
This is not a photo of my house! It’s a bookshop in Japan. However, I’ve just moved house and that’s entailed me putting every single book I own into cardboard boxes. I am now in the throes of emptying all those boxes and putting the books onto shelves. I imagine if I did empty all the boxes and stack the books up on the floor I could well take a photo like this! I haven’t counted my books (I read them but I don’t count them!) but I know I have a lot.
I’ve always delighted in books which nourish my curiosity and delight me with great stories. So I have many non-fiction books, many fiction books, and many books of art and poetry.
I’m finding that this process of packing and unpacking has led to me handling and considering every single volume so as I place each one on a shelf I’m doing so with deliberation and fully conscious thought.
This is exciting me! I’m rediscovering books which I haven’t seen in years, reaffirming my interest and/or joy in others and finding yet others which I meant to read but somehow never got round to it.
I’m sure you’ll have your own way of storing and organising your books. Maybe you store them by size or colour, maybe you use the Dewey Decimal coding system, but I just group them according to interest. I have all the poetry books together, all the philosophy books together, all the health books together and so on. I also have a special section for special books – ones which made the biggest impact on me, and which I return to again and again.
How do you organise your books?
I organize mine similarly to your system. When I moved 2 years ago I did the same process and had many of the same discoveries. Last year I made a point to start reading ones that got lost in the shelves and rereading some favorites. I also downsized by one large shelf that wouldn’t fit in our new space. I even gave beloved books from my childhood. Books will always be very special to me.