My Books

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the ALA conference in Philly this past weekend. The snow on my side of Ohio/PA was horrible and Philly is a six hour drive in good weather. The snow started at 2 a.m. and went strong Saturday, not letting up almost the entire day. Come Sunday, midday was just as bad. Today is Tuesday and I haven't been to school for two days now. Monday because of snow and today it is -17 without the windchill. I am extremely disappointed, but now I am more determined than ever to attend a bookish event and meet some fellow book bloggers!

Spending the past weekend consumed by book thoughts, I've been looking over my shelves considering what I really want to read. (I am currently dragging through Middlesex. Everyone's rave reviews are what keeps me going, but it is soooo slow right now, 200 pages in.) So I thought I'd give a tour of my bookshelves.

The Interloper was my first
 personal bookshelf

The first bookshelf sits in my living room and actually has a name - The Interloper (see here for an explanation). This bookshelf holds the most books, but being homemade and sitting on carpet, it is not sturdy. Does that stop me from using it? Heck, no! My husband bolted it to the wall! That sucker isn't going anywhere. My books are organized by genre, so this shelf holds two and a half rows of Classics and two and a half rows of fiction, alphabetical order by author last name. (I actually posted awhile back when I reorganized my shelves - the nerd in me can't help it. Note, the amazing husband in the first link above, was willingly involved in this process.)

"My son's" bookshelf

Where The Interloper leaves off, the shelf in my son's room picks up. I bought this shelf to match his bedroom furniture, in the event that he can actually use it when I get a library type room just for my books. (That's a dream for another post - my own library within my house.) The top three rows are a continuation of fiction, the bottom one and a half rows contain memoirs, and half of the bottom row is double stacked (and leaking over to cover the memoirs) with Christian nonfiction.

One picture I didn't take is the shelf in my middle daughter's room. It's a disgraceful mess because, well, it's in the room of a teenager who loves knick-knacks. I only use the top two shelves of it anyway. (Although, if I could take care of those knick-knacks, I'd be able to un-double stack my other books!) One shelf is the finishing of my fiction section and the other has books I am swapping on paperbackswap.com (find me there as LuvReading79 and feel free to use me as the reference if you ever sign up). 

My bedroom bookshelf

The last shelf in my home is in my bedroom. It is the smallest shelf, mostly intended for decorations I think, but it serves nicely for my smallest genre collections: Christian fiction, books on writing, nonfiction, myth, fantasy, and sci-fi. The top shelf (which can't be seen completely because there is a decorative piece that hangs down and I cut it from the picture) has a stack of signed books I've collected over the years - a mix of genres.

And, of course, there are the books that are sitting in stacks on my dresser and bedside table...they will end up stacked in front of or on top of the rows of these shelves. I have a very small e-book collection as well. It is a complete mix of genres and many of them are galleys I've reviewed for publishers and authors.

I can't forget my classroom shelves either! I have two new shelves, which I have attempted to split between junior high and high school, although all students are welcome to choose from either shelf. I always have books signed out, especially when other teachers and I assign independent reading. These books are all books I've bought or attained myself. For the past few years, I have used paperbackswap.com to supply my classroom shelves because it comes out to an average of $3 total per book. Can't beat that price.

High School shelf with the type of YA most of
us would enjoy reading.

Jr High shelf that contains the type of YA
some of us would look back at sentimentally.

So there you have it, a complete tour of my bookshelves! I'm attempting to borrow and use the library more - to save on the funds more than the space. I can always find more space for a bookshelf. 

Do you have a crazy collection? Or are you more of an e-book/library reader?