Books books books!!! (wwyd)

[Kayano]

I've got them coming out of my damn ears!!! Taking being on leave as a chance to sort them out now. I have took them all off shelves and cleaned shelves

However I now have a (very) hard decision that needs quick answers...

Do I sort them by genre (childrens/ fantasy/ reference/ general fiction) or just alphabetical by author.

Or just whatever looks best?

I have uncovered in my search of the house lots of old books I had forgotten I owned, such as my Grandads hardback dickens collection and old school favourites such as the worst witch and please Mrs Butler!!

Sorting by Genre however is confusing me. ESP re fantasy and children and classics! The princess Bride? Fantasy or children? George MacDonald - Back of the north wind... Children or classic?!

Gah!

Posting here for traffic as am about to get started

Wwyd? AIBU to have hoarded so many books?

have any of you obsessive book sorters looked at the 'who-is-the-most-nerdy' thread this evening...I think you'd be in with a chance

I sort:

Fiction - alphabetical by authors surname. Further sub-divided into alphabetical or series order if more than one book by that auther.
Biography - alphabetical by subjects surname
History - chronological
Popular science / Psychology / Politics / Religion / Gardening / Health all with similar subjects grouped together
Dictionaries
Cookery in the kitchen
Work reference books on a separate shelf roughly grouped by subject

Children's books for DS in his room, with the board books at the bottom of the shelves, and the books with proper pages higher up.

I regularly look at the bookshelf porn website, I have it bookmarked

Ohhh dear I wish you hadn't introduced me to the bookshelf porn website that's a lot more time I'll be wasting...

Although our books are just randomly collected on shelf. The health visitor sniggered when she spotted Penelope Leach squashed between jeremy clarkson and a cocktail recipe book.

Ds's books are separated, a little shelf in living room and in his bedroom which he can reach, for toddler-proof books and charity shop books, and then a high up shelf for expensive or non-toddler proof books that we only look at together. Oh and a box of christmassy books all packed away now for next December.

Kayano By spine colour DAHLING...tis' the only way to go I hear. Awaiting DH building a massive bookcase in new living room to house my chick lit free collection of beloved books, truly my constant in this crazy world. I intend to make those mighty tomes a work of art once completed.

(Still collecting my pre-teen 'pony' books from my mother's house, now she's a published writer (and available on Amazon ...so proud ) she has no house room for my hormonal dandy brush and hoof pick horse porn...

A house without books is....(insert your thoughts here)

timetosmile YY to your post ...but on recalling the memory of @14 years of age and finding a forgotten stashed £5 note in one of my beloved books, I seem to recall a great teenage alcohol night was had by all on our pooled resources. Who said books were dull?

mine looked like this..it was so much fun to do!!! and you had to spend hrs looking for a book unless you knew what colour it was

got rid of 5 boxes yesterday!!

I finished sorting yesterday! Wooo

My categories were pretty simple in the end.

Children's Literature
Fantasy/ sci fi
Classics
Fiction
Biographies (These are DHs - I bloody hate biographies!)
Manga/ Graphic Novels (These are going into storage soon though)
Reference by subject
I also had my University Shelf full of literary criticism and short stories/ essays etc.
Cookery books in kitchen

Thank you for all the help and reassurance that I'm not alone!

I am a sad git who sorts all fiction by author, and within that, by date order written, with the most recent book last. The non-fiction is roughly sorted into subject, but, if I had the time (and space) that would then be sorted alphabetically by author within each category.
I blame this OCD behaviour on working in a library years ago.
Everything else in the house (other than the CD's - organised alphabetically by artist and then in order of release) is a complete tip.

Ooh, Kayano, what graphic novels are you going to sell? I put most of Y the Last Man, some Grant Morrisons, and a few others on eBay just before Xmas, and they all sold, yay!
And a bit as then I had to pack them up and send them off. But I'm sure their new owners will love them too. Sigh.

Oh I love books! I have them squirelled away all over my house and it drives DH mad! I graciously gave a grand total of ...3...books to the charity shop last week. I just can't part with them .

I also had a tidy up recently and found my Judy Bloom 'Fudge' books, plus the Enid Blyton Mallory Towers and Farway tree books. I can't wait until DD is old enough to appreciate them. :)

IMO you should organise them vaguely by whichever genre makes sense to you, don't try and be too clinical about it or you will never find the book you are lookign for when the time comes!