Bookshelves
In my mind, the books on one's bookshelves fall into three general categories:
1) The books you would like to re-read or reference
2) The books you would like to lend to others
3) The books you wish to demonstrate you have read
4) The books you haven't read yet, but you promised someone you would or received it as a gift
As I've finally aggregated all of my belongings under one roof for the first time in nearly six years, I'm facing the gargantuan task of first organizing my books, and then culling those I don't want. There are some obvious choices in this second category, such as the "Shadowrun" novel I acquired from a free bin, "Starhunt" by David Gerrold (which is the most generic military scifi book I have ever read, and I've read a lot,) and anything written by R.A. Salvatore.
However, there are those which, for various emotional reasons, are much harder to dispose of, yet which you know you should. I am having trouble removing Orson Scott Card's "Homecoming" series (which I got so disgusted by in the final book that I set it down years ago and never looked back, but, because I've never finished the series, I'm loathe to ditch the books,) and all of my "Star Wars" books (most of these are already in a box in the attic, and I might just forget about them until I'm old enough I can donate the box as a lot.)
But as much memory as my vast collection of schlocky science fiction holds, it must be weeded to make room for my new interests. My current organization is ending up as:
Fiction (alpha by author, and integrating the remaining scifi. I have a top shelf which holds all the collections and some of the more extensive series, such as David Weber's Honorverse);
Graphic Novels (separated into General and Everything Ever Written and Drawn by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. This second section overwhelmes the first by a fair margin, although the first contains such gems as "A Less Than Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government");
Poetry (currently quite small);
Nonfiction (opinion/essay);
Nonfiction (reference/history); and
Chinese Language Reference.
I have still not decided how to separate and organize my Military History and Martial Arts sections, largely because the two are entirely entangled in my mind. I wish I had multiple copies of all of my books, so they could appropriately be in the multiple sections in which they belong.
In other rooms news: I had a very Me moment last night, as my desk sported two laptops, my stereo receiver, and my typewriter.
1) The books you would like to re-read or reference
2) The books you would like to lend to others
3) The books you wish to demonstrate you have read
4) The books you haven't read yet, but you promised someone you would or received it as a gift
As I've finally aggregated all of my belongings under one roof for the first time in nearly six years, I'm facing the gargantuan task of first organizing my books, and then culling those I don't want. There are some obvious choices in this second category, such as the "Shadowrun" novel I acquired from a free bin, "Starhunt" by David Gerrold (which is the most generic military scifi book I have ever read, and I've read a lot,) and anything written by R.A. Salvatore.
However, there are those which, for various emotional reasons, are much harder to dispose of, yet which you know you should. I am having trouble removing Orson Scott Card's "Homecoming" series (which I got so disgusted by in the final book that I set it down years ago and never looked back, but, because I've never finished the series, I'm loathe to ditch the books,) and all of my "Star Wars" books (most of these are already in a box in the attic, and I might just forget about them until I'm old enough I can donate the box as a lot.)
But as much memory as my vast collection of schlocky science fiction holds, it must be weeded to make room for my new interests. My current organization is ending up as:
Fiction (alpha by author, and integrating the remaining scifi. I have a top shelf which holds all the collections and some of the more extensive series, such as David Weber's Honorverse);
Graphic Novels (separated into General and Everything Ever Written and Drawn by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. This second section overwhelmes the first by a fair margin, although the first contains such gems as "A Less Than Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government");
Poetry (currently quite small);
Nonfiction (opinion/essay);
Nonfiction (reference/history); and
Chinese Language Reference.
I have still not decided how to separate and organize my Military History and Martial Arts sections, largely because the two are entirely entangled in my mind. I wish I had multiple copies of all of my books, so they could appropriately be in the multiple sections in which they belong.
In other rooms news: I had a very Me moment last night, as my desk sported two laptops, my stereo receiver, and my typewriter.