I hope you all had a great weekend. I love a holiday weekend. We spent a bit of time at the bookstore on Saturday. I didn’t buy any books this time but did get a special edition of Clean Eating magazine. I’m ready to try some new recipes!
What I wanted to talk about today though was the mess that’s going on in my library/studio. I’ve got to make space on my shelves because of course I keep buying books. I’ve been reorganizing where some books go and if some have to either be donated or moved to another area.
I have five specific sections for books: fiction, poetry, mystery, arts/crafts and books in Spanish. The largest section is the fiction section. One of the sections that’s getting the biggest makeover is probably my craft section. You know I love art/craft magazines but they take up quite a bit of space. I’m definitely keeping all of my Art Journaling magazines and any magazine that has a special section or article on book making but the rest will probably be donated to a re-sale shop that focuses on art/craft supplies.
I’m also donating any books that are advance reader copies that I’ve read or just don’t have any interest in reading but those will be going to some of the free libraries in my neighborhood.
One of my shelves has also been devoted to photo albums and those have to find a home somewhere else in the house because I need that shelf space!
Either way, do you like to organize your bookshelves? How often do you do a reorg of them? I like to go through my shelves at least once a year and see what I have and maybe get to some of those shelf sitters once and for all. This little reorg is probably going to take me a couple of more weeks but I’m looking forward to seeing the end result.
I love to organize my shelves and usually do it before a big reading challenge. I’m down to about 1 1/2 bookcases of unread books, but my mom keeps giving me her books (that I give her for Christmas or her birthday!), so those shelves never seem to get lighter. It is fun to put the books I REALLY want to read up on the top shelf where I won’t forget about them. We book nerds are a strange bunch, aren’t we? 😉
Hope you had a good three-day weekend. We’re on the road again tomorrow. I.Can’t.Wait!!!
You have a tough project ahead of you. About 13 years ago I pared down from about 1,000 physical books to about 250. I only kept about 20 books that I had already read, the rest were TBR, I actually went through each book, reading the overview and looked up GoodReads or Amazon ratings and then decided whether to donate it — anything under a 4 rating was donated in most cases. I an happy with my decision. Of course I acquired new books over the years but, I try to donate an equal amount to keep the numbers balanced. Good luck with your project,
Donating books to neighborhood little free libraries is such a great idea! I usually end up going through my bookshelves once a year…to weed out the books I’m never going to read or don’t feel a strong need to keep any more. I say it’s because I like to be organized, but really it’s to make room on my shelves for new books. ;D
Lesley – Oh I like the idea of organizing right before a reading challenge. Good idea as I’m sure you can find some good ones that you’d forgotten about. We do have our quirks for sure! 🙂 Have a wonderful time traveling and I can’t wait to see pictures from your adventures! Safe Travels!
Diane – That’s a major book project you had! I hate to admit it but my bookshelves are mainly filled with TBRs! I do pare down my books quite a bit every year and like you if it’s not a favorite read then it goes away but I keep buying! Goodness. I’ll have to share an update once I make more progress!
Lark – I’ve noticed the Little Free Libraries in our neighborhood are kind of full so I may have to see about other neighborhoods nearby or just go to the library and donate some books there. Hahah. I know the feeling of wanting to make space just to add more books!
I suppose it all has to depend on my mood, lol. I definitely haven’t been going through my shelves for a long time! As a result, I tend to be more picky on the books I buy nowadays since there’s no more shelf space for them. 🙁 I’ll have to clear my shelves at some point.
I reorganize frequently. I once had an entire room of bookshelves, but, when they were double-stacked and overflowing, I decided to get rid of all of them and all the books on them. Before our recent floor installation, I had books under two beds and filling one closet. I had to remove them all for the install and I have given away all of these.
Good luck!
I wish I was diligent about going through my bookshelves! But it’s been many years … sigh. And now we are moving so I will be forced to do it quite soon. I’m starting to wonder how many I have …. I have a wall full in the office — it could be 500! So I will go through each book to see if I want to keep or donate. I wonder if I will only part with 1/4 of them … quite a few will be hard not to keep. Good luck with yours!
I enjoy organizing my shelves but so rarely take time to do it. I probably should give my selves a good culling so I can put in the newer books that don’t have spots on my shelf yet. Good luck with your shelves, Iliana!