Fellow book nerds, how do you organize and inventory your books?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents used to have a collection of books and they were just arranged by size and vaguely by author - there were even shallow bookshelves for pocket size editions. We knew where each book lived.

My uncle has a castle with a library room. The volumes are leather bound and gilt-edged and the shelves go up to the ceiling, with a movable ladder. They're all classics and mostly all the same size, arranged by author. He keeps his paperbacks in his bedroom and sitting room, all in haphazard piles.

Please tell us more about your Uncle’s castle!

Oh, it's pretty boring. Some ancestor built it during the French Revolution, and since he didn't want to lose his head, he was nice to his workers and went with a very sober esthetic, without all the usual decorations and stonework. The back staircase has been threatening to disintegrate for two decades now - you take your life in your hands every time you use it. The only point of interest is that there is a cute intact medieval castle on the property, that my family has used to house grounds staff and various animals for ages. For the past decades it's been where the horses and hunting hounds live.

Other relatives own historically important castles. Nearly all were commandeered by German high command or officers during WWII, and my great-grandparents and others of that generation had to cede entire floors to the occupying force. My great-grandfather listened to Resistance messages on the radio on the floor right above Rommel.

How fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

I don't inventory or organize by content. I do like my bookcases to look tidy, so I shelve them roughly by size.
(which also saves space, as I never have quite enough)

[Anonymous]

I’m a librarian. Those of you organizing by binding color or size - you make my head explode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a librarian. Those of you organizing by binding color or size - you make my head explode.

I'm an organize-by-color person. I thought it was a silly decor trend at first, but once I tried it, it was so helpful.

Turns out I can remember the color of a book more easily than anything else. Dutch House? That's red. A Little Life? That's navy. My well-worn Middlemarch paperback? White. That book about the psychology of flow by the buy with the long last name? Turquoise.

It does mean that the same author lives mutiple places, which might make some people nuts. But for me, being able to go right to the shelf (or shelves) where a book might be, and find it quickly, works really well for me.