Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tiara Talk: Bookshelves

Weird topic I know but one I'm always immensely curious about. I'm that weird chick that tries to figure out what all of the different titles are when someone posts a picture of their bookshelf, usually comparing to what I'd find on my own.

Personally, due to living arrangements, all of my books are kept in my room in one capacity or another. Aside from one lone bookcase in the hallway that leads to my room where I have crammed assorted romance novels. What this has led to is placing a bookcase in any available space in my room, making the most of the ones I've had, and converting certain things into bookshelves that weren't necessarily meant for the purpose. Such as TV stands (don't give me all of those handy shelves if you don't want it used for books!) and a standing CD case I've had for years that holds some of those taller paperbacks perfectly.

Needless to say, I have tons of books. I absolutely love to be surrounded with them. It's comforting. And I re-read books...a lot. Sometimes because they're my favorites, sometimes just a refresher, other times because I'm not sure I gave them a fair chance the first time around.

Where do these tons of books come from? My Mom. Friends. In the beginning anyway. Now that I'm an adult they are my own purchases which makes it hard to add to my collection. Until I discovered the wonder that is used bookstores. In case you were wondering, yes, this discovery is what led to the monstrosity that is my to-be-read shelf. Not sure what I'm talking about? My to-be-read shelf is the picture on the top left, the bookcase filled with mostly adult books and the classics. Library sales are the absolute best for me, especially from my local library. Mass market paperbacks are fifty cents, trades usually a dollar, and hardbacks anywhere from a dollar to five dollars. Some children's books are even TEN CENTS. So yes, my collection has grown rapidly from this discovery. And it helps the library which is what I tell my family repeatedly when I come home with bags upon bags of books. This is why I'm rapidly turning everything in my room into some type of shelving as storage was and is potentially an issue. A big one.

I know I'm not the only collector of books out there, or a novel hoarder as my boyfriend refers to me...which leads me to this question for all of you, how do you store your books? How do you separate or organize them?  :D 

4 comments:

  1. Hm. I really just don't have that many books, to be honest! I only have a couple of shelves, so I just put them on, usually with my favourite titles at the forefront. Are the used books you get usually good quality? I've tried library sales, but those are pretty much just adult novels at my local branch. Interesting discussion post!

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  2. For the most part they are really good quality. The only ones that I've gotten that haven't been almost new are when they do their biannual bag sale where you can get an entire bag of books for a dollar. That's when they bring out everything they couldn't or haven't been able to sell so those aren't always as good. For the most part my library has adult books too but they do get young adult in, more so children. I've been seeing a lot more Sarah Dessen books though and feel compelled to rescue them. xD

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  3. Oh, my library has plenty of YA books, just not for sale. THEY SHOULD SELL SARAH DESSEN, TOO. Why don't they sell Sarah Dessen? D:

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  4. Because for some reason no one around here buys them. Which leads me to rescue the dears from the bargain bins of the library sales.

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