Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Hi, my name is Cat, and I can’t stop rearranging my bookshelves.

Just Make a Decision!

Does anybody else here struggle to decide on the best way to organize a bookshelf? Obviously, I want my shelves to be neat, tidy, and easy to find what I’m looking for. I also want them to be aesthetically pleasing because I’m extra like that.

You’d think it would be somewhat easy to find a compromise, but I guess you’d be wrong, as I keep going back and reworking things. Sometimes, the changes are drastic, while other times, I just need to fix a shelf here or there.

Please tell me I’m not the only one that does that.

Decisions, Decisions

Let’s be real; there are far too many ways to organize a bookshelf. Do I go by title? Author? Genre? All of the above? What about height or color? Scrolling on Instagram (Bookstagram, really) can make it even more challenging, as there are SO many pretty bookshelves to compare to. It’s a struggle. I swear.

Currently, I have a strange mixture of organization methods. For example, all of my BOTM books are in one bookcase (though it has reached maximum capacity. Uh oh). I opted to arrange these ones by the color of the spines since they’re primarily standalone novels, and it was a good excuse. I needed at least one rainbow shelf, okay?

As for the rest…well, I’ll be honest. I haven’t found a system that works perfectly for me. I have my collectors editions and the like on one bookcase and my OwlCrate/book boxes on another (I may try to arrange those to see if I can get another rainbow shelf working).

Outside of those shelves, I largely have been sorting by author. It works okay, but some authors take up more shelf space than others, so it feels a bit lopsided? Oh! And I have all of my graphic novels/manga in one place, which is satisfying, at least.

What I’m trying to say is that organizing my shelves feels like it’s a never-ending process. First, I keep changing my mind. Second, bookcases (like the BOTM shelf) keep reaching maximum capacity, forcing me to decide which books to keep and which to hang on to. New books getting added start a hermit-crab-esque scenario, as books get shuffled to the left or right.

Thankfully, I find sorting my bookshelves to be calming. Perhaps that is why I do it so often? Yeah, that actually makes quite a lot of sense.

So…does anybody else obsessively work and rework their bookcases? Also, what systems do you prefer, and do you have any tips you’d like to share?

Like what you see? Leave a tip!

Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat’s Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy