instant gratification
Written on 9 July 2005 | Posted in crazy little house,me | 15 Comments
Those who know me well know that I am a bit of an instant gratification fiend. That is, when I decide that I am going to do something, I need to do it now; not later, not tomorrow, but right now. This week, I’ve been harping on the studio, and because we haven’t had the chance to whip it into shape instantly, I’ve been somewhat grumpy and difficult to live with (bless the mister, he is some sort of saint for putting up with me). The bookshelves we ended up buying (and not building ourselves on account of finding shelves that were both practical and affordable) were delivered last Tuesday and this evening we finally had a chance to put the first one together (we bought two), so I am now in considerably better spirits and the mister can finally exhale a little.
At the moment I am thrilled (I can start organizing!) and overwhelmed (there are too many books!) at the same time, and really, I’m a bit ashamed to be so daunted with the task of organizing my books (I don’t think I have to tell you what I do for a living), but there you go, it all seems a bit crazymaking. So, instead of plunging ahead, I decided to make myself a cup of tea, have a wander around blogland, and leave the big decisions till tomorrow. In the meantime, how do you organize your books?
In my last apartment, I organized them alphabetically by the authors’ last names, except for books that would be filed alphabetically by subject (so a travel guide to South Korea was under “S”, right by Shakespeare).
I moved in with my boyfriend recently, though, and his house has lots of built-in shelves with fixed heights, so now they’re organized more by size. It’s not my favorite organizational system. I dream of getting back to alphabetizing them again.
9 July 2005 @ 22:44
I organize my books by size, color and their placement (a mantel, bookshelf etc.)
If they are wee small then I place them on their backs in a stack, if they are medium height I place them the regular vertical from left to right and again based on color not so much ABC order. I guess I am more about the size and color than the actual name or author. Visual presentation is more important to me. If I had a library in my home, I guess they would be in the normal bookshelf ABC order.
9 July 2005 @ 23:32
Autobiographically. (Have you ever read/watched Nick Hornby’s _High Fidelity_?) By far the most interesting organization method and a great conversation starter.
10 July 2005 @ 01:08
I’m with you on the instant gratification issue – LOL!
Book organization: in my house the bookcases are first divided into his and hers. God forbid my books should encroach on the hubsters space! Then I sort by category, so for example SciFi goes together, as does mystery, non-fiction, etc. Fiction is divided between pulp/popular/fluff and Serious Literary Stuff. Within a category it is a free for all. No alphabetizing by author or by title is allowed! This makes for more interesting browsing.
Let us know what you do in the end.
Cheers!
10 July 2005 @ 04:29
It’s embarrassing, as a librarian, but I don’t organize my books at all. I do keep my knitting books together, though. But everything is placed in my bookcase haphazardly. every once in awhile I try to sort of orgainize by subject, just to get a handle on it, but most of the time I can’t be bothered.
10 July 2005 @ 09:26
have you read book on the bookshelf by henry petroski? i didn’t finish it – school, grrr, never enough time – but he devotes lots of time on how books can be organized. a fun read!
as for myself, i like eclectic – like moni, my knitting books are all together , and so are my cook books in the kitchen – but all the rest are jumbled together. so if i’m feeling bored with one genre, and i put a book back, right next to it will be an entirely different book. also, that way, when people come over, they can be awed by my diverse wide-ranging mind
i just get such a kick out of putting a super-nerdy XML book right next to one on women’s fertility next to a children’s book next to a geology book.
10 July 2005 @ 11:48
Like a few of the previous commenters I don’t really organize my books at all! I think I had some sort of subject organization in mind when I moved to my present apartment but I haven’t been paying attention to it in the last few years. Now, every new book I get I just put wherever I can find some space!
Let us know what you decide. I’m already feeling inspired to reorg my book mess!
11 July 2005 @ 07:58
roughly by category. or medium. supposedly comics have their own shelf, but really they are all on a pile on the floor in front of the shelf. everything is stacked on horizontal surfaces around the house – tables, nightstands, closets, toilet tanks, that sort of thing!
11 July 2005 @ 09:04
“Work” books are organised by category, subject, etc. (texts/editions together, translations together, secondary literature together) and alphabetised, roughly, by author — with seperate shelves for my books and my husbands. “Fun” books are organised by type (sf, mystery, dr. who (yes, that gets its own category) and grouped by author/series. “Serious” fiction is alphebetical by author, on seperate shelves downstairs. My husband keeps talking longingly about organising everything by Library of Congress number… but I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon!
11 July 2005 @ 09:22
Ordered by size simply because the height of the different shelves. I purged many of the books we had the last time we moved and kept only the ones I felt had a major impact on me or the family.
IN my son’s room, on the other hand, the books are organized by whatever pile he has dumped unto the floor while selecting just the right bedtime story.
11 July 2005 @ 09:58
Alphabetically. But the travel books are all grouped together before the alphabet starts. Same with the knitting books and the antique books. Cookbooks are kept in the kitchen and some of the really pretty art books are on a special shelf in the living room.
11 July 2005 @ 10:56
We used to have our books sorted by genre (drama, fiction, non fiction, text books, travel books, books about wine etc), then my mister decided that books needed to be sorted by size because he couldn’t stand the unruly “look” of the book shelves, so everything but travel, cookbooks and wine books were reshelved depending on size. We are desperately running out of space so new purchases tend to be stacked where ever they’ll fit. I dream of having one large room dedicated to books some day.
11 July 2005 @ 11:07
My books are mostly organized by country of origin as well as topic, mood and period. So everything Russian is together, but next to them are the English, starting with Virginia Woolf, because I read those when feeling somber, Milan Kundera is next to Paulo Coelho because with every re-read I get something new out of them, German authors stand next to Japanese with some philosophy thrown in between, because I must have been Japanese in a previous life. Then there’s a section for ‘unread’, art, craft, cooking. To my silly mind it all somehow makes sense.
11 July 2005 @ 11:32
I group them by category and then within the category by author and within the author, alphabetically by title.
although… i have to say, when they aren’t all the right size, i sit in my chair and rock at the inconsistency!
yes. i AM an anal retentive.
13 July 2005 @ 09:45
Hi, I just joined the Toys Without Irony web ring and found you on the list. Your work is so cute! Look for me to come back to get some of your beautiful jewelry. Your bags, cats and owls are darling too!
As far as my books, I edit out a lot, because I am a library junkie. (I’ll bet you like hearing that!) The ones I have kept go into A)my beloved sentimentals B)craft books C)reference books D)my husband’s stuff.
13 July 2005 @ 17:18