Welcome to my library

Inspired by a post I saw on another blog that I follow, I thought I'd share my library. Here's the main section. This is one wall of my living room - my husband and his friend built these shelves for me a few years ago based on a sketch I drew. They are my very favorite thing about my house.


I estimate that I've read about 20% of these. I only keep books that I a) love, or b) haven't read yet. If I've read a book and it was just okay, I purge it. (Confession: I do have a tendency to acquire books at a faster rate than I can read them!) While I originally purchased most of these for my own pleasure or curiosity, I plan to use them in homeschooling too - I want to use real books vs. textbooks as much as possible.


This side is mostly fiction. The top shelf contains my all-time favorite books. The four shelves below that are all fiction books, in alphabetical order by author. The very bottom shelf, behind the recliner, is full of board games. The shelf above the window, which you can't see too well, is an old, not-quite-complete set of Mark Twain's works.


This side is mostly nonfiction, organized by topic. Shelves on the left side, from top to bottom:
1. Antique/Collectible
2. Astronomy/Physics
3. Science/Math/Travel
4. Biography/Memoir
5. Biography/Memoir/History
6. The large shelf on the bottom is all Usborne Books (children's books).

Shelves on the right side, from top to bottom:
1. American History/Political
2. Religion/Philosophy
3. Science Fiction
4. Various paperbacks, both adult and children's
5. Humor/Miscellaneous
6. Finally on the bottom are larger books from all categories that don't fit in the smaller shelves.


These two shelves are in our den/office/guest room/homeschool room. They contain homeschooling materials and also photos and family history stuff. I love these shelves - they belonged to my grandmother.


Here's a closeup of some of my homeschool stuff.


And last but not least, here is the shelf in the kids' room.

Yeah, we have too many darn books... but that is a happy problem! I figure it's better than having 3,000 pairs of shoes, right?