Musing Monday...and The Case of Incredible Shrinking Bookcase

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post, as always from the inquiring mind of Rebecca at Just one more page, is about your bookshelf…
Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it?

Well, since I am the only person in the house, yes, I would consider my bookcases communal. Everyone that lives here in the domicile of caite, The Hovel, has total access 24/7/365 to all books. Of course, I do also allow my imaginary kitty, Kitty, full use of all my books, but she does not appear to be a reader. Which is probably all for the best.

Bookshelves are a nice thing in theory, but often inadequate in practice. I don't blame the bookshelves. I don't blame the books. I blame me.
I have said it before, but I really do need to get my books under control. Some time ago, I bought nice new bookcases for my family room (can it be a 'family' room if you live alone?) and took the opportunity to organize all my books, joining Library Thing at the same time. All neat and organized, all so very, very nice. That lasted a few weeks. It was a special time.

Things starting getting out of control when I started blogging. I started requesting and receiving ARCs, winning the odd contest, took authors and publicists up on their offers of books here and there. But things were still pretty much ok. Then I started reading more of my fellow bloggers, reading their reviews of books and authors I had never heard of before, reading more book periodicals online and being compelled by uncontrollable forces to search out copies of too, too many of these recommended books. I discovered the world of used books online. That was the beginning of the end.

Bookshelves gave way to overcrowded bookshelves.
Overcrowded bookshelves gave way to book piles.
A TBR pile, an ARC pile, a library book pile, read/reviewed book piles, a to-be- reviewed book pile, a received-but-yet-to-be-entered-in-Library Thing-then-to-join-the-TBR-pile-pile...
All also communally located. In fact, too communally located, in that I see them all the time. Which is the problem.

Granted, book piles are nicer than other sorts of piles, like piles of dirty dishes or piles of old newspapers, but they are piles nevertheless. I am heartened by seeing the photos and hearing the discussions of other bloggers with similar overstuffed bookcases evolving into numerous book piles. Heartened until I actually look at mine again. I have said that I find my TBR pile to be comforting, the idea that if I could not get my hands on another book, I would have enough on hand to last me for several years. That is true and it does give me a warm and fuzzy feeling...I just need to find a place to actually put them, but unless I do some creative thinking, I am out of shelf space.

Now, there is actually the options of getting rid of some of these books.
Maybe stop acquiring any new ones.
But the seems just a little extreme, doesn't it?