Bookcase Showcase: Blogger Sarah from Feeling Fictional

Hey everyone, I'm Sarah and my blog is called Feeling Fictional (http://www.feelingfictional.com/). You can occasionally catch me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/sarahsreviews) but I seem to have cured myself of my tweeting addiction so you're much more likely to catch me on Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3344685) if you want to talk about books :o)

I've been promising Kirsty a Bookcase Showcase post for months now but since I now have my very own library (it's my favourite room in the house!) it was about time I got around to taking some pics for her. I'll be the first to admit I'm not the world's tidiest person - I'm messy, I hate my hoover and you can probably write your name in the dust (if the dust bunnies don't eat you first!) but I'm actually surprisingly organised when it comes to my books. You see like many other book bloggers I have a book addiction - I seem to be constantly acquiring new books because I can never resist a bargain! It doesn't help that I have such varied tastes when it comes to books, I love both adult and YA titles across a whole selection of genres and my reading tends to go in cycles. I've not been on a crime or horror kick for a while but I hate to get rid of the books I haven't read in those genres because I know I'll want to read them one day. I've been on a paranormal kick (including paranormal romance, urban fantasy, steampunk, science fiction and dystopian) for most of the time that I've been blogging but I also enjoy historical stories and this year I've rekindled my love of contemporary romance.

 

"2012 / 2013 releases"

The shelf above can be found in my front room, this is where I keep most of my review copies and this years releases. The books look like they have been shelved at random but there is method to my madness and they are sorted by publication date, I even have a spreadsheet that I can use for reference when I'm struggling to find a book (yes, I am a geek and I'm proud of it!). I even have dividers (or pieces of cut up old calendars if you want to get picky about it) to make it easy to find the month I'm looking for.

 

"Books on these shelves are organised by release date"

When I moved into my new house I invested in seven massive new bookcases from Ikea (a whole afternoon and evening spent building them has given me mad hammer skills so you know where to come for help next time you've got to put together flat pack furniture). My spare room has dutifully been turned into a library and I love going in there just to stroke the pretty book covers. One wall has a row of 4 really tall bookshelves and those contain the majority of my current to read pile (I'm embarrassed to admit my TBR pile has crept back up to over 1000 books if you include the contents of my kindle - eeek!). The books are organised alphabetically by author surname and then sorted into series order because that makes it pretty easy to find whatever I'm looking for. As you can see from the pictures below these shelves are crammed quite full and I'm going to struggle to fit much more on them. I love having plenty of books to choose from though - I never know what I'm going to fancy reading next and every time I finish a book I get the excitement of browsing my shelves to pick out my next book - it's like a mini trip to the book store every time.

 

 "My never ending to read pile (Part 1 & 2)"

 

 

On the opposite side of the room I have another 3 massive bookcases and this is where I keep my read books. I find it much easier to be ruthless with books after I've read them so these shelves house my favourite books and signed copies, these books are also organised by author and then in series order. When I've read books they tend to do the rounds of my friends and family - I'm very happy to share my books but if I'm lending books that I want to keep then I do update my spreadsheet to show who they have gone home with (that's my inner geek showing again!). Nobody visits my house and doesn't leave with an armful of books and it will quite often take months for them to be returned which doesn't bother me at all but would make it impossible for me to remember where specific books were if I didn't make a note of it. Once they come back to me I'll decide if I really want to keep them or nor and then they are either shelved or piled up to be given away. Friends and family always get first refusal of books I'm not keeping and after that the adult books are either donated to my local library or to a charity shop while the YA books are to be boxed up and given to Kirsty so she can had them out to the kids at school. I feel much less guilty about giving so many books away now that I know they are going to good homes.

 

"Read books - favourites and signed copies only (Part 1 & 2)"

You can see there is more space available on my read shelves so I tend to fill up the gaps with silly nicknacks like these Mandeville and Wenlock Olympic Mascots. (If you want to know more about my Wenlock & Mandeville obsession you can read my blog post about them here http://www.feelingfictional.com/2012/10/london-2012-olympic-geek-out-hunt-for.html)

"Wenlock and Mandeville - I had to sneak them in this post somewhere!"

Along with the tall bookshelves I also have 3 half height cases in this room, two of them fit underneath the window and they will eventually contain my collection of children's books, coffee table type books like the Simon's Cat series by Simon Tofield and any other books that I want to have more on display. The third one is hidden behind Big Ted who is sitting comfortably in the library because I can't fit him in anywhere else in the house. At the moment this shelf is home to some of my fantasy books - just my collection of Terry Pratchett and David Eddings books for now but this will be added to later. I still have about 10 boxes of books in storage at my Dad's house and I have no idea what treasures are in there waiting for me to rediscover them so unpacking them is high on my priorities list.

 "Fantasy shelves - Terry Pratchett & David Eddings

Well I hope you've enjoyed taking a virtual tour of my shelves - I did warn you in advance that I have a book addiction and I think I've proved my point lol. I don't think it's possible to own too many books though - all I want now is a bigger library with custom built floor to ceiling shelves and one of those sliding ladders - I've always dreamed of having one of those!