9 Bookshelf Organization Ideas For Happy Reading

Bookshelf organization can be stressful…

So many book lovers dream of beautiful aesthetically pleasing bookshelves. I’m here to give you some ideas! ✌

No matter if you have your books in piles, on wall-mounted shelves, or traditional bookcases, we bookish folks love to organize them in our own unique way, even if it’s chaotic. Organized chaos is still organized, people. 📢

I struggled for the longest time about how to organize my shelves and took to the bookish community to find some suggestions. I found some, such as organizing by color or by author, but only one way really stood out to me: by genre! So I then decided to organize my shelves this way because it makes me remember where each book is a lot easier.

Only the books I’ve finished reading are organized this way. I have a whole other shelf for books I haven’t read. 🤭

My reading journey started in 2019 after a several-year hiatus, so that is when my book-buying started! 🎆

I still have books I haven’t read from that year, so I put them at the top of my TBR shelf to make them stand out. Then I’ll organize further by putting 2020 books after 2019 and so on and so forth.

My Bookshelf Organization By Genre:

Non-Fiction
Poetry
Graphic Novels
Romance
Contemporary
Historical Fiction
Mystery
Thriller
Paranormal
Horror
Sci-Fi
Mythology/Folklore
Fantasy

This way of organizing books honestly just works best for me! They are ordered from most realistic (Non-Fiction, obvi) to most unrealistic or fantastical (Fantasy).

Other Bookshelf Organization Ideas:

Here are some other ideas for your bookshelf organization that might help you read even more! Some of you may have heard of these before:

1. By author’s last name:

If you are wanting to become familiar with author’s names, this is an easy way to gain some muscle memory! I struggle with that sometimes too.

2. By color:

If you are a visual person and remember books mainly by the color of their cover, this is a simple and satisfying way for you to organize your shelves! You can do it by the color of the rainbow, or what colors you think go best near one another.

3. By genre:

This is my preferred method of organization as I mentioned above. Sometimes it can get a little frustrating since oftentimes books fit under so many genres and subgenres, so honestly I just put it with whatever genre I think it fits under the most.

4. By title:

Organizing by title is probably one of the easier ways to stay organized since the title is often the detail we remember most about a book besides the color of its cover.

5. By star rating:

If you are a reader who gives your books a star rating or just a rating in general, you could organize from lowest rating to highest or highest to lowest. If I did it this way I’d do it from highest to lowest rating. It’d be a great way to organize your shelves especially if you post content about what ratings you give out!

6. By standalones, duologies, trilogies, series:

This would be an interesting way of organizing books, and you’d be able to see what you tend to be more drawn to. I personally love standalones and duologies, especially in the fantasy genre. I love when books get straight to the point. Plus there’s less commitment.

7. By publication year:

This way of organizing books would be so interesting to see especially with a large group of books. Organizing classics this way would be so satisfying. (I am now doing that).

8. By year purchased:

This is how I organize my TBR shelf because I noticed how I kept only reading books I purchased within the same year and ignored the ones from previous years. Seeing this helps me know what books I should prioritize!

At the end of the day, everyone is going to organize their books in their own unique way. I personally love seeing peoples’ bookshelves (or book piles) on #bookstagram and their way of organizing!

Unfortunately, big bookcases aren’t always the most affordable, so if you are looking for some but you are on a budget, I suggest checking out Ikea. You can also use baskets, pile them up on the floor, or get some wall-mounted shelves!

My biggest piece of advice when it comes to organizing your shelves is to do what feels best for you and what gives you peace.