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Cap. Monocle posted:Thanks guys. These gave me some good ideas. Not going to be copying anything onto vellum though. I sort my fiction alphabetically by author. Non-fiction gets sorted by topic [not a source of confusion because there are very few non-fiction books about wizards who are also romantic time-travellers who solve true crimes in space]. Either way, I always leave a little bit of space at one end of the bookshelf or the other, temporarily filled with a bookend or tchotchke or something, so if I buy more books I have wiggle room.
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Aug 20, 2010 09:05
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My library is a total unorganised mess that only I can navigate. Every time I move house I promise myself I will finally sort out some sort of system, but I never do. Woe be to my poor husband if he tries to find a particular book, he'll be in there for hours.
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Aug 20, 2010 11:36
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7 y.o. bitch posted:
poo poo, but where do I catalog The Time Machine? Perhaps I'll just have to perpetually move it around the library. I can set up a little steam-driven model railroad for it.
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Aug 20, 2010 18:26
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I sort all my books by date of purchase or other acquisition (marked discretely in pencil inside the front cover of course). This obviously presents a problem with things like amazon orders, so I number them in the order I take them out of the box. Book sales are more difficult but I've gotten pretty good about remembering what order I pick things up in.
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Aug 21, 2010 04:54
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Back when I had a bookshelf, it was something like this: Genre, then author, then works of that author arranged in alphabetical order. Sadly I moved overseas and left most of my books behind, and what I do have left is stacked all around my computer on my desk, which makes me feel like Hanta from Too Loud a Solitude whenever I'm doing my coursework.
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Aug 21, 2010 08:34
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I no longer have the room to keep books, so I make sure to buy them as ebooks now. Problem is OCD when it comes to organizing them, but Alfa Ebooks Manager seems to be working for me so far. Currently have it categorized in several ways, sorting them by series, author, and publication date.
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Aug 21, 2010 20:37
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I just put things on a shelf in whatever order looks nicest, though I do group all of a given author's work together.
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Aug 22, 2010 00:17
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Novels, plays, and poetry alphabetically by author. Anthologies of similar types together. Books in other languages grouped with relevant dictionaries/grammar books. Non-fic by planet in ascendant at moment of author's birth.
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Aug 22, 2010 03:23
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So I don't actually have bookshelves at the moment (or a bed, or a desk, or chairs, or lighting ...), so I went to IKEA for the first time today, and I don't think I've ever been more overwhelmed/confused/disoriented by a retail store in my life.
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Aug 22, 2010 04:44
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ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIX
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Try the Förlötsåbök line.
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Aug 22, 2010 13:25
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In all seriousness, just hit up goodwill or the salvation army for a used bookshelf. I don't see the point in dropping $60 on something new when you can pick up a used one for a third of the price.
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Aug 22, 2010 16:55
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7 y.o. bitch posted:So I don't actually have bookshelves at the moment (or a bed, or a desk, or chairs, or lighting ...), so I went to IKEA for the first time today, and I don't think I've ever been more overwhelmed/confused/disoriented by a retail store in my life. I hate Ikea as much as I hate malls - I feel overwhelmed and lost and dehumanized. I simply avoid going there. rasser fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Aug 23, 2010 |
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Aug 22, 2010 19:02
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rasser posted:I hate Ikea as much as I hate malls - I feel overwhelmed and lost and dehumanized. I simply going there. I don't really go to malls if I don't have to, but I thought IKEA was pretty fun, just enormous and confusing for your first time. And all the stuff looked cool and was pretty cheap, and I was amazed at how friendly the staff was. But the fact that they sell food as well really creeped me out.
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Aug 22, 2010 19:32
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barkingclam posted:In all seriousness, just hit up goodwill or the salvation army for a used bookshelf. I don't see the point in dropping $60 on something new when you can pick up a used one for a third of the price. Yeah but if everyone took this advice, there wouldn't be any furniture in the used stores. Also, some people like buying new stuff. I'd much rather spend the extra money to get a nice set of new bookshelves, but then I'm at the point in my life where I'm a homeowner and I'm trying to move away from the bachelor lifestyle.
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Aug 22, 2010 23:13
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My dad made a set of bookshelves for my sister when she went to college, which I inherited after she graduated (she's not much of a reader by nature). They're about ten feet tall and 3.5 feet wide each (there are 4 of them), basically an entire wall of my room is shelf. I really like the look, will probably continue doing it wherever I live throughout my life.
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Aug 22, 2010 23:46
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Used shelves are good if they're solid wood. And if you've got a place to refinish them, 'cause if they're solid wood and they're cheap, they're probably ugly. Most cheap used shelves are particle board, and your chance of finding a few in the same style are slim. Ikea is useful for bookshelves. I'm ashamed to say I once bought cookies at an Ikea and they were surprisingly good.
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Aug 23, 2010 03:13
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Ornamented Death posted:Also, some people like buying new stuff. I'd much rather spend the extra money to get a nice set of new bookshelves, but then I'm at the point in my life where I'm a homeowner and I'm trying to move away from the bachelor lifestyle. Yeah, when I was in undergrad, I slept on a futon, bought all my furniture from thrift stores in Lincoln Heights, and my bosses would even give me free stuff. But since I'm starting grad school, I figured it might be nice to actually have a nice place/set of furniture since I'll be using it essentially as an office/reading/researching area, and since I won't be moving (at least very far) for the next six years. Plus, if I bring someone over, matching furniture just looks nicer and like I sorta give a drat, and I haven't really had a place before where I felt like I could really create an expressive and comfortable room for myself, and now that I have the funds to, I really wanted to do that. I guess I just want to be seen more as a professional than as a student.
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Aug 23, 2010 04:20
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Facial Fracture posted:I'm ashamed to say I once bought cookies at an Ikea and they were surprisingly good. Were they the thin orange flavored ones? I almost picked those up, kinda wish I had now.
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Aug 23, 2010 04:21
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Facial Fracture posted:I'm ashamed to say I once bought cookies at an Ikea and they were surprisingly good. A great part of the World seems to like industrial grade Scandinavian cookies. I avoid them like I avoid Ikea and go for the rare, overpowered handmade American style gourmet cookie instead. Globalisation indeed. I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I really need that someone to share my interests with - and my beloved girlfriend just reads chick lit and Stieg Larsen while I'm keen on discussing Arendt, Levi, Calvino, Miller etc etc. I'm very satisfied with her otherwise, but she has crap for literature taste.
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Aug 23, 2010 17:35
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rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I really need that someone to share my interests with - and my beloved girlfriend just reads chick lit and Stieg Larsen while I'm keen on discussing Arendt, Levi, Calvino, Miller etc etc. I'm actually pretty lucky that a friend of mine also reads a lot about sports and was an ancient history major, so I can talk about most of what I read, but I find that on the whole I don't really talk about books too often. It's not really a big deal. I guess if I get really lonely about my literary, I could hit up craigslist or something. Also, I hear IKEA has pretty good breakfast, although I haven't tried it yet.
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Aug 23, 2010 18:41
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7 y.o. bitch posted:Were they the thin orange flavored ones? I almost picked those up, kinda wish I had now. The ones I got were thin lemon flavoured gingersnap-type things. These: http://www.nyakers.com/English/export.htm I've since seen them in Euro-food stores here, which I think legitimizes them as edible goods. rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I really need that someone to share my interests with - and my beloved girlfriend just reads chick lit and Stieg Larsen while I'm keen on discussing Arendt, Levi, Calvino, Miller etc etc. My best friend reads romance novels she buys at yard sales so I post here, I guess. Facial Fracture fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Aug 23, 2010 |
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Aug 23, 2010 23:41
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Ikea food owns after trawling through the incessant hive cluster for a few hours, picking over which things you want right now/things you want later/things that are out of your price range but would be nice anyway. The cafeteria area is usually less dense than the rest of the place, too. It helps if the place has a good view, too. Also, lingonberry soda. But bookshelves, right. We have a patchwork of bookshelves and old, reconfigured entertainment units, and a few of the smaller, metal ikea ones (forget the name of the set) scattered around. We try to live light, but things like books/cases are something I wouldn't mind weighing down with.
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Aug 24, 2010 00:29
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rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I really need that someone to share my interests with - and my beloved girlfriend just reads chick lit and Stieg Larsen while I'm keen on discussing Arendt, Levi, Calvino, Miller etc etc. I have a few friends from college who I met at a poetry reading group, so whenever we call each other, we usually talk for a few hours at a time on whatever we're reading, and I have another good friend who was a philosophy major. Plus grad school. So I deal. But I think people who read those sorts of books tend to want to talk about them/know what you're talking about, so if you see someone at a local bookstore/cafe reading one, you should just ask them how they're liking it and mention that you like it, too, and you can often have a good chat, and then just try to maybe turn that chat into a friendship, and bada-bing bada-boom, you're doing all right. I struck a chat with an old Spanish woman at a Thai restaurant recently when I visited Berlin because she was reading Arendt's "On Violence," and even though she had a tough time with English, it was still a pleasant chat, and she was very open. But I think that even with people who don't read that kinda stuff, if you're open and friendly you can still have good conversations about books and art and culture with them, you just can't be judgmental and argumentative; deep (but friendly) arguments you probably want to save for close friends or find specific groups (bookstore reading groups, or even internet forums). Sincerity, kindness, and thoughtfulness go a long way to disarming people's natural defenses towards talking to strangers  But I think if you really want to debate the intricacies of Arendt, you're gonna have a tough go of it if that's your goal with meeting people (it shouldn't be). You could always just read Arendt scholarship for that, but I don't think friends, except very close ones or ones with very similar interests, have conversations with each other to figure out the philosophical implications of a specific writer. Conversations are usually too fluid and volatile for that, and also, the people talking usually care about each other more than whatever they're talking about. 7 y.o. bitch fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Aug 24, 2010 |
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Aug 24, 2010 01:24
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I'm poor and lovely so I mostly use milk crates/real shelves left over from college
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Aug 24, 2010 01:24
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rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I really need that someone to share my interests with - and my beloved girlfriend just reads chick lit and Stieg Larsen while I'm keen on discussing Arendt, Levi, Calvino, Miller etc etc. My best friend loves SFF, YA and literature, which is all what I read the most. We swap books. The last 10 books she's read are ones that I've recently read and loved. I read them in about 2-3 weeks, give them to her and she reads them in one or two nights, then we talk obsessively about them. It's awesome.  We're going to see China Mieville and get our books signed at the end of this month 
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Aug 24, 2010 02:11
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rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? Several of my friends are interested in the same genres as me, but I'm the only one that spends the time to discover new authors. It's a continuous game of catch-up if I want to discuss anything I've read with them.
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Aug 24, 2010 03:16
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rasser posted:I'll stop derailing and ask a question instead: How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I guess it's all about striking some sort of equilibrium, or finding a common ground. I'm lucky enough to have friends who are pretty good in their own fields, even though they're not mine. One of my best friends is a comparative lit dude, specifically Japanese/English, while I'm mostly a Renaissance English (or Early Modern, if you prefer) guy with some very specific Americanist focuses. We usually end up having involving conversations based on mechanics of things rather than content. For instance, I'll talk about some trend in scholarship regarding Ben Jonson and what this means for satire of the time period, and that'll remind him of something similar in Japanese satire of some other period, and we'll outline the positions and see if we can make any neat (if harebrained) conclusions/arguments based on that. My math-oriented friend, on the other hand, is a different case. He'll talk about some highfalutin paradox, and I'll keep up as best as I can. When it comes to reading he is mostly a sci-fi dude, big on Neal Stephenson and similar authors. So, like, when we discuss Stephenson I use it as an opportunity to segue into influences -- Pynchon, DFW, and so on -- and when I give him book recommendations that he likes then I give him other non-sf writers who have similar modes and sort of explain why those people are worth reading in and of themselves (eg, if you like Gene Wolfe, then you'll like Borges/Joyce/Proust). I don't expect him to read all of this stuff (though I've gotten him to look at some Borges and Joyce, at least) but he doesn't expect me to entirely understand how dismantling the volume of a pea and reorganizing it will give you the volume of the sun or whatever the hell, so we learn from each other to a degree and it feels like we both benefit from the discussions.
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Aug 24, 2010 05:09
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7 y.o. bitch posted:words That's pretty interesting. I struggle mightily with finding a decent reading/discussion group. I have no background in literature, just a healthy interest, so I have no ready-made group of friends who like to discuss this stuff. I couldn't find anything locally, so I've made do with internet forums, but it's not the same as actually talking to people. I'd kill to find a group of like-minded people in my city.
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Aug 24, 2010 10:00
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I basically just scoff at everyone, isn't that why everyone else reads highbrow stuff? 
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Aug 24, 2010 12:23
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Is there a textbooks thread anywhere? I am about to buy my books online but I don't know where from. edit: I never found a thread but bigwords.com searches all the major textbook outlets and gives you the sweetest deals so if you are looking for such a thing I recommend it. Corla Plankun fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Aug 24, 2010 |
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Aug 24, 2010 15:03
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Cap. Monocle posted:So how do you other bibliophiles sort your collection? Library of congress call number. It can be tedious getting started but goes quickly once you figure out the scheme (the library of congress wiki entry helps).  rasser posted:How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? I guess I don't? My friends by and large don't read, one says after college he didn't see the point in ever reading again. Sometimes I'll bring a tidbit from my reading up in conversation but generally I don't have anyone to talk to about it, and TBB tends not to be oriented towards the things I'm reading about or interested in.
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Aug 24, 2010 18:09
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Yiggy posted:one says after college he didn't see the point in ever reading again. It's really sad that almost half of all college graduates think this (at in terms of reading books).
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Aug 24, 2010 19:27
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Does anyone use the online "swap" services for books? paperbackswap.com comes to mind and I know there are others. Are they worth it, or something to forget about.
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Aug 24, 2010 20:25
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Flaggy posted:Does anyone use the online "swap" services for books? paperbackswap.com comes to mind and I know there are others. Are they worth it, or something to forget about. I used bookmooch to get rid of all my old Star Wars books. I'd say it was worth it because I got rid of 30 or so mildly embarrassing books and ended up with a lot of good stuff.
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Aug 24, 2010 21:43
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appropriatemetaphor posted:I used bookmooch to get rid of all my old Star Wars books. I'd say it was worth it because I got rid of 30 or so mildly embarrassing books and ended up with a lot of good stuff. I was going to try that with some duplicates/stuff I didn't like, but it seemed like everyone was willing to take my good books with an hour, but the waiting list for everything I wanted was like 20 people long.
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Aug 24, 2010 21:58
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Pompous Rhombus posted:I was going to try that with some duplicates/stuff I didn't like, but it seemed like everyone was willing to take my good books with an hour, but the waiting list for everything I wanted was like 20 people long. If you want a few specific books, it's probably better just to buy it or go to the library, swap sites seem better for getting things off your "I heard this was kinda interesting" list. With bookmooch, I ended up sending out about 20 books in the first week, then just kinda sat on the points and slowly snapped up good books when they appeared.
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Aug 25, 2010 00:08
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Archyduke posted:I'm poor and lovely so I mostly use milk crates/real shelves left over from college This is living.
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Aug 25, 2010 14:01
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I posted:How do you BB goons deal with the loneliness of your literaty taste, which I believe must be common for most of us? A lot of great answers. I don't think I'll chat up people in the book store that much - it's what I have the local coffee bar for and a lot of the crowd there are avid readers. 2 generations old American writers still seem popular, though. I might start behaving like Jude the obscure, there's a memorable scene in the movie (I know!) where he starts his ranting against a bar crowd. I'm not even that picky. I'd go for a change from the occasional drinking good red wine with friends and talking about women to "life sucks, man is evil. Read Levi. Oh yeah, there are few exceptions - read Arendt and Zweig also. Did you see that chick's boobs?"... No deeper discussions of philosophy needed for me, I'm way more superficial than that.
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Aug 25, 2010 14:17
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The new Gibson books drops in a couple weeks. Should I try and blast through Pattern Recognition and Spook Country til then?
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Aug 26, 2010 02:36
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Has anyone read "The Chronicles of the Black Company" or other books by Glen Cook? I bought it on a whim and I'm kind of disappointed in his style of writing. It's sort of imaginative but its like he's jumping from one thought, as if he's abusing periods.
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Aug 26, 2010 04:48
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