Booking Through Thursday: Book Storage

This week’s question is suggested by Kat:

I recently got new bookshelves for my room, and I’m just loving them. Spent the afternoon putting up my books and sharing it on my blog . One of my friends asked a question and I thought it would be a great BTT question. So from Tina & myself, we’d like to know “How do you arrange your books on your shelves? Is it by author, by genre, or you just put it where it falls on?”

I have a bookshelf in the bedroom that holds about 100 books. I tend to keep my “special” books there (signed hardbacks, antiques, etc.). A lovely built-in bookcase with doors (and glass knobs!) is in the living room. I double park books in that one, so it currently holds about 200. The fiction books are separated by size and then arranged alphabetically by author. I’d rather not separate by size (pretty much hardbound vs. paperbound), but this does use the space more efficiently and allows me to use vertical space.

I live in such a tiny space (about 500 square feet), and so have had to develop a storage system that doesn't restrict access to my books. The books that don't fit in the house (many and mostly fiction) are stored in my garage in see through plastic bins that are numbered. Those books are each entered into my LibraryThing account with a notation referring to the numbered bin where the book is currently located. If I remove a book from a bin for some reason, it does not have to go back to the same one I took it from as long as I change the notation in LibraryThing. I adapted this method from one used by a California State University library that has many books in storage. Of course their system uses a huge warehouse and a robotic retrieval system!

My storage system seems to be working. It allows me to keep more books than will fit in my tiny space, yet they are very accessible.

Manual Labor Redux

This week's Booking Through Thursday question has to do with ...

Scenario: You’ve just brought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?
Do you ever read manuals?
How-to books?
Self-help guides?
Anything at all?

I try to bring home as few complicated gadgets as possible since I tend to lose patience with set-up and troubleshooting. I don't have a lot of patience for gadgets that require my attention. But, on those few occasions when I decide to delve into gadgetmania ...

I try to set-up, use and troubleshoot those gadgets without referring to the documentation. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I appreciate well-written and concise documentation. I want to spend as little time with it as possible. I'm all about using the gadget ... not messing with it. Of course, you are likely to hear me shout, "Hey! I didn't know it would do that!" six months into said gadget ownership. What can I say?

Manuals? If it looks like I need to read a manual, I generally use the table of contents or the index and see if I can only read the section that applies. I will read the manual more extensively only when I must ... or when I see someone doing something with their gadget that I didn't know was possible. Then I shout, "Hey! I didn't know it would do that!" and consult the manual.

How-to books? Rarely. I really, really need to WANT to know "how-to" before I'll read a how-to book. Even then, I'll choose the shortest one I can find. One page how-to sheets are even better.

Self-help guides? I sometimes think I'll read a particular self-help guide, but somehow they always get set aside so I can get back to whatever novel or short story collection I'm reading. I'm not opposed to self-improvement, but the lure of storytelling is too strong for me to say no to my fictional reads.

Anything? Yes! Novels and short stories and blogs and professional literature (library stuff) and nutritional labels on food packaging ... anything but manuals, how-to's, and self-helps!

Booking Through Thursday With Characters

Booking Through Thursday

This week's questions were suggested by Mary.

Which book character(s) would you...

1. Like to have dinner with? Mma Ramotswe (from No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith) ... Or maybe it would be more appropriate to have tea with her.


2. Believe would be the best to help you out in a crisis? Elvis Cole (from Elvis Cole novels by Robert Crais) ... I'm assuming here that my life might be in danger. Elvis could kick anybody's butt, plus he's a real wise-ass (with a heart of course).


3. Like to ask for an autograph? Harry Potter ... It would be worth a fortune!


4. Most identify with personally? The Grinch (by Dr. Seuss) ... While this might sound odd, I know that my true nature would be pretty Grinchy without God's influence over my life -- with His influence my heart is capable of "growing three sizes."