April 5, 2013

My Bookshelves

Yesterday, right before I fell asleep, I found myself thinking about organizing. (This was probably brought on by this awesome post from Epic Reads yesterday.) In case you didn't know, I'm one of those people who likes everything to be neat, clean and in their proper place (as dictated by my own mind, of course). My fetish for organization can get to be too much at times (such as when I end up cleaning at 3AM in the morning because I need to or when I spend four hours working on an Excel file of my TBR books), but I love it because I usually know where everything I need or want would be located. Plus, it's just nice to be so neat!

Anyway, that's not really what this post is about. It's actually about how I organize my books, considering that (1) I live in an apartment in New York which consequently means (2) I have very little space for my books. I don't have much of my collection with me here (as the bulk is actually in my childhood home in Bacolod), but I do have a good number. I thought I'd share with you guys how they're arranged at this very moment, just because it would be fun and well, I like seeing things organized.


These are the only shelves that I have in my room at this moment, and they're actually just one whole bookcase attached. I inherited it from my best friend Pat (who's one of my roomies), and I love that it fits perfectly on one side of my room without taking up too much space. Apart from storing my books, I also place random knickknacks, souvenirs and files on my shelves.


The top tier of the shelf is where I place my unread ARCs & review copies, books that I borrowed from friends and library books. It might look like a lot of books (and it really is), but most of them are ARCs of books already released that my friends were kind enough to lend me. 

You can also see my collection of random things that include an Eiffel Tower photo holder from my BFF Pam, a little plaque gifted by my mother-in-law, a crucifix and rosary from my grandmother, a pine-scented candle and Hello Kitty button from my friend Joyce, a guitar pick, two medallions from the National Shrine in Washington DC, Scarlet lip gloss (thanks Macmillan!) and a Belle figurine from my friends for my last birthday. There's also a pair of colorful headphones hanging off the shelf. (On the shelf underneath, there's a glittery mask, Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter (YUM), and some Filipino snacks.)

In case you wanted to know, here are the titles of the books visible in the photo:

The Slither Sisters by Charles Gilman || Book 1 review
Teacher's Pest by Charles Gilman
Dear Teen Me edited by E. Kristin Anderson
False Memory by Dan Krokos
When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald
Prophecy by Ellen Oh
Passion Blue by Victoria Strauss
Fuse by Julianna Baggott || Book 1 review
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Out of the Easy by Rae Carson 
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly


I had to remove all the goodies on this shelf that were there in the previous photo, so that you could see what books I had on it. This second shelf is where I store my paperback books, though two hardcovers are also fit into this one. Most of the books here are actually ones that were gifted to me or that I won in various giveaways. At the moment, the books are simply arranged by height.

In case you wanted to know, here are the titles of the books visible in the photo:

On the Island by Tracy Garvis-Graves
There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith


The third shelf contains all of my hardcovers, and it's actually two layers of books (though you can't see the back layer in this photo). I bought most of these books myself, since I do love a good hardcover. I'm proud to say that most of these books were purchased at Books of Wonder, which is one of my favorite bookstores in the City! (And yes, in case you spotted it - those are a pair of 2013 glasses (from last New Year) and... they light up!)

In case you wanted to know, here are the titles of the books visible in the photo:

Legend by Marie Lu
A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford || Book 1 review
Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby 
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
Something Strange & Deadly by Susan Dennard
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand || Book 1 review
Boundless by Cynthia Hand
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
The Duff by Kody Keplinger


This last shelf is my "favorites" shelf. On this shelf, I store all the books that I've read and loved and will pretty much drag with me wherever I've moved. Most of these books have been in my possession since my days living in New Jersey! You can also see a collection of folders and miscellaneous stuff in that organizer, as well as a deck of cards for the Flirt game (that friends of mine in the Philippines created!) and a collection of quarters.

The reason I set these books apart is because whenever I read them, I always feel inspired to write. These authors are, in general, incredible storytellers, and I'd like to be just like them one day. Anytime I feel frustrated with my writing or my WIP in general, I just go to this shelf, pick a book at random, and read a few pages. It never fails to get me inspired to keep on writing!

The oldest book on this shelf is actually not in this photo - and that's Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I lent it to a friend of mine, and I'm happy to report that she loves it! Another book that's also not on here is Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - I'm waiting on my copy from Vi, who was AWESOME enough to get me one that's signed!

In case you wanted to know, here are the titles of the books visible in the photo:

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows || my review
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley || my review
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman || my review
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell || my review
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund || my review
Between You & Me by Marisa Calin || my review
Just One Day by Gayle Forman || my review
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater || my review
Asunder by Jodi Meadows || my review
Cinder by Marissa Meyer || my review
Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Divergent by Veronica Roth || my review
Insurgent by Veronica Roth || my review
The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell || my review
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas || my review

Whew, so that's it for my bookshelves at home! I hope you enjoyed seeing how I organized my books with what little space I have. I do buy more books than what I've got pictured, but most of the time, I send them back home to the Philippines (if I want to keep them) or give them away or sell them when I'm finished reading. It really helps me keep the space uncluttered and obviously encourages my sisters to read (since they can just borrow my books). But that's a post for another day!

So, tell me - how do YOU organize your bookshelves? Do you separate them by format? Do you arrange them in alphabetical order? Do you arrange them by color? Do you place them by height? Do you do it by genre? Feel free to sound off in the comments - I'm always interested in new ways to organize.

(P.S. I actually have videos I can share of my shelves back at home in the Philippines and how they're organized. Would any of you be interested in seeing a post about them?Also, would you be interested in seeing how I organize my Kindle books and e-galleys for review?)

16 Comments:

  1. Wow! You have so many new books. S
    I haven't bought a physical book since I got my Kindle.
    It's good because I don't have place for any. And also bad because I really love looking at covers and the smell of books.
    Awesome post! I love the pictures (:

    Sapir @ Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl
    *One more follower and I reach 100 :D*

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  2. Your favourites are SO similar to my favourites! This is why we're friends!

    Later today I'm going to do my own bookshelf post with a shout out to you, because you've inspired me :)

    Lovely post, lovely books!

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  3. I'm pretty strict with how I organize my books. I don't like them separated into genres, or read, and unread. or whatever. I shelve them all alphabetically by author's last name (I am a librarian after all :) ).

    I do have a separate space for the library books I'm borrowing, though. And I have a few of my all time favorites on a special shelf in my living room. These ones are sort of on display (Like HP, P&P, etc).

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  4. I told you on Twitter last night that we have such similar reading tastes...these pictures prove it again! I love the way you have all of your favorites on one shelf. I have my stored by fiction and nonfiction and then by size. since my two bookcases are in my living room, I have pictures of my two boys and other stuff scattered throughout. Neat post!

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  5. I like being organised, too! So I love posts like this and YES to more!

    I too have a shelf for review books, then i have shelves for all the books received via book swaps, and then the rest of that bookcase is all my purchased to-read books. And then upstairs I have a bookshelf just for read books.

    Also, SPECULOOS SPREAD! Vegans go crazy for that stuff ;)

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  6. I love to stay organised, too! This usually means that I'll rearrange my shelves every couple of weeks though. ;) I have my favourites shelf at the top, and the rest come below that. The books I never plan to read again and/or hated go in boxes in the shed. I really need to clear those out now that I think about it! :P

    Thanks for sharing! I really like the sound of those light up glasses, by the way. ;)

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  7. Oh, seeing you shelves makes me wanna organize my books. They are a hot mess right now, totally out of order and discombobulated. It's mostly bc I'm running outta space & I have a TON of books I haven't read yet, plus I'm traveling for school so I just toss them (gently, of course) on the shelves, lol. I like how you organized things & see some that I wanna check out! Awesome!

    Vivian
    Confessions of a Vi3tBabe
    Deity Island

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  8. Cute book shelves! Love the way you organized them :D

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  9. I have a weird thing with height. All books that are the same height have to be next to each other, and all paperbacks and hardbacks must be separated. I also like to group them by color, lol.

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  10. I'd love to see your videos, Alexa! I have been meaning to do a shelf tour one day, and I think I might do one of my version of your favorites shelf - I call it my "top shelf" because it IS the top shelf, but also because for me, they're my best of the best books.

    BTW, you'd die if you saw my actual whole bookshelf. It's cray. There are just books everywhere. I keep trying to cull out some, but oy.

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  11. Totally post the video! Bookshelf tours are the best.

    I personally have library book pile/TBR pile on my dresser. My bookshelf is divided my hardcover/paperback because I have this thing about the heights having to match. Part of me wants to organize by color because IT LOOKS SO COOL. I think I need more books that aren't black tho...

    READ GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS RIGHT NOW. That is all :)

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  12. I love being organized! HOWEVER! I own many books, so I have stacks and stacks everywhere. I tend to purge the stacks so I can justify buying new books. It really is a vicious circle.

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  13. My books are not organised at all. I have books everywhere from state to state, they're in boxes, on floors, and finally some on bookshelves. I just place them on the bookshelves without any real order (they were suppose to be alphabetical but that became waylaid) but I don't have any room because my roommate insists on the bookshelves being ~decorative~. So they are mostly in piles on my floor now. :P

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  14. I love this post! It's the reason that I like to watch bookshelf tours on YouTube, and also the reason I started Picture This: I like seeing pictures of books haha. I love organizing as well (I reorganize my bookshelves at least once every two weeks, just because I like it), except when it comes to clothes :P Anyway, you have a great collection of books! I love your favorites shelf, which has so many of my own favorites as well.

    As for the way I organize my shelves, that changes every time. I have tried everything from language to color to alphabetical order to genre, but I keep ending up arranging them back to height. My Dutch books and books I didn't like as much or don't like anymore are behind the ones I recently purchased, my favorites, or books that are just pretty :P If I didn't have this organization, I would probably color-coordinate. However, I don't like seperating my series!

    This turned out a bit longer than I expected haha

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  15. Right now I'm looking to reorganize my books (I am getting some new shelves to store my TBR piles...it is getting a little ridiculous!) but currently I have them arranged with all the booms by a particular author together and organized by height.

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  16. I'm having a slight crisis just thinking about how I'm going to organize my books—most of them have been in storage since I left for college, and now I'm finally in a place where I can unpack them all. Obviously, I put them in order of last name of author, but...do I divide by genre? What do I do with oversized books? What's the distinction between MG and YA anyway? (Murky, that's what it is.) Do I keep a special "favorites" shelf? Would it just be simpler to leave them in their boxes?!

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