Wednesday, September 16, 2009

How Do You Arrange Your Books?

So, I have just today discovered that this week is book blogger appreciation week.
And seriously - what a horrible week for me for this to be. I am a book blogger, and I want to be appreciated and all, and I want to post things so that I can be appreciated. But this week I just so happen to have two friends in town and therefore don't want to be sitting in front of my computer blogging when I could be hanging out with them.

That said, this morning I had to work, and they went out without me and have not yet returned, so I figured I would do this little meme suggested by http://bookbloggerappreciationweek.com.
The question I have picked is:
How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)

And the answer is. . .
Well, I am sort of obsessive compulsive about having things in alphabetical order. EVERYTHING I have, pretty much, is in alphabetical order. I have about 1000 CDs, and they start with numbers and from there it goes on to the alphabet. And, if I have a ton of CDs of a certain band, they will be arranged alphabetically by album title. I know that a lot of people arrange CDs chronologically, but that just sort of irks me - it totally rubs me the wrong way. If even one of my CDs is out of place, I will have this horrible tense stressed out feeling until it is back in place.
All of my video games are in alphabetical order - by name of the console and then by name of the game.
All of my DVDs are in alphabetical order by title.
I've gotten better at this, but I used to have to have all of the clothes in my closet separated into colors and then arranged alphabetically by color name. Luckily, I am no longer that psycho.

All this said, it is therefore weird that my books do NOT tend to be arranged in alphabetical order. Theoretically I would like them to be (by name of author), but sometimes it's just not that easy.
First, I have three separate sections. I have books that I have already read that immediately jumped to my list of favorite books ever. I even have a special bookshelf for them (unfortunately both of these are in storage right now, waiting for me to move back to the United States). These books always remain in alphabetical order (even in the box in which they are presently suffocating) using the author's last name. Then I have a section for books which I have already read that didn't make that list (which is most books), and these tend to be arranged by size, and within size, they are alphabetical to the best of my ability.
Then, I have the books that are waiting to be read, and these, right now, unfortunately tend to be arranged in order of ones I most want to read to ones I least want to read.


Some of the weird but also super cool bookshelves in my apartment; trust me, there are many more books in our apartment than just that. :-)

In the past, when I lived on the other side of the atlantic ocean, I did manage to arrange them alphabetically. Now, though, in France, I tend to bring them back to the states to store when I am done with them, and the bookshelves here are so weird that they tend to just get thrown any which way, and there really is no specific order. It sends evil shivers down my spine.

I can't wait to move back to the other side of the ocean and to have all of my books with me and be able to have them all out and arranged how I like. If I ever have a house, the hallways will be lined with bookshelves. Awesomeness!

The end.

4 comments:

Booklogged said...

Brizmus, thank-you for stopping by and leaving a comment on my blog.

I feel so dumb when it comes to BBAW. I go to the site and can't find anywhere that tells what each day is about. I usually only know based on what others are posting. Where did you find out today was a meme?

I wish I could arrange all my books alphabetically because that would make me extremely happy, but I can't because of the size thing. I also like all the books to be grouped by size. I should write a post on this so I can fully vent. Thanks for the idea.

Spiggy said...

I'm so glad it's book blogger appreciation week! But I wish that they could have scheduled it at a better time. Because you deserve to have time to appreciate being appreciated!

Of course, I am also glad that Rachel and Josh are visiting you though, because they are awesome and I know you guys will have a spectacular time together =)

And I have always marveled at your ability to keep things in order. Most of the time I can't even find my CDs and books =p I definitely plan on having a library in my house though.

Jules said...

I LOVE! Those weird shaped book shelves, they're so neat!

I am an organizational freak when it comes to my books. Fiction = alphabetical by author (then within each author by title/series number). Non-Fic = dewey class - Im a nerd.... but my books are organized!

Leslie said...

you know i'm the same way with my books! i feel all like stressed until i get them back and i have a very hard time lending them out lol i love ur bookshelf though! man that is totally coolieoushious!

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