Hoo Hoo! Today is the day I get the book shelves in my Reading Room. I am excited and nervous all together….. this is my Christmas present from my husband and it will be a shelf that goes around the top of three sides of the room. The point of this is to relieve the pressure of my bulging book shelves by putting my already read and collections up high.
I am excited because this is really going to help me with the recent book clutter…. and nervous because I am using a guy who was a recommendation and I have only met with him once when he measured the room…. I have never actually seen the shelves…. and …. I know…. breathe.
So – there will be pictures tomorrow. He said this will be like a 6 hour project (yow!) so I am at home all day today. I plan to write a couple reviews and catch up on some filing.
I know many of you set your books free once they are read but what about those of you who like to keep the treasured ones? Where do you keep them, how do you organize them – if you organize them, and why do you keep them? (Yeah… I have questions!)
In the meantime…. my two dogs Bailey and Elmo look out the window knowing something is up…. 😉
Have an awesome day – I have an incredible review coming up in a couple hours.
Book Journey 
I have a giant bookcase where I keep all of my books, organized by whether or not I’ve already read them! 🙂 I keep the treasured hardcovers and books I’ve finished on the top two shelves, and the bottom four shelves are reserved for books I haven’t gotten a chance to read yet. I also organize by size… hardcovers first, then quality paperbacks, then mass markets. I’ve very OCD, haha!
Congrats on your new shelves — I’m sure they’re going to be awesome! Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Meg you sound like me….. 🙂 I keep the treasured hard covers together towards the top…. not sure how I will change it when it is ready to go. I like to keep my authors together in sets…. I think I will go a bit organizing crazy once I have the chance to get in there!
Lets see, I keep maybe 5% of the books I read and set the rest free – usually give them away. Those that I keep are on shelves in my living room/library and organized by author and then subject. Can’t wait to see pics of your new shelves!
Oh Mary only 5%? I wish I was that strong…LOL! There are so many treasures…. I am just horrible at letting them go. I do occasionally read some again…. but I think in many ways they are there just because they give me a reminder of worlds I have explored and loved…..
I know…. total book dork!
wow, I still have books I read in high school and I’ve been married 24 years!
My books are kept in my room in some old bookshelves I got from my sister. Well, I attempt to keep them there. Mostly though I end up with huge piles on the tables next to my bed or on the floor.
Thats where I was getting Lydia. I had books on the table and in piles on the floor of the reading room. Something had to give… I hope this will be a good solution.
So exciting! I can’t wait to see pictures!
Me too Reagan…. I am sneaking in and taking pictures when he goes outside to get more supplies. 🙂
I just got a new shelf for Christmas, so I have six bookshelves now. In the new shelf, I have all of my favorite books. In the other shelves I just place the books by when I got them, with the exception of mass markets, which I have arranged in double rows and on top of each other, so on a single row/shelf (in a typical five-shelf book case), I have 4 rows of mass-markets.
Also, I occasionally get bored and rearrange my books by author, genre, cover. Yes, I do need a life.
April – I love this! I am trying to get organized enought so my TBR’s can sit in order of when they came into my home. Right now I am too bunched up to do that… hopefully by the end of the day all of that will change. 🙂
I have one book shelf for my TBR separated by non-fiction and fiction and alphabetical within.
I have other bookshelves for the books I’ve read and they are organized the same way. When I ran out of room I made myself get rid of enough books to create space.
Now that I am a teacher librarian I am getting most of my books from my library so the space isn’t such a problem
Helen I really need to use the library more! My problem is that of I love a book…. I want it to stay with me! 🙂
Congratulations on getting new bookshelves! Can’t wait to see the pictures!
I currently have six bookcases and still have the extras piled up on every available surface, so need to do some culling and soon!
Let’s see…I have one for hardcovers, one for paperbacks (double stacked on their sides to fit), one for my favorite hardcovers, one for my ARCs & DH’s hardcovers, and two small ones with my TBR books.
I have them arranged alphabetically by author’s last name in each bookcase. Worked in bookstores for so many years that any other arrangement gave me hives. *L*
My non-fiction books are stacked haphazardly on open shelves so I don’t count those. For some reason, six bookcases sounds okay but seven sounds obsessive!
Have fun arranging your new shelves! So nice of Al to get you such a great gift!
Thanks Alexia! I havent decided on the organization yet…. I will probably alphabetize by author…. that makes the most sense. It will definitely be a weekend project to get it to where I want it!
ahem….I have seven bookcases…. 😉
LOL…. lets see…. I think I have 8 before the shelves going in today…. but not all are tall!
🙂
Um…did I say obsessive? I meant dedicated! Yea, that’s it! Seven bookcases makes a dedicated book lover! 😀
Lucky you on getting bookshelves. I desperatly need some-I keep only about 5 percent of my books-the rest are given away to friends and the library.
Esme you are good at giving away! I am a book hoarder! I justify it by saying I have no other collections other than books…. and my crutch is books and there are worse things I could be doing….LOL
Oh, I keep almost all my books! When I moved, I gave away a lot of the “mass market” paperbacks, but kept the trade size ones and the hardcovers.
I just love the look of a home with books everywhere!
My son built some fabulous shelves for me, which you can see in my Collections blog here:
http://chezraine.wordpress.com/custom-birdhouses/custom-shelves-etc/
I also have assorted shelves throughout the house, and a specialty DVD shelf unit that my son built for my hallway.
Can’t wait to see your shelves. As you recall, I have your “reading room” photos from awhile back.
I am going to go check out those shelves Laurel! Mine are still being worked on. He is saying it is not going as fast as he had hoped so he may need to come back a second day to finish up….. bummer. I really wanted to be done with this today.
Color me green LOL
I give away about 5% of my books and once tried to organize them. Now that my daughter has moved out I have a 7th bookcase and hope to rearrange the computer room to add more shelves.
I had to drop out of the Sookie Stackhouse challenge because I couldn’t find my books 😦
Can’t wait for pictures!
Oh no – you cant find the books? Thats too bad! I am like you I give away about 5%. I am using our old home office space to keep books otherwise I would be all over the house… oh, at one time I was. 🙂
Look at all the snow in your picture. So pretty but I’m glad it’s there and not here heh. I look forward to seeing how your shelves turn out.
Hi Zia, I will have pics up in the morning. They wont be filled yet…. but soon!
I can’t wait to see what the new bookshelves look like! My husband is getting me some new furniture for the living room too (a bookshelf, end table and another lamp). We’re just waiting a few more weeks – he wanted to take me to pick them out. 🙂
Hi Alyce – I am liking them… they are still empty as he didnt get done today but I hope to have a few up for the morning post 🙂
I’m excited to see your new shelves! Lucky you! I need some…but then again, I have several books to give away too! I’ll be having my blogversary soon and will be doing giveaways during that time! Be sure to check back with me for some goodies! 🙂
Ooh Julie J – I love Blogoversaries! I will keep a look out! 🙂
First of all I’m so jealous of all that snow. I stared at it for what seemed like forever wishing I could go build a snow fort for Aidan.
I’m a voracious rereader so I’m loathe to part with any book that I would even consider rereading again. A good book is like a friend that I just can’t seem to part with. The few times I have parted with them I have regretted it and had to rebuy them.