Saturday 16 May 2015

What I Did Today // The Bookshelf Link-Up

Apart from reading, what are a book blogger's favourite activities?

a) Organising their books.
b) Photographing their books.
c) Telling other people about these marvellous, organised, photographed books.

Sunny over at A Splash of Ink is tying these wonderful elements together in her current Bookshelf Link-up!

 


(Sunny has a fab blog, by the way. You should check it out.)

1. If you can, share a picture of your bookshelves (piles of books, boxes of books, anywhere you store your books) or describe the set-up you have. 


So. What you see right now has only been in operation for a few hours.



 This was my setup beforehand.


I did not have enough space so all unread books got shunted horizontally.


But after bookbuying yesterday, I'd gone past breaking point. There was no space for my new haul, or my Roman Mysteries (recently reclaimed from a different part of the house after I reread the first three and remembered what a top-notch series it is).
Look at that dog's face. That's a pictorial representation of how I felt about my lack of book space.


But. As you can see, the top three shelves were taken up with board games, craft stuff and goodness knows what else, whilst the space at the bottom was filled by a shoe rack. 

I thought: this has gone on long enough.

Board games were banished to a cupboard full of other board games in a different part of the house.

Some craft stuff I ... let go. I mean, can you see me sitting using my Creative Candle Making kit of an evening? No? Me neither. Someone at the charity shop might enjoy it ...

The shoes relocated to a different part of my room. Then, putting my DIY skills into practice, I moved the remaining shelves so that they were properly spaced. I cleaned the dust off everything, disturbing several spiders, and cleaned my gross spotty walls behind the shelves. 

AND THEN, OH THE GLORY!




Do you know how much it was hurting me having those books stacked horizontally, not in alphabetical order?
IT WAS HURTING ME A LOT. 
But NOW there is space for ALL, and also room for expansion!


2. How do you sort your books? Author, genre, not at all?

Alphabetically. It's the only way I can handle. 


3. Do you have any special trinkets or decorations on your shelves, or are they purely business?

The bottom two shelves (plus The Book Thief, which of course couldn't fit on the above shelf because that is life). 

The Book Thief // Zambian box // Victorian sewing box // Pincushion // Doorstop dog // Wooden timer // Wand // Knitting kit // Sewing stuff // Jigsaw // Lego Campervan

However, this is probably temporary - with the advent of more books, some of this stuff will have to get lost.


"The flowery Tybalt" -- a hilarious syntax on "the fiery Tybalt" from Romeo and Juliet. I know, I know, I'm too funny. Your sides are splitting.
He was a gift from a friend last year. Ugly, but I love him.


My Harry Potter wand, made by my excellent friend Cat.


4. What genre dominates your bookshelf? Or what genres make up your bookshelf?

Classics and fantasy, with a fair smattering of YA. Then the occasional adult book: a bit of contemporary, a couple of crime novels. Oh, and children's books. Quite a lot of children's books.



5. Are there any books on your shelf that you're particularly proud of?


My pretty hardback classics collection. Of course, I do not buy books like this firsthand because EXPENSE but, from left to right, top to bottom:
Gift // gift // prize // prize // prize // secondhand // gift // prize // secondhand // gift // prize // prize // gift // secondhand // secondhand // secondhand // gift // gift // secondhand // gift // prize // secondhand // prize // prize // prize // gift // prize



I do enjoy colour order. Shout-out to Sunny who made a very helpful post on making gifs! 
The polite thing, blogglings, will be not to comment on how the framing and lighting changes so drastically throughout. I tried, OK??


My series collection takes up nearly two shelves! And almost none of them are complete! I only completed Harry Potter yesterday, when I finally found Order of the Phoenix secondhand. I've had the other six for months so it's very pleasing to at last see them all sitting there.


6. What is the ratio between read books and TBR books on your shelf?

77:75, so almost exactly 1:1! Which is kind of scary. I buy books a lot faster than I read them!

7. What is the most recent addition to your bookshelf?



All bought with book tokens from school prizes, apart from that tiny adorable Mill on the Floss, which I got for £1 secondhand! I love charity shops. 
Also Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I forgot to include.
Also. 
Can I get a SCREAM for Black Dove, White Raven?? 

I'M SO EXCITED!!!


8. Describe your dream bookshelf setup.

I'm really happy with it right now, because SO MUCH SHELF SPACE, but in the future I would like .... the library from Beauty and the Beast? Is that too much? 
I don't know. But I would really love an actual library in my dream house. Maybe ... a round one. In a tower. Yes, please.

Thanks so much to Sunny for hosting this extremely enjoyable link-up! Now please tell: which of your books are you proud of? And can you spot any of your favourites on my shelves?

Emily x

11 comments:

  1. :O The book gif. The BOOK GiF!! That is amazing! I love it. And you made it yourself, which is thoroughly cool. I am impressed.

    I like how The Book Thief gets to be the only book on its shelf. :)

    The books I'm most proud of? Oh, I found The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers in secondhand store (not even a bookstore). Perfect condition, matching covers and all out beauty, for a dollar each. Now, will I be favored enough to find The Return of the King with a matching cover? Probably not. *shrugs* Aw, well. Books are books.

    Also, I have the last two of the Emily of New Moon trilogy (my favorites of L. M. Montgomery's). I don't have the first yet. But you see, the library was getting rid of them. What?! Who gets rid of classics? They are a little worn out, but not that badly. I like to think I rescued them. ;) But of course somebody else would've just snatched them up if it wasn't me. They will receive more love on my bookshelf then someone else. . .

    My mom was going to throw out a dictionary that I used throughout my childhood (As a homeschooler, when you don't know a word your parents don't tell you what it means, they say, "Then go look it up."). In her defense, the cover had long ago fallen off and the first and last couple of pages were bent out of whack. But- but- the dictionary. THAT dictionary, that had served me so well. This book I did truly rescue from the atrocious abyss of the trash can. I hide it in my room amongst the other books. (It helps that it's cover is gone, so the spine is blank.)

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    1. THANK YOU!! It's just a shame that the lighting changed so much in the last one! XD

      I know, it's so special (in every way). Although it's now been joined by I Am the Messenger, since I moved Gatsby and Macbeth from my work area to the shelf now that I've finished with them for school.

      Gorgeous! I love secondhand bookshops a ridiculous amount. I don't actually have by own LotR yet - it's a tragedy. I kinda want an all-in-one edition, but I'd also like them individually ... I really like those small black editions, if you know the ones I mean.

      I so want to read those books! I love Anne an insane amount. I've not yet finished that series, but when I do there'll be a definite need for Emily of New Moon in my life -- especially because we share a name!
      I've not yet had the pleasure of rescuing books from a library. But one day!

      I, too, am overly attached to my dictionary (Oxford English, of course). It sits on my bedside, my loyal companion currently as I work my way through a Thomas Hardy!
      I'm glad you were able to rescue yours! XD

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  2. Thank you so much for being a part of this linkup! I love your white shelf! Every once and awhile I look at my black shelves (which I really do appreciate) and think that I should have gone for white. It just seems so bright and airy:)

    I'm so happy that your books can finally stand up straight. There's nothing worse than trying to get a book from the bottom of a pile. Everything looked so nice and neat in the after picture. I especially loved all of your pretty hardbacks. And, YOU MADE A GIF!!! EEEE! I love seeing the (positive) results of my tutorials!

    Glad you could get your post in on time!

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    1. Also, I just wanted to let you know that your Bloglovin' button in the sidebar is still for your old blog. I was wondering why your posts weren't showing up in my feed, then I realized that I was still "technically" following the wishingiwasnorthern link. I just thought that I would mention it in case anyone else was in the same boat as me. I don't want to miss out on any of your posts!:)

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    2. Thanks for hosting it! It was excellent.
      Thank you. I love my white shelf too. My room is all white and wood :)

      ME TOO!!!! AND IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER!! IT IS SO GLORIOUS!! It's been making me v happy to look at for the past two days!
      I DID I DID, it's just a shame about the last shot! My camera batteries died and when I'd charged them a bit it had got a lot darker, as you can see!

      Thank you so so so so much for telling me. You are a goddess. I've fixed it. Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks.

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  3. This was AMAZING, I love love love your new and improved shelf. Doesn't it just feel so GOOD to organize?? *has a small OCD-happy breakdown* XD

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    1. Thank you! It feels so so soooo good! I enjoy tidying a quite tragic amount. Books in alphabetical order ... colour order for ribbons .... things at 90 degree angles to one another ... designated draws and shelves ... poly-pockets everywhere .... ~long exhalation~

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  4. GLORIOUS!! Gah, I will never get tired of gazing lovingly at bookshelves. Especially ones that are tidy and organized. I feel you on having books sitting horizontally! Currently, I don't have enough shelf space so some of my pretties need to lay on top of other ones standing vertically. It's not ideal! Oh, and I'm totally jelly of all your pretty classics!

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    1. Thank you! Nor will I, truthfully. Organisation makes me v happy. Horizontal stacking is a tragedy. Maybe you should move your family/partner/whoever out to make more room ... ;)
      Haha I am tactically building my collection!

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  5. *SCREEEEEAMS* OMG, I HATE ELIZABETH WEIN BUT I ALSO LOVE HER AND THAT IS OUR COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP. *wails and cries forever because previous two books broke my soul* I'm desperately hoping my library gets the audio because I listened to the first two on audio and it's like my Elizabeth Wein Book tradition. :')

    AJFADKSL YOUR BOOKSHELVES ARE BEAUTIFUL. I highly approve of the amount of Stiefvater there, and zomg, that gif is gorgeous!

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    1. YES I UNDERSTAND YOU SHE IS A SADIST AND A BEAUTIFUL PERSON
      SYSTEM ERROR
      ABORT SYSTEM

      Thank you! There is Not Yet Enough Stiefvater - I need The Scorpio Races! I've not actually read Lament or the Wolves of Mercy Falls yet, but soon. Soon ....

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Thanks for commenting! :)