of books running semi-smoothly.
Oh, and some I put on eBay in the hopes they might sell but they aren't particularly valuable or anything. Thus, I don't store anything under glass. My signed books are valuable to me but that doesn't exactly increase their actual value.
Which reminds me of another Rorschach... how do you decide waht to do with a book once you've finished (or abandoned) it?
DeleteConcerning signed books that are to be given away - do you ask the author to just sign their name, and not to 'someone'? I question that when given the opportunity to meet and author, as I know I will not likely be keeping the book, and don't want to give it away with my name in it. Maybe someone just wants a signed book... and not signed to me.
DeleteA few years ago, someone told me they donated a book I wrote to their local library. When I visited they checked it out to show me, a little apologetically.
DeleteI was thrilled.
Ever since then, I've been donating more of books I've read to my library -- even those written by people I know. I hope these authors prefer that their books are more publicly available, rather than remaining on a shelf in someone's home.
Becky, I have been doing the same thing. Otherwise, I have a dear friend in Florida who reads a lot of mysteries. I send her books that I really liked but won't read again and any duplicates (if I pre-order more than 1 book...ask Jenn) of books I will keep. My friend reads them then shares them.
DeleteOur bedroom behind the bed bookshelf – by author and in order. Some upright spine out and some stacked – depends on how they need to fit into the space. Authors are not in order, just where they looked best or fit. These have not been touched for 25 years just dusted when housecleaning happens once a year. I cannot disperse with them because they are part of the ‘art’ in the room. That will be the executor’s job. Value – worthless.
ReplyDeleteDining room – personal research books – family history – by family. Some things are in books, some in binders and some in boxes – to sort later. See note about 25 years above…
TBR, and currently being enjoyed. Since I now read only ebooks and audiobooks, they are dealt with as follows – ebooks from library – go poof after 21 days – storage solved. Ebooks bought – not many but stored on several electronic devices. Hopefully read as I have no idea where charging cords are for many.
Audiobooks – from my once subscription to audible in a file on the computer. From the library – on a file on a specific hard drive – that way they don’t go poof. Also, on 5 i-pods – yes, I think I have a problem. There is the reading one, the resource one, the one for the car, the one for the ones that will not transfer correctly to the reading one…
Cook books – only a few favourites. Most recipes are stored on the computer or in the index box. Sorting is difficult as rather than sorting by say tomatoes. It might be stored under ideas for Christmas, or when someone visits, …or - you get the point. Most are not tried – yet. Soon.
So fun to think about! I would love to have my books in alphabetical order by author— and in the exercise room and guestroom, they are! And it is such a joy to be able to find things quickly. I confess, though, it in my office and bedroom and library and elsewhere, books are absolutely random, although, I tell you, I know exactly where every book is. So funny, right? You can just picture it?
ReplyDeleteAnd when I start getting vertical stacks on the floor, that’s when I need to go to the library donation place. I am learning to draw the line at stacks on the floor.
And aw, Hallie, I spy the Hank collection. That is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Thank you. Xxxx
My bookshelves tell me I'm a hot mess and had better organize/donate/pitch my HS copy of Moby Dick and other gems I'll never open again.
ReplyDeleteEven though I keep getting rid of books I no longer want, I still have more and they keep multiplying, not sure how that is and not really a bad thing at all. I have books in every room of the house, except for the upstairs bathroom. Most of my books are on shelves, spine out. Children books are arranged together, favorite books arranged by author. With the exception of my favorite authors, most of the books I read now are from the library, but even if the library closed for a year I would still have enough to read, just from books around the house. I prefer real books with paper pages even though occasionally I'll read an e-book if that is the only way I can get it.
ReplyDeleteAuthors (most of us) are delighted when you read a borrowed library book... after all, libraries DO pay for their books and a writing career is about building audience.
DeleteMy shelves are pretty much full. I was trying to organize them a little bit (spiritual books together, all by one author together) but it was too much and now that's another project waiting to be done. Occasionally I remember to take a book or two with me when I go out in the morning to drop at a Little Free Library. I was walking the other day and went by a house where I could see a wall of book shelves through the front window--full of books. It looked so inviting. I thought, "I might like those people"
ReplyDeleteDefinitely kindred spirits.
DeleteAs I have mentioned here before, we recently downsized. Book decisions were among the hardest! I purged many, many books, all of which were donated to the Friends of the Library for their booksale. In the end, what I kept included a number of books related to my faith and meditation, just a few that were as yet unread but by authors that made them still really promising to me, and the rest were books I have read that it caused me real pain to think of getting rid of. (A very subjective criterion, but somehow it worked for me.) This included some books from my childhood as well as some by favorite current authors and classics.
ReplyDeleteAs we were unpacking and I was bogged in the kitchen, my husband was chomping at the bit for more he could do and offered to fill the bookshelves. I was VERY dubious about leaving him in charge of this, but you know what? He probably did a better job of it than I would have. My books are now all on shelves (spine out, of course) and loosely organized by subject (nonfiction) and author(fiction), but no attempt at alphabetical order.
Sounds utterly sensible. Even if it was painful.
DeleteMy books tend to be shelved wherever I have the space, though I try to keep books by the same author together for my own sanity whenever I want to find them. One magical day when I have the time, I'd love to come up with a better system and pare down my collection so I can keep them all together. Never will I ever turn the spines inward. I just don't understand. Maybe that's a sign that the books are there for decor and not reading.
ReplyDeleteDecor... or insulation.
DeleteBooks we intend to keep always make it to bookshelves, spine out. Out at the Cottage, the bookshelves have glass doors only because of all the dust. We found hundreds of books in the attic here - most of them are piled on the floor on their way out but The Hubby added 50(!) to the shelves in the sunroom. Some series are grouped together, like my Finlay Donovan, Thursday Murder Club, and Harry Potter. I'd love to group them all by author, but...
ReplyDeleteIn the shelves in the "living room" area, the books share space with some special memorabilia, too.
Three more sets of shelves are going up downstairs in the family room. The Hubby thinks they'll hold most of what is still in Pittsburgh, but I am doubtful.
I don’t have a lot of place for my books. In my office there is a glass cabinet a little too deep. Each tablet is for one or more different subjects.
ReplyDeleteI must be creative. Some books are stacked one behind the other and in that case the newer or favourite is in front, spine out. For bigger books, some are lying down, some are standing. Some are organized in a rectangle. I like it to be colourful.
The fiction ones are placed by author but not alphabetically.
I keep boxes of books that I’m not ready to give (often collections) in my daughter’s room. It doesn’t bother her the couple of time a year that she sleeps at home. She knows how much I like books.
Since the last purge, I buy mostly electronic books because they don’t take place and I read plenty of real books from my public library.
Danielle
Okay, I'm going to say this and get it off my chest: spine in is just about the stupidest/silliest idea I've ever heard of/seen. Books are to be read. Savored. Shared. Love going somewhere and casting an eye over someone else's bookshelves--what are they reading? What's stacked on the coffee table, side tables, kitchen table, waiting to be read? Vacation rentals--what's someone else loved on a rainy day when you can't go out on the lake, to the beach, out to the pool?
ReplyDeleteMy books are crammed into my bedroom shelves at the moment (professional books are relegated to a bookshelf in the old lab/office in the basement). I also have a wonderful console table my uncle built for me when I moved into this house. It holds all of my poetry, writing, special books. Each bedroom has a bookshelf. Kitchen bookshelf holds cookbooks and music.
Flora, spines in is not just stupid, it should be considered a crime against nature.
DeleteI'd rate it more consummate silliness.
DeleteI tend to keep non-fiction separate from fiction. Non-fiction is loosely by topic. Fiction is by author and sort of by genre. Most are standing unless they are acting as unofficial bookends and then they are on their sides. Spines out always. I have difficulty understanding the reasoning about spines in unless you're using them for decoration which I am not. I only buy books that I know I will read again and again or that I need for research. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteYes ficiton by author - nonfiction by topic.
DeleteI was having a very focused conversation with a friend about this trend and they, very kindly, pointed out that some of this occurs because of copyright issues with images and video. Since I want everyone to love the books I love and consider all photos of them public, it never occurred to me that this was a point of concern. I don't know if I completely believe it is always the case, but I do wonder about it.
ReplyDeleteI am suspicious of that idea, Lysa. Authors and publishers would want more, rather than less, publicity for any book.
DeleteCopyright schmopyright… I imagine there’d be an issue if you took a picture of a picture that’s in the book, but the spines of books are meant to be seen
DeleteSpine out is part of the overall trend of bland decor. Phooey on that. And please don't get me started on arranging books by color. Chaos!
ReplyDeleteThere are no rooms in our house without books, except two guest bedrooms, and the bathrooms. Even the laundry room has a bookshelf, for gardening and DIY books. The sewing room has several shelves (which include my own books on teaching sewing and sewing for profit), the study has books on gardening (that don't fit in the laundry room), writing, reference, travel, and language. Our bedroom has several stacks of TBR. The kitchen has two cupboards with cookbooks. The living room has its longest wall full of favorite fiction on one side, and nonfiction on the other side, with a big cupboard below of TBRs. The upstairs hall has four bookshelves of overflow (I'll say) from our Little Free Library, and a lot of my kids' books. The sewing room has six shelves of books. The downstairs family room just got four bookshelves filled from the boxes I had not unpacked when we moved five years ago, but there are still 15 boxes left, including several with books from my children's childhoods. About half of the books I shelved are natural history topics.
Believe it or not, I have donated thousands of books to the public library, or to St. Vincent de Paul. And I'm not telling how many ebooks I have in Nook, Kindle, and Audible format, or have borrowed from the library.
Steve's favorite cartoon of all time was in the New Yorker: A house bulging with stacks of books, and the caption: "Caution: Contents under pressure".
Your house sounds like mine, Karen.
DeleteKindred spirits, in so many ways.
DeleteI have had shelf breakage due to books. I can’t seem to discard the books I don’t like, but the books I like are grouped. Writing books on two shelves, business books on a couple of shelves and the rest, my pleasure books, fiction. How do you discard books you don’t like?
ReplyDeleteYou’re a woman after my own heart
DeleteLast May I took a Viking River cruise. The ship's library was carefully curated for our particular itinerary. Unfortunately the interior designer arranged shelves by spine color. So a book about the engineering of canal locks sat next to one about stained glass, and Renaissance gardens kept company with The Ink Black Heart. Very unsettling.
ReplyDeleteHow truly bizarre
DeleteBooks at random on bookshelves. And in stacks since I ran out of bookshelves.
ReplyDeleteWhatever floats your boat.
DeleteOh, Hallie, I love your glass-cased bookshelf! My grandmother had a beautiful lawyers bookcase with fold-down glass doors; I don't know which grandchild got it, but alas, it wasn't me.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere the spine-in decorative thing came about because of possible permission issues in photographs. Not sure if it's true, but what I read was the first few examples were in decor magazine where the books had been shelved spine in just for the shot, so as not to violate anyone's copyright of the dust jacket image. Others saw the photos and decided they liked the uniform, off-white look. I will admit, it adds a lot of texture to a room, especially with older, deckle edged tomes. However, I can't imagine anyone who actually reads books going for the look!
Yes, I think it's the "tell" of a non-reader who never ever intends to crack any of those spines.
DeleteMy library is something I'm proud of and recently we invested in shelves with the ladder. My husband and I are short, haha. It's fun to see how others showcase their books. Ours is by category, then last name of author. The crime fiction, mostly thrillers, is the largest section. Hank Phillippi Ryan, you're on the shelf :). Friends love to come over and sip coffee or wine and talk about our favorite novels and authors. The white shelves pop with the colorful spines. I have a strict rule that my husband and friends must remove the book jacket before reading.
ReplyDeleteI so agree about saving the book jacket from wear and tear.
DeleteFun topic! Spine out by category for me. Twenty years ago movers did some major culling to my book collection by loosing most of the book boxes. I know I should let it go, but I haven't been able to. Maybe in another twenty years. These days most of my new acquisitions are on Kindle and it's rare for me to buy a hard, trade, or paperback unless it's a reference work.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad! Fie on those movers.
DeleteMy books are shelved spine out, by author. Because we are very downsized, I only keep books I love and know I will read again, and I do use the library or my Kindle instead of buying books much more often than I did when we had more space. But I really don’t like that decorating concept of covering books in white paper or shelving them pages out; some decorators go to used book stores to buy books with covers all in one color, usually neutral. Your first illustration has that look. If you’re really a reader, you do not want to have to pull all your books out and turn them around to find what you’re looking for!
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteMy books are randomly organized at best. I have antique (mine) children's books together, including some of my son's books in their own bookcase. Spines out, of course. An upstairs bookcase holds classics, Texas history, natural science references. My office has the fiction. Series are grouped together, romances together, a shelf for the Great War nonfiction. The shelves are built in and permanent and are various heights, so I can't shelve the hardbacks necessarily where I want them. But it's mine, all mine! (Evil laugh.)
ReplyDeleteYes to all the ways you named, Hallie, and then some. I have three sets of custom built-in bookcases, one large bookcase with glass doors and sides, multiple single (short) bookcases, a big round book table in my bedroom, baskets of books, copper tubs of books, books on tables, and books in stacks on the floor. I also have a big box and stacks of books by it that I have weeded out and am trying to decide where I want to take them. My custom set, three-section bookcase in what I call the reading room has books with groups of favorite series (mystery/crime), and my free standing large bookcase with the glass doors and sides has any special edition or collector books, along with some favorite pop-ups. I also now have Kevin's books to incorporate or donate some. I have one of his free standing small bookcases already filled with his favorites, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to actually give away any of his books. Oh, and all my books are spine-out. How could I ever find a book I want otherwise? So much more weeding and sorting I need to do. Oh, wait, I think Amazon just pulled into the drive with my book order.
ReplyDeleteSpine in or out? Seriously? That's like asking, Do you wear your socks on your feet? Or on your ears?
ReplyDeleteI wish I were kidding, but except for behind glass or spines in ( huh?), I admit to all of the categories all of the time, which is why my house would strike non- readers as messy, or maybe even the home of a hoarder!
ReplyDeleteMy mother was a librarian, so of course my books are alphabetized by author within different categories. Mysteries are, of course, in their own category.
ReplyDeleteHooligan 1 spent the summer building a wall of bookshelves for us. His old nurdery is now the library.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it's still not enough. Argh!
My research books are by category. My fiction is a shelf of books by friends. A shelf of books I e loved and apart from that pretty much by size! But like Hank I do know where to find them. And if I knew where to donate about 5 bookcases worth of my own books I’d do it!
ReplyDelete