Not that long ago, I was contemplating never sorting my bookshelves again.
Famous last words.
Inspired by Charlotte who has been sorting her cd shelves, BlogLily who has tackled her office and an impeding visit from the in-laws, I decided this morning that the second bedroom desperately needs decluttering, organising and tidying.
The second bedroom, the one that D and I claim is for guests, is really the repository for everything we couldn’t find a place for when we moved, plus two of our bookcases. There are two boxes of stationery and computer bits and pieces still to be unpacked, boxes piled high in the wardrobe, piles of framed photos and more piles of stationery, bills and unidentified pieces of paper. Finding the bed in the midst of the clutter is an expedition requiring a packed lunch.
Standing in the doorway this morning, I realised that I was in no mood for the decluttering process. What I was in the mood for was some book organising. It was time for the wonderful adventure of finding a particular book to end and time for order to be restored. It was time for the chaos reigning in the three bookcases to end.
Taking a deep breath, shelf by shelf I took down all the books. And then, one by one, they were all replaced, separated into fiction and non-fiction and sorted alphabetically by author. Three hours later, when I was finished, I breathed a sigh of relief, walked out of the room without looking back and shut the door as quickly as I could. The decluttering is going to have to wait for another day.
Before I started sorting, I decided that I was going to make a list of books to be read. That plan was very quickly abandoned, as I realised that I want to read every single novel left on our bookshelves after the great and difficult cull earlier this year.
While I was sorting the first of the bookcases, I found that we have four copies of the Bible, and two copies of each of The Symposium, The Theban Plays, Bonjour Tristesse, The Tropic of Cancer and Waiting For Godot. Anyone want a copy of any of these (except Bonjour Tristesse as I suspect D may want to hang on to both of these)?
While I was sorting the cookbooks from the writing about food and cooking, I made a delightful discovery that I’m keeping up my sleeve, just for the moment.
While I was sorting the fiction, I found my copies of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. This made me very excited. I thought they’d been swiped by my sister during the great and difficult cull.
While I was sorting the non-fiction, I realised I have way too many self-help books. Way too many. I also found two books on decluttering. They’re still on the shelf instead of my to be read pile.
After I had finished sorting, I realised that I like knowing where I can find the book I’m after, quickly and easily.
So much for finding adventure on the shelves of my bookcases.
And as for my decluttering — I’ll get to it tomorrow.
just as long as you didn’t sort by colour and size.
i’d have to fly all the way over there with a can of whoop-ass and open it….
high fashion has no place on a book shelf.
No whoop-ass required. Well, maybe a little can…
There’s only one shelf the trade paperbacks will fit on, so they’re all on it. Sorted by author, of course.
Everything else by author only.
Ha, no wonder the bible is always in the all time bestseller lists. Are they all different translations or for kings?
There’s one King James. There are two “Good News Bible”s, which tend to be ubiquitous in schools here (it’s the school book lists that are keeping the bible on the bestseller lists, I swear). And the fourth turned out not to be a pocket version of the NT but The Book of Common Prayer, given to D’s great-great-aunt in 1904. It’s a fragile little thing, with the cover barely hanging on and onion skin thin pages and the perfect size for a young lady’s pocketbook.