Wednesday, May 2, 2012

the library of congress is going to be so mad…

First of all, I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful bloggers who have been participating in the blog hop so far! If you haven’t linked up yet, it’s still open (and an awesome way to discover new blogs!) If you’re brand new to Love is the Adventure, thanks so much for being here. If you’ve recently followed and/or commented, I am so glad to hear from you. I’ll be returning the favor soon and visiting each of your blogs so look for me!

Here’s what last night looked like at our house…because when I’m feeling stressed and anxious, I find myself eating more carbs and watching more Buffy the Vampire Slayer and…alphabetizing my books. What? It’s soothing. And stuff.

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But then it gets complicated. Do you alphabetize by author or by title? And if you alphabetize fiction by author, do you want to do the same thing with non-fiction, even if you can’t remember who wrote the biography of Zelda Fitzgerald? And speaking of non-fiction, do you create sub-categories for essays and biographies or do you just lump everything together?

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And then the theatre books…which seems to grow by an entire shelf every year closer I get to my PhD. Did you know there’s a difference between drama and theatre? In this case, “drama” refers to dramatic literature (plays) and theatre refers to performance production. Also, what do you do about plays without anonymous authors like Everyman?

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And my very favorite section, reserved for my favorite topic…popular entertainment (circus, sideshows, burlesque, vaudeville, etc.) which is what I’m hoping to write my dissertation about! But do I separate by topic or historical period or color?

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I ended up with ten categories: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, women’s studies, drama, dramatic anthologies, theatre history, theatre practice (acting, directing, and technical), dramatic theory, and popular entertainment.

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So now you know what I do on Tuesday nights when I can’t sleep. Books are so comforting to me. So is order.

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What about you? What do you find comforting when you’re anxious?

love, elizabeth

10 comments:

Quirky Homemaker said...

LOL! You're so funny. Everyone knows you sort them by color, silly! Just kidding. ;) Hope you have a great week! Thanks for co-hosting the hop/giveaway!

Laura Elizabeth said...

I'm a carb & TV show junkie too when times get stressy. Not the most healthy thing to do but it's what I do.

Sidenote, I totally rearranged my bookshelf last weekend by the colour of the spines. I stole the idea from my friend. It looks so good. Even though it broke my heart to have to split up book series. Apparently I am OCD when it comes to arranging books! Anyway, you should give the "colour coordination" route a try.

Ashley @ A Recipe for Sanity said...

I'm twitching because I have to have my books in size order or I go crazy. Largest to smallest, left to right. I would spend all day re-rearranging those shelves. But I hope your shelves make you feel better. :)

Julie Marie said...

coming over and saying hi from the blog hop party.. just wanted to say thanks for hosting.. =) i am officially a follower..and i love the filter or whatever you put on your pics above! =) (random, i know)

Sarah @ Vol Family Life said...

Personally I like to clean when I am anxious. It makes me feel like I am getting a fresh start. My books however haphazardly live together. Somehow my Nortons have learned to peacefully coexist with my Twilights.

No(dot dot)el said...

First, I have to admit I'm a lil jelly of your library there Miss. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Returning to see what you are up to. I don't sort or clean when anxious. I do eat or drink wine. Or both. My daughter Chloe though, I can always tell when that girl has been in a room processing life because it looks amazing. I thank God for her organizational skills.

Sarahcastically said...

I don't have that many books (though it's only for lack of space) but I do have a bookcase I could organize. I'll have to save that particular activity for the next time I'm stressed out about something.

courtney - larking. said...

I absolutely sort my books by category. I wish I knew the Dewey Decimal or L of C system(s) because I'd totally use them -- instead, I just came up with my own. And I have an entirely separate bookcase for mystery series because I'm sooooo obsessed.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Erin James said...

this is a beautiful post :) i, too, find books and order comforting. what a lovely pictures these are, and i adore how you lined your bookcases with twinkle lights!

be blessed, beautiful girl!

Shoshanah said...

Only because I have almost enough bookshelves for it, I organize by genre first, then author's last name within that, then based on publication date within that. Although that doesn't always work because if an author writes multiple series or a series and stand alone books, I want to make sure the series stays together.

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