Remember how I said I would not (emphasis on the not) do a bookshelf tour because mine were bordering on chaos and were likely to eat me if I attempted it?

Well … surprise! Okay, not going to lie, my shelves were a horrible mess. They’re still a mess. They will probably be a mess the day I die, but hey, it’s not my problem after that. When my grandmother passed, I inherited her books, along with a whole slew of other things, all of which happened to get shoved into my library for safekeeping. All of which I still have no idea what to do with. But the books are off my floors and out of all the bags now!

I have realized two important things in the process:

1. My books are mostly black. Like my soul? How do people get all these very pretty, colorful shelves? I feel lied to.

2. My bookshelves have a theme. It’s called “The Chaos of an ADHD Mind.” Not to brag, but I’m pretty sure I nailed it.

I’ve actually added more books to my shelves since these pictures were taken … I mean, because I’m always adding more books to my shelves? Technically, I didn’t so much add them to my shelf as I abandoned them there in whatever iota of free space I could find (which is pushing it) in the hopes that my husband won’t notice my books randomly multiplying.

✦ Bookcase #1 ✦

My TBR Bookcase

From the very top, this is what I call my Cubby of Curiosities, which is really code for “I can’t remember what half this stuff is, save me.” But obviously, that would be too long. There’s folders here of my old writing, my calligraphy set, watercolor supplies, various random art things, adult coloring books, and the one gel pen set I was able to save from my daughter’s clutches (though who knows how long that’ll last).

Below that are all the random books I own. And they are, indeed, random. This bookcase, like I said, serves as my TBR, which is a little sad, when you think of it, that I need a full bookcase. Not gonna lie, I haven’t read all the books on the other bookcases, either, but they’re not all mine, so I don’t feel the pressure that much on those (except for Mistborn, because my husband will destroy me if I don’t read that soon).

We’ve got some Neal Shusterman, some Terry Pratchett, some random beginnings to series that I haven’t even started yet but will buy the later books if I end up enjoying the first books. Not gonna lie, I bought Flame in the Mist because I loved that cover, and I refuse to buy Smoke in the Sun until there’s a matching cover, because I’m not fond of the purple. And suddenly, I realize exactly why most of my books are black. Oops? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The very bottom of this bookshelf, the last hurrah if you will, is what I fondly consider to by my little Nostalgia Nook. You could call it a time capsule, but that implies things get put away for a long period of time and never looked at again, and okay, maybe I haven’t read these in a long time so that’s fair, but I do intend to read these again. Or, at the very least, force my daughter to read them. You know, as you do.

What’s also missing from this picture, which you can’t see because they’re shoved into the back, are the Goosebumps books and the Shivers books. They got back tier only because I’m still working on finding the rest of the Animorphs that I don’t currently own, so I have to be able to see those at a glance.

✦ Bookcase #2 ✦

Philosophy, Religion, Hubby’s Junk, and Classics

And that actually really is basically the pecking order. The philosophy books are pretty evenly split between mine and his. Knew he was a keeper when he gave me Meditations by Marcus Aurelius for my birthday before we even started dating. I actually didn’t get most of the philosophy books into this picture, because one of them is Mein Kompf, and that’s a touchy subject and I figured it was just easier if I didn’t photograph it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But we’ve got The Divine Comedy and The Social Contract and Logic by Kant, Leviathan, The Republic, a bunch of Bertrand Russell, some Nietzsche, and scattered randomness.

I suspect you’ll be able to tell which books constitute “hubby’s junk.” I mean, I suppose I had to let him have some shelf space somewhere, right? Even though the library is totally mine. 😉 Although, to be fair, hubby has his own TBR shelf, which isn’t photographed here, because it’s really his nightstand in the bedroom, and let me tell you, he’s got it stuffed with more books than it can hold and started a new pile on the floor, so … I’m not the only one with TBR issues. If ever we disappear, send help. The books revolted.

✦ Bookcase #3 ✦

Writing, Nonfiction, and Stuff We’re Stuck With

This is a little, teensy, baby of a shelf, where I keep my books about writing, my few poetry books, and some of my non-fiction. I have a whole other baby shelf with nonfiction, too (which I didn’t photograph because I couldn’t be bothered to clean it, but it exists, somewhere in the chaos). The Robert Fulghum books were my grandmother’s, but I bought them for her, so naturally, I re-inherited them, because we both loved him.

The bottom shelf is “books nobody in this house wants but I can’t get rid of for fear of my mother-in-law’s wrath”. Because they were expensive when she bought them, and they’re expensive to buy still, so therefore we should just keep them. They’ll disappear eventually, when hubby gets tired of looking at them, but as long as it’s him and not me, it’s all good.

✦ Bookcase #4 ✦

Anne Rice

Yes, Mrs. Rice gets her own bookcase. Mostly because it’s teensy and that’s all the books it holds. But both the bookcase and the books were moved in by my mother-in-law, who decided we might as well just keep them and she’ll borrow them if she really wants to read them again, which suits us just fine.

✦ Bookcase #5 ✦

Stephen King

This time, the bookcase is mine, but we also inherited these from my mother-in-law. She used to be subscribed to a book club, once upon a time, that sent her King novels. Since hubby and I haven’t read most of them yet, we were thrilled to take them off her hands.

Also, that teeny little hint of orange that I convenient tried to leave out of the picture and failed because I’m bad at this? That’s my childhood encyclopedia set. I have no use for it, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it just yet, either. I think my mother plans on taking it, for nostalgia’s sake. But at least I can say my daughter knows what an encyclopedia set is! She was so not impressed.

Chat With Me

See any books on my TBR case you recommend I read ASAP? Let me know. What do your shelves look like? Do you have the neat, pretty bookshelves I’ve always dreamed of having, or are you a chaos monster like me?