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Which is yours? By the wonderful Grace Farris.
P.S. Reading styles and reading positions.
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The Reading Rainbow, of course! It’s an excellent way to add pops of color to a living room or study.
Mine is divided by the language of the book (4 English, French, Portuguese and Arabic). And depending On how big is the language category, there’s subcategories of topic. So it’s like a real library, if you’re staying at my home, you will easily find what you want to read, first by the language and then the topic :)
I was tight squeeze but then in 2019, I ended up getting some bookcases from someone who didn’t want eight almost 9-foot wood bookcases they had. I just had to uninstall them from their house, then I could have them, for free. It ended up being a lot of work (for me and three very, very kind friends), but it was totally worth it. Five of the bookcases run along the long wall of the living room, and there’s only a couple of inches of extra space on the sides and top, so the sizing couldn’t have been much better and still fit. They look like we had them made for the space. But since they go up to the ceiling, we are not longer really tight-squeeze people anymore. :) (It’s one of the luckiest finds ever!)
Those color-blocked rainbow bookshelves give me anxiety. It’s just NOT aesthetically appealing to me ,for whatever reason. I respect your decision to do that if you must, but please know — you are causing me pain.
Tight squeeze forever
I am somewhere between stylish and tight squeeze depending on the day, but I’m getting some new custom shelves installed next week and then hopefully it can be all stylish all day!
I’m definitely tight squeeze. We are trying to downsize so we now have a rule – 1 book in, 1 book out. I only have books that I’ll read over and over or are in some way technical. I have 1 shelf just for library books and I give the library a healthy donation at the end of the year so they can buy new books.
Somewhere between library and tight squeeze. I do give books away, sometimes 4 or 5 boxes at a time, but I am sure they reproduce in the wee hours…and going to readings is like eating out too much; inevitably, it’s going to add a few pounds…
Tight squeeze. I live with an academic and I’m no slouch at book-buying myself. We have more than 250 linear feet of shelf space and it isn’t nearly enough.
100% stylish bookworms here. We are pretty minimalist so we each have 2-3 library books on the nightstands and maybe a non-library book or two that are from or on their way to the little free libraries that our town loves so much. If I buy a book. It’s usually an ebook that I can’t get elsewhere.
Random: I just got back from returning my family’s last (curbside) book haul. As I slipped the books through that little drop slot drawer thing, I caught a whiff of The Library Smell and OH how I miss going inside…
A blend of stylish bookworm and reading rainbow.
My books are arranged by subject (Sci Fi, Cooking, Travel) with each section in a rainbow. Artwork is tucked in where space allows.
I loved this idea so much I tried it myself! I had just rearranged my bookshelf by subject and wasn’t satisfied with how it looked, now I love having mini rainbows on each shelf! Thanks for the inspo :)
I’m definitely a mixture of bookworm/stylish and squeeze all the books I can fit onto my shelves. I have all kinds of plants also mixed it between and on top of book stacks.
I love my books.
Absolutely tight squeeze!!
Tight squeeze–English major, academic librarian, and now a part-time graduate student in a reading-heavy discipline, so lots of books here! I’d have more if I didn’t work somewhere I can use books for free. :)
Tight squeeze all the way, I cannot get rid of books because each one reminds me of a moment in time.
After having three children, our book collection got out of control (not to mention our overflowing library bags that are scattered across the apartment). We have a seasonal rotation, so right now Spring, Summer, and Fall are packed in boxes in the closet. It is always fun changing out the books and rediscovering them, but I mostly do it this way because it creates another way to store our enormous (and growing) collection.
What a delightful thread here, I am the Library here, I was at my library as a child all the time, books became my friends so now I have a wall of books as I love the library look of my childhood, it is comfortable to me. I also have run out of space so there are piles of books everywhere here, I put books in piles by authors mostly so I can go there to find what I want. and subjects also as those are in a certain place here when I want them. Yet I will be buying more books from my favorite sites as I have a sister who loves books as much as me and we talk books all the time. We compete over books, most ancient history books about times long ago.
friendships over books are the best friendships! I love the way you write Emma!
I’m a tight squeeze that tries to be stylish by adding various decor to the bookshelf too!
Reading Rainbow all the way! I know it drives some people crazy, but to me it seems more orderly. And fun! And I have an excellent memory where my books are concerned – I can remember what the spine looks like for nearly any book, so when I’m looking for one I know exactly what color section to go to. Besides, even if it takes you a minute to find a book that you’re looking for, there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’m stylish bookworm, tight squeeze, and stylish floor piles(not pictured) all over my house.
Tight Squeeze. I adore children’s books. Now my boys are aging apart – early chapter books for big bro but still some board books for 3 yr old, and all the glorious picture books! Man these different sizes are tricky. But parsing down the books is not an option :-)
hahahaha! I love this.
We’re a tight-squeeze family, for sure. Although the kids’ picture books are a rainbow tight squeeze ;) Well… the ones that aren’t piled up in overflowing bins in bedrooms and family spaces…
Add the, “Reverse the Bindings So that Books Face Page Front.”
Design photography loves it. People who actually read books, not so much!
It started as a rainbow and is currently a tight squeeze. The span of time? Quarantine.
I am for sure the tight squeeze, that masquerades as a stylish bookworm. I LOVE looking at people’s bookshelves. Those Zoom bookshelf sneak peeks are everything!
I recognized an unusual book based on a peek of it’s spine in the background of a zoom call!
It was with a coworker, so I felt comfortable saying “so… this is a strange questions, but is that book behind you…”
I display my books in a way not shown here, because it’s ridiculous. All the spines face the wall. It keeps the shelf looking clean and quiet. And I know how to find the book I need (most of the time).
This blows my mind, Kate!
My personal bookcase these days is mostly digital, but my kids bookshelves are definitely Tight Squeeze, about to launch out of the shelf bookcases.
I love books and have plenty of them all over the house–on shelves neatly and stacked on bedside tables not so neatly. I have to say that I don’t understand organizing books by color. Attractive but doesn’t seem the least bit functional.
I have started sorting my books in the living room by colour because it’s so pretty to look at – but also because I actually usually have a picture in my head of the book I’m searching for and I can search by colour!
To be fair it’s best within categories… Searching for the 3rd book in a series if they’re all different colours would be a waste of time.
tight squeeze over here! I’m always trying to get rid of books, but not until I’ve read them….
I start stylish bookworm and inevitably end up tight squeeze
My new fave is the Reading Rainbow. I’m quite intrigued by a bookcase arrange in rainbow or color-block fashion. It’s such a dramatic statement. And I also want to know how the owner shops for books–do they thoughtfully look at the color of the spines and purchase accordingly, or do they just select their books for other reasons and then fit them into the arranged scheme after the fact?
books, books, and more books results in the tight squeeze for me!
Definitely the tight squeeze! I just don’t know any other way ?
I’m such a tight squeeze. I have four full bookshelves. My dream is to have a home office/library one day with matching bookshelves and plenty of room for new additions.
The tight squeeze, definitely. I have bookcases in every room except the bathrooms, and still, not enough space :-). And yet I weed out books regularly!
RESPECT for the tight squeeze readers! (Although I have to say I just rainbow organized my 5- year-old son’s bookcase and it has really helped us mix up what we read each night. I will say,” Pick from the blue section! ” It narrows the choices and helps us explore new authors.)
This is a great idea! I’ve thought about a little display shelf where I rotate books to encourage discovery of what we have, but who am I kidding?
I love this idea! Thanks Laurel, I’m going to give this a go with my kids books too :)
Tight squeeze! My fiction shelves are behind me on work Zoom calls and everyone remarks on their state. I need to do some weeding. There are about a zillion Little Libraries in my neighborhood. I will just walk around dropping off a couple of books in each one! (Someday…not today!)
It would be the stylish sort; I like to mix my books with beloved objects:small portraits, pictures, embroideries, mirrors, wooden toys. I love it, like a whole world around books. I really like your drawings, always so right.
I aspire to book-worm-but-stylish, but in reality it’s a tight squeeze bordering on hoarderish. (not to be confused with horseradish) I love books and I love bookcases. There’s nothing more exciting than meeting a new person and discovering an over the top bookcase associated with them.
I agree… I’m immediately pulled to bookshelves in peoples’ homes.
My style leans (way) more toward “piles of various sizes everywhere, even though there is space in the bookcase.”
Im def. a tight squeeze kinda girl. Love reading books. Love saving books. Love displaying books. Love looking at other peoples book collections.
Me too Lizzz.
Tight squeeze here.
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