I was suffering from piles, er, I mean stacks, as well, but I went out and bought some boards to use as shelves. I stack books I've already read as the "ends" and then shelve books between. I stack another board on top and keep building (like a layer cake). This doesn't take away from the fact that I have a bookshelf as tall as me in my bedroom (full), 2 bookshelves half as tall as me (full), a hanging book shelf (full) and 2 layers on top of my desk.

One time, I went into the hardware store looking for shelf ideas and this guy working there told me he has the "best" way to put of shelves. Basically, you take two pieces of wood and drill them into the corner of a room, like such: ______| , where the pointed end is the corner, right? Then you simply lay a board on top of it and (if it's perfectly level), it'll stay. Stupid me, I run home and do it (right above my bed). Three weeks later, I'm reading in bed and something must have happened because 2 boards and a shower of heavy books rained down on my head. When I woke up, I was like, "Screw this", so I now use the boards as described in the first paragraph.

At the top of the "to read" stack on my desk:

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

amy | March 2, 2004 8:09 AM

wow, what can i say?
i'm not there!
i do have a bookshelf almost full, one of those tall ones.
then i have no more than six books spread throughout my bedroom and maybe the living room.
the books that i thought were least important, instead of putting them on the bookshelf, i put them away in my closet where no one can see them, hehe.
part of the reason i joined bookblog was to have some direction and organization in reading a book!
i used to read three at the same time and i realized i wasn't getting any reading done, but now i keep it down to one. :D
a book a month is enough for me.
what i do have lots of that's laying around my house is newspapers!
newspapers that i've yet to read!
and cd's too.
but damn those newspapers!

ana | March 2, 2004 11:16 AM

I'm sort of the opposite of a book hoarder: The books that occupy my shelves are ones that I worship. I purge the others out of my collection. I have many, though, that I've yet to read, and may or may not remain in the collection. I don't have them organized as well as Amy, though, separated by what I have and have not read.

The books I do have exist on two shelves: a standard six-shelf bookcase in my office for older books and reference materials, and three shelves in the living room for the best books I own. All of the above are from Ikea, and all are getting full. I will likely add a new bookshelf to accommodate the increasing lack of space; there's not much left to purge.

Like Ana, I do, however, hoard newspapers and magazines -- at least until I've read them; then I take pleasure in recycling them. I think I'm currently reading the Sunday New York Times from the weekend after the New Hampshire primary.

Andy | March 2, 2004 5:28 PM

I wouldn't call my book space orgainized. There's no rhyme or reason as to where books are shelved. It's so bad that even books that are part of a trilogy are in three different locations. I keep telling my self I'll td "the great re-shuffle" someday (by genre, then by author), but I'd need to dedicate one room to be a home library first.

amy | March 3, 2004 9:19 AM

Like Andy, I purge on a regular basis. After I've read something, I pass it along to someone else as quickly as possible since I don't have much storage space. My already read pile is by far the shortest, but the others add up to somewhere around 200 books. (I'm sure Amy has me beat, though.)

marydell | March 3, 2004 10:36 PM

I think at least five of my books are from Mary's collection.

Amy, stacking already read books in one pile and making unread ones more accessible definitely counts as organization. It's rather smart.

A tangential question: How many books are you all reading right now? I think I'm reading four. Maybe five.

Andy | March 4, 2004 1:04 PM

Right now I'm only reading one fiction book, but that's because I can only handle one storyline at a time. Otherwise, I can't keep the books straight.

However, I do also have 4 other books I'm reading (all non-narrative non-fiction) for classes and work. I do much better keeping track of books that are designed to allow you to skip around.

marydell | March 4, 2004 3:46 PM

I'm glad to hear that someone besides me keeps unread newspapers around. If I havent read it, its news to me! But now I can read it all online...no more need for unsightly piles of paper that remind you of how little you've read. In terms of books, I only buy the ones that really move me- the rest come from the library. I am a constant at the public librbary picking up books I had on hold. If I bought every book I wanted I'd be on skid row by now.

april | March 4, 2004 9:31 PM

I can only read one book at a time.

amy | March 5, 2004 10:16 AM

oh...my comment wasn't posted :(
now i have to do it again!
anyway,
i haven't started reading Bridges of Birds yet.
but i am reading in and out through The Collected Poems of Tennesse Williams, The Boondocks Collection: Right to be Hostile, and a bunch of local newspapers.
(i don't think those count though, ;) hehe)
although i can read the news online, i don't want to spend my entire day on the computer.
besides, i only read news online to newspapers that i don't have an easy access to in the non-virtual world, or if i know that i can't get a certain underground newspaper that week, i'll catch it online.

ana | March 5, 2004 11:32 AM

There are two floor to ceiling bookshelves in my apartment - one with my books, the other with my girlfriends that keep our "have been read and must be kept" books, and two small book cases near my desk. One keeps reference books and paperbacks to be read, the other keeps the remainder of my to be read and has the "in progress" shelf as the top.

There are currently 18 books in the "currently reading" list, not including reference books, but including short story collections and poetry.

Joel | March 5, 2004 12:06 PM

I work in a University Library. I work a lot in the stacks with missing books, and consortium loan, interlibrary loan, etc. When I find a book I'd like to read, I snag it, so I end up with piles of books on my desk. Fortunately, I have a lot of time to read at work, say for instance it gets slow at the circ desk. I also have piles of books from my local library. I go through the online catalog, put in requests, and then have my boyfriend pick them up for me. Then I have the books that people give to me to read, not a lot of those, but a few. I try to keep a list of books that I am currently reading on my website, but its never 100% correct. Right now, I'm in the middle of Middlesex and Salt and a travel book called Not so Funny at the time. I'm reading two memoirs She's Gone Country and Made in America. I also got Bridge of Birds yesterday, but I want to have at least one of the fiction's finished befor starting on it.

manda | March 6, 2004 11:31 AM

Has anyone had any experiences, good or bad, with these books that I'm currently reading?:"Five Finger Discount","The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime", "Mefisto", and "Pox: Genius, Madness and the Mysteries of Syphilis". I'd love to hear any of your takes on any of these books on my "currently reading"list.

april | March 8, 2004 8:08 PM

I always feel so unread when I hear about the books others are reading. Five-Finger Discount happens to be in one of my TBR piles, so I should get to it sometime before the next millenium.

Thinking about unread books also makes me want to take the train into work instead of driving since I'd have so much more reading time.

marydell | March 8, 2004 8:31 PM

hey, i wanted to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime...
sorry, no input...you tell me how it is...

ana | March 9, 2004 12:14 AM

Ana- "The Curious Incident.." is so great- I'm only a quarter of the way through it and I know it will take its place on my favorite's shelf. I cant recommend it highly enough. Also, it reads fast. Marydell- I also feel like a dunce when I read other people's reading lists. But then I think, why should I when I've got a list of my own?

april | March 10, 2004 9:34 AM

It's my first posting, hello ladies and gentlemen :)

I must admit I buy books about one hundred times faster than read them (As a non-English speaker, it is somehow inevitable though). Well, the thing is that I cannot pass a good deal at the secondhand bookstore. Many in English literature, mostly hardcovers. One per less than ten bucks, pretty good deal I think. (yes, a perfect excuse.) Also a lot of recommended books for my cinematography major. I began to buy some photography books, and to subscribe magazines (four magazines so far: The New Yorker, Vogue, and two other design ones). Now I put books in my 'only' bookshelf, closet, and under my bed. There would be no space in no time. I have got no idea what to do yet. I am not a packrat but...:D

In this weekend, I'm going to rearrange my bookshelf with books in need to read (yes, usually for college.) Here comes the books expected to be in my bookshelf besides textbooks: "The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse" (it's like my bible), "Lord Darcy" by Randall Garrett, "Negotiating with the dead" by Margaret Atwood, "Goodbye, Columbus" by Philip Roth. I finished "Wit the play" today and still need to get "Bridges of the bird".

Kairha | March 11, 2004 1:58 AM

i used to do like kairha. i'd buy anything that i thought was a good deal. but i've stopped because i am broke :/
althought i just bought six books from the library's "for sale books."
their deal is fill up one bag for $1.
not bad.

ana | March 11, 2004 12:33 PM

That's great deal Ana, What book did you buy from the library book sale? (Unfortunately I haven't found any library book sale around yet) ps. I got Bridge of birds today :D

Kairha | March 12, 2004 1:26 AM

I'm greedy when it comes to books. And when I'm in a bookstore, I lost my mind. Right now I have about 450 books. They fill up both of my six levels of book shelves. Books that I read but I treasure them I put at the back row. Books that I read, which I want to give away I pile up on the floor which is higher than me now.
Recently I bought a steel rack (the one they use in the kitchen restaurant) to hold my books about writing, and a dozen or so of wire bound excercise books I use to write my journal and writing practice. I am on four different books which I list in my weblog.

AnaSalwa | March 12, 2004 4:12 AM

oh, nothing special.
i just got three of shakespear's play. one of them is titus, the other is anthony and cleopatra, and the other i don't remember.
i also got a collection of swift's work,
and a collection of short stories (my fave.)
yea, they aren't that big a deal, but i got them for my collection.

ana | March 13, 2004 12:08 PM

Oh, are you collecting Shakespear's and Swift's? that's wonderful. I would like to read Shakespear's but still my humble English does not allow me to comprehend them yet. (I read a translation of Four Tragedies long ago though. Oh, you remind me that I abandoned my oxford edition of Hamlet somewhere in my closet, I've got to find it!) In that way, modern literatures are easier :)
ps. I got Summerland hc for 2.5 bucks today. I accicentally stopped by at a secondhand store and found it. I would like to die for Michael Chabon's books. A lovely deal. hehe.

Kairha | March 13, 2004 9:42 PM