Categorizing imperative
Belle Waring has too many books, too few bookshelves. Where have I heard that before, I wonder? As it happens, the books are the only things in my household that enjoy any measure of organization. They're in categories--fiction/poetry, British history, history written prior to the twentieth century, studies of British literature written during the twentieth century and after, literary criticism written prior to the twentieth century, religious studies, biography, art history, reference books*--and then alphabetized within each category. Er, except for biography, which I've alphabetized according to subject. But nothing has been catalogued, which is a problem.
*--In my office at the college: philosophy, sociology (not much), anthropology (even less), psychology (less still), miscellaneous literary criticism, anthologies, historiography, history of science, miscellaneous biographies, miscellaneous history, teaching copies of various books, books on grammar and style, and a couple shelves' worth of classical/medieval/Renaissance literature.