Does anyone have any real order to their bookshelves? I just noticed my particular order and it ain’t pretty. I do not have my books in alphabetical order. I don’t have them lumped together in author order. I don’t have a shortest to tallest method either. I have them grouped by color. Yes, color.
In my family room, the walls are blue and the theme is ocean. Therefore, all my blue and green-jacketed books are shelved there. In the warmer toned living room, the walls are a richer olive green—only my black, deep purple, reds, and burgundy’s are allowed in there.
My guest room is for the antiques. The engraved, ornate spines of the early 1900’s. My bedroom gets the oranges and yellows.
What does this say about me? And how are your books shelved?
Tricia
Tricia Sutton's Blog 
Hilarious! I’m not that creative. I have no books in my living room or bedroom. Those in my office are sorted by subject: writing, art, and genealogy. The guest room has only children’s books because it’s used most by my grandchildren. The majority of my books are in my long hallway where non-fiction is sorted by subject and general fiction is alphabetical by author, with classics and horror shelved separately. I’m a frustrated librarian, I guess. 🙂
I do fiction/non-fiction, then size, then color. I tried just color, but there was something wrong with Six Sigma for Dummies being next to The Gates of Fire. But the matching spines are somehow comforting.
Linda,
I covet your bookshelves. You must experience zero grief when someone wants to borrow a book you have; you know right where to find it. Whereas I would say, “Why, yes, I do have Hortensia’s Affair with Men with Long Hair, but by chance do you know the color of the book jacket?” My system is flawed that is for sure.
Judith,
I can see those yellow and black for Dummies books right now. They caused me frustration in that black belongs into another room entirely than do my yellows. Now they are used as a plant stand.
Organization? What’s that? I think I’ll go cry now because I just looked at my bookshelves.
Kasie,
Cry not. I shall come to the rescue when I come over. Prepare for color groupings. I already picture only red books in your yellow living room. I can’t wait.
organized chaos for me. However, I don’t let my writing craft/technical books near my fiction books lest one becomes corrupted.
Christian,
Oh, my. I never thought of it that way. That changes everything. Now, somehow Gore Vidal doesn’t look as good next to my Reader’s Digest Condensed Books that I only bought because of its eye catching green and purple spine.
Although I hang my clothes by color, I’ve never thought of shelving my books by color. Although, come to think of it, I did put Anita Brookner’s beautiful brown The Rules of Engagement in my brown bedroom….
As you may have guessed, my clothes are in color order, too. We writers need to have some sense of control in our lives.
I get it now. In writing, no control. In rest of life, making up for it.
[…] do you shelve? Jump to Comments Some people shelve their books by color. I wish I were that creative. Instead my books sit on the shelves in […]