Thursday, April 26, 2012

Book Organizaing 101

Hello everyone! How's your week been? Mines been fast, and considering there is a P.A Day tomorrow, short!

Today is just one of those days. You know, the type of day where you wake up and have the urge to organize! So that got me thinking, maybe I'll share with you guys some of the techniques and tips I use when organizing my books. I'm sure other blogs have done something like this, though I can't name any, however I figured I'd do my own spin on it. Now, this isn't necessarily the right way, but it works for me.

Today, since I organized all my to-read books, I thought I'd share with you guys how I keep track of all my to-reads that I own. It's time consuming, but awarding in the end!

I think a lot of you know of this way, or heard of it, but it actually really does help. What I do is go through my book shelves. I write down every book I've yet to read. Yes, this takes a while, especially if you have as many books as I do. You write the book title + the authors last name: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.
Continue to do this until you've got all the books to-read on your list. It took me about 3 and half pages worth, so be sure to do this on a day you have time!

Next, create a blank page on Word or Microsoft or any other writing program you like. Title it Own To-Read so you know what the document is. Next, write the alphabet from top to bottom, like this:

A

B

C


D

...

Now, this is the time consuming part. Under each letter, write a corresponding book title and author name. I did this alphabetically by authors last name, but you could also do it by book title.

When you're done, count all the books you've listed.

Note: I have books on my shelf that I haven't read but did not include on my list. If I'm more than positive that I will never get to that book (because I have way to many to get through), I don't add it, but I do keep it on my shelf.

At the top of the document write the total number of books. Now, every time you buy a new book, all you have to do is open the document and write the book title and author. Also, when ever you finish a book, all you have to do is erase it and change the book total. How easy, right? I like this way because as you continue to erase books, and see that number decrease, it gives you a sense of accomplishment. It's a great way to keep track of all your book.

*This is also great if you don't know what to read. Go to random.org and type in the total amount of books in your list as the maximum. Keep the minimum 1. All you have to do is press GENERATE and it will choose a number for you. This number will represent the book in your list that comes at that place. For example, random.org generated the number 33. All I'd have to do is count down from the top of my list until I get to book 33. Ta-Da! That will be the book I read next.

I hope you guys found this helpful, and encourages you to give it a try. You never know, it might turn out to be a great system for you!

I plan on doing Book Organizing 101 from time to time. But I need your help. I'm not one to plagiarize. If you know of another blog that is doing something similar and has named it "Book Organizing 101" please let me know! Give me their link so I can double check and change my title! As for the content, this is something I thought of doing as I do something similar for my crafting supplies. I don't take full credit as I'm sure other blogger's or readers have thought of this too!

6 comments:

  1. This is a great post, thanks! I always forget about the books I have sitting on my shelves, I just read whatever I've recently picked up.
    I have no plans for tomorrow, so maybe I'll organize my books, and choose what to read. (:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :) I figured it was a great way to keep organized. I was talking to my boyfriends mom and she has a few books on her shelf she hasn't read yet but doens't know which ones they are. So I suggested she start doing what I did, to hopefully help her out (and remember!).

      Delete
    2. I'm going to try it out and let you know how it goes! (:

      Delete
  2. I enter all my books in LibraryThing. I have a collection that says To Read and I also use the tag TBR. After I read a book I change the collection and the tags. Whenever I want to find a book to read I can just look in my To Read collection or search for the tag TBR. Of course, since that collection is at 1318 books today, I do have to remember where the book actually is. I wish all my unread books were in just one place but that would require massive reorganizing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean!! It'd require me to break up series that I have only partially read. Also, I think when you organize it by read and unread it begins to look unorganized. I figured I'd keep a list with all the titles I've yet to read :) Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

Shoot me a message down below. My squeal is worse than my snort ^.^