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Have you ever looked at your bookshelves—like, really looked? A bookshelf can tell you a lot about a person. You can tell if a person is organized or unorganized; the latest books that were read by the dust print when they were moved; what type of person they are by the book types on the shelves; and if they’re able to control their book buying habits by how full their shelves are and how many shelves they have. Are their shelves neatly arrange with one row of books, and even some room for decor? Or are their shelves two rows deep with books stacked on top of that, and now that you’re looking around is there any surface in the room that doesn’t have a pile of books on it?
So what does your bookshelf say about you? Take a good look at your bookshelves, and while you’re at it, see if you recognize some of the common book types people have on their shelves:
- Books that Make You Look Smart: This is that copy of Atlas Shrugged sitting on your bookshelf. You know it’s supposed to be a thought-provoking, life-altering novel, but have you seen how tiny the font is? And it’s like 500 pages for just one speech? But doesn’t it look fabulous sitting in your office?
- Books You Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead Reading in Public: These are those guilty pleasure reads like Twilight, or 50 Shades of Grey. You know there are better books out there, but for some reason, you can’t help yourself.
- Books You Felt Obligated to Own: Oftentimes, these books take the form of the classics, but not always. Maybe you bought them because you’re not confident in your reading habits and think that all “real” readers have read these books even though the books don’t actually interest you. Maybe you were really interested in reading them once, but then realized they weren’t for you and went back to your beloved romances. Whatever the reason, these books now sit with perfect spines collecting dust, and you just hope that no one ever asks you about how you liked them.
- Books You Bought because of Movies: These are the books you bought after seeing the movie because “books are always better than the movie.” You know this is true in your heart, and feel like you probably should read the book if you’ve seen the movie. However, the movie was really only “okay,” so you’ve never really felt like actually reading the book. But the thought makes you feel better about only seeing the movie.
- Mainstream, Secondhand Books: So you thought you’d give a secondhand bookstore a try, and had a hard time looking through the countless novels by mainstream authors like James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, etc., to find the gems you know were hidden there somewhere. You didn’t want to leave empty-handed and recognized the authors, so you bought a couple. You might have even read a couple of the books too before realizing that they were essentially all the same.
- Books You Haven’t Read since High School: Maybe you really like the book, maybe you just know it’s supposed to be a classic. Whatever the case, long past your high-school years, you felt compelled to pick up a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and bring it home with you. You might have pretended like you wanted to read it again someday, but in all honesty, you haven’t touched it since you brought it home.
- Books that Have Been Read So Many Times, the Covers Are Falling Apart: These are your favorite novels. The books that you couldn’t live without. You’ve read them so many times, you have them memorized, but turn their worn pages anyway for nostalgia’s sake.
- Books You Judged by their Covers: They looked interesting. You’ve never heard of them, and the back matter didn’t tell you much, but they were pretty, so you thought, why not?
- Books You’ve “Borrowed”: We know you have a “borrowed” book. I’m sure you’re still planning on returning it someday, but it’s already been like 10 years, so what will a couple more years hurt?
- Books You Started but Never Finished: Let’s face it, some books just don’t deserve to be finished. However, as an avid reader, you never were quite able to get over the uneasiness of not finishing it, so you keep it around “just in case.”
- Books You Finished but Wished You hadn’t: These are the books from the above category that you finished against your better judgment and now realize that’s several hours of your life you’ll never get back. You keep these books around to remind you why you shouldn’t feel obligated to pick back up the never finished books.
- Books You Bought because Your Friends Told You to: You knew this book probably wasn’t really the book for you, but your friend raved about it and begged you to read it, so you gave in. Admittedly, it was an okay read, but maybe not one you needed to own for the rest of your life.
- Children’s Books You’ve Saved for Your Kids: You’ve had the entire series of Charlie Bone, Nancy Drew Mysteries, and The Box Car Children taking up valuable shelf space for years, but you can’t even think of getting rid of them because your children need to read and love them someday.
- Books You’re not Sure where They Came from, But Can’t Throw Out: Maybe it was given to you as a gift? Maybe it was a school book that never found it’s way home? You’re not sure how these odds and ends books found their way onto your shelf, but you’re not sure what to do with them now that they’re there. You’ve thought about getting rid of them, but can’t quite bring yourself to do it because you don’t feel like you’ve given them a fair chance. Besides, what if one of your friends ask for one of them back someday?
- Books You Were Told Were “Really Good,” but You Don’t Get: The book, as you were told, is truly inspiring and masterfully written. It’s up for about a hundred awards and is literally the best book so-and-so has read in years. You started reading it, but didn’t really “get” it. Ashamed to admit your shortcomings, you’ve kept it around in case one day you suddenly become smarter and it clicks.
- Books You Bought because of Book Club: No one ever really wants to read the books they’re assigned in book club, but you love buying them every month so you can have an excuse to meet up with your friends to talk about pretty much everything except for the book you were supposed to read.
- Books You Bought because a Celebrity Told You To: Deep down, you knew better than to do this but were blinded by Oprah’s all-knowingness and the real-life face of Hermione Granger.
- Books You Have a Nice Copy and a Reading Copy of: These are the books that you have read over and over again, or loved and didn’t want to destroy. So, when you came across the same novel at a secondhand bookstore, you thought, “why not?” Or, perhaps you bought the paperback version first and loved it so much that you wanted a nice hard copy version of it as well. Heck, maybe you bought a second copy of it just so you could let your friends read it without risking your original copy. Whatever the reason, there are those certain books that you have two copies of and you know one’s better than the other.
- Most Importantly Of All, the Books that Carry a Piece of You in Them: This is every single book on your bookshelf. The ones that you’ve read and the ones that have yet to be read. They carry the memories of when you bought them, read them, and talked about them with your friends. They hold on to the feelings of stress you feel when you haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. They remember the times you cried when a favorite character died, the family vacation when you dropped it into the water, or the time long-long ago when you got grounded from the book before you could finish. They remember how tired you were when you had to “just get past this cliffhanger” at 3:00 in the morning. Your collection grows as you grow, and it’s so hard to let books go because it’s like letting a part of yourself go with it. So, you just keep letting them stack up. You just keep buying more shelves. And you let your memory library thrive.
Do you have any of these book types on your shelves? Let us know in the comments below!
Happy reading!
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Most of my books on the shelf are very old song books from my grandmother. I also have the first Bible my brother got me (kids) version and the blue set you used to read at the dentists office. Because of space the books I read the most now are on my kindle. I have 2 bookcases devoted to nothing but painting. I love to oil paint and it show in the books I tend to collect. Thanks for asking
I like romance, western romance and thrillers like Stephen King stories!
I had to pare down my books about 9 years ago when my daughter and her infant son moved in. I gradually did it one shelf at a time from 3 floor to ceiling book cases. I already had been reading on Kindle, it was a bit easier. But kept any that were gifts or couldn’t find on Amazon. I still buy an occasional book on vacation, if it is a local history. Now if you looked at my Kindle selection it is over 1200 books. I got the Kindle when it was first introduced years ago and read everyday, usually for a half hour before sleeping at night. Or on the Kindle app on my phone when I have to wait anywhere.
My bookshelves are stacked two rows deep, with more books stacked on top of that. Chairs, boxes, dressers, etc. are all stacked with books. Nearly all of them have been read at least twice, and the genres cover the whole spectrum. In addition, I have a vast kindle library, which contains more books than most city libraries, and which I add to on a daily basis. I belong to dozens of ebook sites and follow many authors. Eighty percent of my time is spent reading, and I couldn’t be happier. Make of it what you will, just don’t try to pull my attention from what I’m reading!
I understand that perhaps many of the people you wrote for have had those experiences but I’m a very well read English teacher and I’ve read Atlas Shrugged and understood it. Romances often bore me to tears. I have books in my library I haven’t read but I will or I wouldn’t keep them and I’ve NEVER bought a book and shelved it to impress people and make them think I’m smarter than I am because I intimidate people enough with my genius IQ! So let’s face it; while this was entertaining it did not describe me in ANY category!
yes.. all of the……. i love books, i have them on my shelves, under my bed, under my computer, even on my stairs.. and closets. all types of books.
We moved and downsized five years ago. More than half of my books were repurchased as ebooks, so that part wasn’t too very difficult. Yet my collection of Bible translations (make me look smart), hymnals past and present (make me look talented), music from my youth and parents’ youth (feed my nostalgia), multiple copies of books my sister and I have published (for when somebody needs a copy or gifts), books by people I have known throughout my life (honoring the friendships and reminding me we all have something to contribute) ….. these remain but have been neatly organized into a six shelf book closet 7 feet wide and a smaller six shelf bookcase 4 feet wide, and the top shelf of my closet 9 feet wide. I have read nearly all of them at least once, and keep those I have not read for future use. (Those are primarily theological studies suitable for teaching Bible Studies.)
The few novels that remain, other than those by people I have known, are favorites. Most, including the Bible translations, I own in eBook as well, but I love studying from a real book. Any light reading….novels, etc…. I no longer purchase in print, strictly eBooks. Well, sometimes I bring some home from the library just to have them in my hands. 50 Shades of Gray was loaned to me and promptly returned, although I made use of a coupon to get the series free in digital form, just in case.
Any others (half my original collection) were sold at yard sale or donated to library and charity.
I have all of those minus the 2000 paper backs I finally traded to a book store for, you guessed it, more books!
I have some of my kids books for the grandkids, the rest are my favourites and the new ones that I’ve won. No dust bunnies, perfectly straight
I recently had to move. Took advantage of this to cull bookshelves again. Am down to the books that I have read many times or used to make things from. All are books that have been sold or given away in previous moves; then rebought as soon as I could afford to. Never want to have to buy these favourites again!!
Any book on my shelves is one I’ve read, re-read and enjoyed. Nothing is useless and I learn from everything. Even the boring ones! I never throw out a book. I might give a few away that weren’t enjoyable – usually to hospital, rest homes etc.
I have bought every copy of Jim Butcher’s Storm Front (book one of The Dresden Files) I see in used bookstores to give to friends to introduce them to this amazing series. I have loaned out so many, and never get them back.
Most of my books are side-stacked to cram more in, but they are organized by author and genre. I have 11 bookshelves, one that is all Star Trek. And yeah, I have all the Twilight books. I am such an immersive reader that I mostly gave it up to raise my children. My daughter begged me to read Twilight, and it re-started my print addiction. I have 5-600 books, not counting ebooks. Many were acquired at library book sales and I just haven’t gotten to them yet.
Most of these apply. LOL- I have the two and three deep shelves with books also stacked every where else as well. Have tried and tried to cut back- have passed some on and around and yet more than plenty left but there are plenty I won’t dare to get rid of yet. Even so many more on the Nook. Yep I have to get the Micro SD to get more memory- space is at a premium on there also. LOL
All of them!!
By Sarah James, thanks! And thanks for sharing your great posts every week!
4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 19
I LOVE my books and Always carry one wherever l go.
I’ve found whenever life is hard, and that’s been most days that l can escape and lose myself in my books. It has been a sanity saver to be able to magically go into my book and escape.
7, 8 9 & 19. I had a hallway lined with bookshelves full of books for 23 years. All my childhood ones included then three years ago we moved to a much smaller house and most of my books went to new homes. I still have a wardrobe full of my magic fairy books and two bookshelves of books. All the other bookshelves are gone but my Kindle and iBooks are filled with enough books to keep reading for the rest of my life! I have also given my best fairy books to dear friends with children to read to. My children’s books were too dusty for me to handle so went to a new home. That I deeply regret. I would love another copy of Enid Blyton’s The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree. My favourite books ever. They got me through a lot of illness when young.
At 62, and recently we culled over 50% of our combined- librarian and theologian (with over 50 bibles and 150 cookbooks in the mix)- as we prepared to downsize, I have to say most of what I still own has a piece of me in it. I have actually read- and enjoyed Ayn Rand. I loved the Twilght series and own them all- used. I own hardbacks of HP in their original- including a Brit #5. We still have a shelf of cookbooks, as well as yellowing, falling apart Jean Auel mass market copies.
And I don’t want to share just how many ebooks I own…but let’s just say I read 195 books so far this year
The sad one is #9. The only time I ever borrowed a book is from a library, I’m the only true reader I know.
All these types except 17. My family and I love reading and have books in every room.
I can relate… =) Yes. I have many informational, smart-sounding books. But only because they contain information I wish to study, learn and know. Though long ago I purged my collection of ‘obligatory books’ due to space. Except for two of them as they were gifts from friends. Though I’ve done a good job of not buying into the ‘because they’re classics’ mode. Sorry, Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, and Emily Bronte, you’re all not my type. Mayhap I’ll watch a movie, but as for buying the book? Don’t count on it.
And yes. I’m very judgmental over the covers. It’s gotta have something on the cover to indicate it’s of the particular genre/time period of stuff I’m interested in.
Buy me a book and mayhap I’ll read it. If it fits my fancy, that is. Tell me to buy a book? Nope. I only buy what I think I’m going to read and enjoy more than once. My library has limited space after all. I’ve used up all my shelves. Again. I need to re-arrange my library. Again.
Yes. Recently I’ve been acquiring quite a few children’s books with the intent of sharing ’em with the kids I’m going to have one day. And they’re books I’ve wanted anyway, so totally a valid excuse that it’s an investment…
Nope. I don’t join book clubs. They only seem to be into really boring, sappy sounding books. Like, please. I don’t need self-help and new age feel-good books…
There’s the books you don’t have time to read now and save to read when you retire.
I don’t have book shelves anymore. I only have a few hard copy books that I have only just acquired from authors, maybe 8.
All my books are in my kindle library now. But in there I have quite a few that have a little bit of me in them. I have # 8, 11, 14 and 19. None of the others.
All apply except for 1, 2, 3, 16, 17…^^
only books that carry a piece of me in them!