I need to reorganize my fiction bookshelves. What system has worked best for you? I'm leaning towards going by author, though that leaves the question of how to treat anthologies. Maybe anthologies could be first, or shelved by the editor's name. Alphabetical by title (preceded by numbers) might work just as well as by author.
I had been doing them by height size, except for the graphic novels, which tend not to match any standard size.
These particular bookshelves are all fiction (except for graphic nonfiction) so organizing by subject seems unwieldy.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon Bookshelf organization is hard. Once upon a time I tried to keep my shelves organized. But last time I had to unbox everything I just threw them on the shelves and left 'em where they landed. That was so long ago that now I have their locations pretty well memorized. There are only 40 shelf-meters of books, so it's not super huge. The Feynman lectures are next to the complete Max Carrados mysteries, which are next to the Kama Sutra, and so forth.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon I go by author, but not in alphabetical order. My books are in different rooms by subject OR by how often I reach for them. Same with the spice rack. It's a filing system that works only for me but that's ok because I live alone 😁
@akamran@bookstodon now that you mention it, my spice rack is like yours. I don't need to put Chinese 5 spice next to Cinnamon. That's a really great point. I think the living room/dining room is in order of purchase. I did create one shelf which is sort of "my" nonfiction, though we shall see. Someone who shall remain nameless keeps using up valuable shelf space for decorative display items!
i tend to clump by similar use/mood. spice rack has things like 5 spice, ginger, mustard, cumin/coriander seeds together, baking spices together, herbs together. only things i use regularly go into the rotating rack by the stove.
seem to do similar with books. music/musicology/luthiery together, arts/crafts/pens together, cookbooks together.
would love to claim there is organization within but life is short. ;)
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon I made several groups. Literature/classics. Fun, think of Dan Brown. Canadian of all kinds then 'readers'. Readers are old school texts as well as Norton Anthologies, for example. Poetry separate, but all poetry is classic. For all sections, by author after the initial sorting. Hope that helps. If you're at all like me, you have many other sections besides fiction, too. How the hell many books do I have? Lots and lots. 😅
@Brian_Mahoney@bookstodon We would get along well. We have books in every room. The office has floor to ceiling shelves with pretty good organization, but it all got away from me after that!
It used to be pretty easy to organize by subject or genre, but now it's complicated: children's paranormal, dystopian police procedural, LBGTQIA+ historical fantasy, etc.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon for anthologies I would tend to sort them by the title of the anthology so that if you have multiple related anthologies even if their editors differed year over year your copies are shelved together. I also shelf shared world books together
(Ie stuff like “Years best …” where the editor might vary)
My challenge is both running out of shelf space and I usually keep my unread books shelved separately from those I have read. But need to do another round of reorganizing
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon I usually put all my anthologies together in one section, ordered by editor name. If there’s multiple editors, the one listed first.
@FiveSeventeen@bookstodon sometimes, it's more time than it's worth. I've currently got a two-rows on the same shelf thing creeping up, and that will send any system out of whack.
as do I, and trying to find that one book - or, as happened recently, three books from a set - is a nightmare. I have been promising to sort them for a year. Mind you, I've being promising to unpack them for that same year.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon Physical format first, but I have mostly paperbacks. Then by genre (SF & fantasy vs detective, thrillers & romance, loosely real world vs not). Within that, by author; within author, usually by pub date or series. Multi-author anthologies come after author-Z, ordered by anthology title (e.g. Magic in Ithkar 1, 2, 3).
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon I tend to sort by size and shape, then alphabetical by author. Mass market paperbacks in their own section alphabetical, then hardcover and trade paperbacks together in their own section. I also break down and fiction, non-fiction, and academic books in their respective sections.
@todwest@bookstodon yes indeed. All of the other bookcases in the house are nonfiction, by subject. I have thought about doing the dewy decimal system: 200s in the den, 300s through 600s in the office, 800s in the living room, and 900s in the dining room.
Well, except that I have all the 741.5 books (graphic novels) shelved with fiction. 😁
I really tried to separate biography, politics, academic books, and history books, but some books are equally about biography, history, and politics.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon You know I do my fiction by author alphabetically (but the individual books aren’t alphabetized). My graphic novels are just in their own section. What about doing the anthologies like that, too?
@BackFromTheDud@Likewise@bookstodon oh, I like that idea! Alphabetical by author with each author's work from the oldest to newest by date. Very good idea, especially with Stephen King or Stephen Graham Jones.
@BackFromTheDud@Likewise@bookstodon totally can see that! For prolific authors, it really helps. If I didn't have multiple books by the same authors, it would make sense to go by title or genre.
@BackFromTheDud@kimlockhartga@Likewise@bookstodon I knew someone who organized by dust cover color. It looked nice, but I’m convinced that her books were just stage props, because adding a new book would necessitate reorganizing everything.
@MissConstrue@BackFromTheDud@Likewise@bookstodon I've never been fond of the color organization shelf format, unless you wanna make it a lot harder: organize by each hue's opposite on the color wheel! 😃
@kimlockhartga@MissConstrue@BackFromTheDud@bookstodon I think color organization can look neat, but realistically I like to be able to find my books easily, also it would drive my mind crazy to have an author’s books spread about the whole room.
I'm thinking anthologies, then number titles, then alphabetical by author. I think I have too many graphic novels for even two shelves, so they may need to go by author.