Share Your Shelf – Kazhy of My Library in the Making

It’s first Thursday of the month, which simply means we have a chance to see another bookshelf today! The latest showcase of Share Your Shelf feature Kazhy of My Library in the Making. She is here to share her bookshelves, collections of books and answers some bookshelves related question for all of us. But before we get nosy for Kazhy’s books let me introduced her first to all of you.

I can’t remember exactly where I first met Kazhy, I know I’ve saw her back in 2012 during Lauren Oliver’s book signing in Power Books, Greenbelt 4 at Makati, but we barely know each other that time. The close encounter I guess was during the first bloggers’ forum of NBS with international bestselling author, Tahereh Mafi. It as a private gathering which makes every participants easily bond together. After that day Kazhy and I with other bloggers’ friends attend Ransom Riggs‘ book signing at The Fort. It was a fun and memorable experience.

Kazhy is also talented when it comes to art. Her blog design change once in a while, she’s artsy like that. Currently, her blog is dress in a simple and clean layout which is easy to navigate. One of the feature the runs on her blog showcase her talent in designing bookmarks — Mark That Book is where she post her personalized design for bookmarks inspired by books she read. One of Kazhy’s designed bookmark for Of Triton  won a contest from Anna Bank’s website. It’s really pretty design, check it from this link.

Now lets all get to know Kazhy as she answer all bookshelves related questions which for sure will leads us to know more about her as a reader…

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.
I try to organize them by genre but because I currently only have one shelf, it’s not possible to do that without wasting some space so right now I just arrange them in such a way as to use as little space as I can – especially because I recently had to move in to an apartment with my sisters while our house is getting renovated, and they somehow got the idea that my shelf = their bedside table. -_-

2. If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep and why?
Oh, no, you didn’t just ask that question! :)) I seriously have no idea. But if you mean stay with me for just a day (not forever), then I’ll go with whichever book I’m currently reading! 😉

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?
I’m not very sure as it’s been years since I became an avid reader, but I think it’s The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith, and yes, I still have it! I love it to bits and now I really want to re-read it ❤

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)
Shelving and stacking, not really, but when it comes to buying… well. I’m very choosy with editions: books in a series have to have the exact same editions (paperback/hardcover) and sizes. I’ve also recently become choosy with covers; even if it’s from another country, if it’s the cover I like best, I’ll get that edition over the local one.

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favourite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?
Not really, no. My main rule is that books in the same series have to go together – although I just realized I’ve broken that rule with the way my books are arranged right now, but I’m giving myself a reprieve because it will only be that way for a few months!

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?
Nope. I buy books with my own money so I only get those that I plan on reading. Besides, I think the fact that people read is impressive enough.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?
Nope. There shouldn’t be guilt in reading any kind of book! Be it Fifty Shades or Twilight or whatever.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?
Royally Lost by Angie Stanton! I just got it last Monday. I haven’t read it, dunno when I will, but I have it! ❤

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?
Seriously? That’s what my Goodreads account is for. :)) And based on my to-read shelf over there, I have more than a thousand books that I wish I had but don’t.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?
Non-readers (I know this because my family’s several of them) think I read a lot – more than I should, actually, to which I say “Screw. You.” – but I think readers would say I don’t care much about genres, which is true because I really don’t. I just read everything that sounds good ❤

Thanks for having me here, Maricar! *huggles* See you in a few weeks! ❤

P.S. The shelf photo’s outdated but I thought I’d show how it looked/would look like 😀

Find Kazhy

Website |   Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Thank you so much Kazhy for taking part in Share Your Shelf. Thank you for taking time answering all the questions above and for letting us see your bookshelves and collections of books. I can’t believe you didn’t give us one direct answer for question number two. That’s my favourite question to ask, not only I got book recommendation from that, but also it tells so much about the reader. Next time we meet, you have to tell me what book you really can’t let go. And yeah, I remember your editions quirks, remember when we were in Megamall doing a little book shopping at NBS there? You were telling me about books editions and how you preferred buying books of the same series in the same edition. I don’t really buy my books that way, I mean, I prefer the same book format for series, but not really the publisher and other small details.

What do you think of Kazhy’s answers? Do you fancy her books and bookshelf?

–

P.S. : To those who want to guest post too just shoot me an email or comment here on the blog. I’d love to see your bookshelves.

Share Your Shelf – Chyna of Lite-Rate-Ture

Welcome to the latest showcase of Share Your Shelf. Today we have Chyna to share her bookshelves, collections of books and answers some bookshelves related question for all of us.

But before that let me introduced Chyna first to all of you.

Chyna is the the lovely and beautiful owner of Lite-Rate-Ture blog, which I recommend to all of you to visit and follow. Her blog got this fab and chic design that I just love (if only I got talent in web design). And her reviews got a personality of their own, so better check them out too. If my memory serves me right, I first met Chyna during the private lunch party with Lauren Oliver in Greenbelt, Makati, which I wouldn’t be part of if not for Louisse, our common book lover/blogger friend. I didn’t got the chance to talk to Chyna that day because I’m too busy admiring Lauren Oliver.  One of the few things I admire/envy about Chyna is her talent in sketching/drawing. You can check two of her sketches from her review post for Crown of Midnight. She’s is really good and at such young age for sure she’ll create more beautiful sketches.

Let’s all find out more about Chyna by taking a peek to her shelves and reading her answers to some bookshelves related questions below.

Lite Rate Ture

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.
I try to arrange my books by series and have them all together, but I never put my advance copies separated and also my signed copies. My ARCs and signed copies are always placed on a separate shelf away from my other books. Arranging them by height might be too difficult and considering the thickness of the books, I don’t find it welcoming to see my shelf with empty spaces because the other books don’t fit. I also consider their sizes. Alphabetizing will never be my way of arranging, I would rather have them by color. It looks more adorable that way.

2. If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep? why?
That would be my ARC copy of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass, she is my absolute favorite author and the sequel of Throne of Glass just blasted me away with that hateful cliffhanger. I loved the first book, but I would never let go of the sequel. If you stop by my blog, you can obviously see that I rarely give 5 stars, but Crown of Midnight was rated even more. Sometimes a book deserves more than 5 stars.

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?
Sorry, I don’t remember. I always use my parents’ money when I buy books or their credit cards. I hate opening my wallet to pay for a few books. My money is my own and it is my mother’s job to keep me satisfied. LOL XD

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)

If there are other book designs for this certain title and considering how much love I poured onto that book I will of course buy the new cover to add to my collection. For Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass, I have both hardcover and paperback while for Crown of Midnight, I have yet to buy the paperback and hardcover. I usually buy both copies if I love the book a hell lot.
Colleen Hoover’s slammed series has a new cover so I will be buying those new designs. Say bye bye to my money. I always buy books with the beautiful covers.
The sad thing about me arranging my shelf is that some of them aren’t by series so it’s quite difficult for my guests to check which books they want to borrow because somehow I can’t seem to find the first book. It’s buried somewhere inside my shelf…probably.

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favorite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?
Yes. When my family was recently moved to a new house, I, of course got a room for myself, but I haven’t began my reading obsession yet. But my room was already designed with tiny shelves, it was basically fate telling me to read. I hate my shelves, though…there aren’t enough spaces for my other books.

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?
Absolutely not. I would never waste money on decorative books. I do have a few books which remain unread because of my awful memory and the time I have is hardly enough to finish one series.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?
I still live with my parents so I try to hide those books that could relate to Fifty Shades of Grey, but whenever my friends come over I have them plastered in front of my shelves telling them to try reading new adult titles.
My parents are aware I read romance, but not erotica. I wouldn’t call them erotica more of New Adult. Erotica mostly talks about sex this and that. New Adult has essence and passion.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?
That would be The Assasin’s Blade by Sarah J. Mass and The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski. I noticed that I mention Sarah J. Mass a lot.

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?
There’s a lot to mention, but one came into my mind. That would be Cress by Marissa Meyer, I don’t know why I still don’t have that on my shelf and can I also add To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jen Han, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige-there’s a lot, but I’d rather not discuss my obsession…it is shameful.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?
Whenever my relatives come by they say “kana di ye zha bowa le tak eh ya zue vampire books” that means “Why does your daughter only read vampire books?” The first think they always see are my black books because they always look up. But to those people who know me well, they would say I’m a fantasy fanatic. I love dark/high/epic fantasy with romance. I never get enough of that genre. LOL

Thank you for having me Maricar. I hope we’ll see each other again soon. It was fun answering these questions and a great idea to feature book shelves.

Find chyna

Website |   Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

A million thanks to Chyna for taking part in Share Your Shelf. Thanks so much for taking time answering all the questions above and for letting us see your bookshelves and collections of books. I envy you for having an ARC of Crown of Midnight. I adore that book so much! Love Sarah J. Mass and her Throne of Glass series. And I agree, Crown of Midnight deserves more than a five star rating. One of the best YA fantasy books I have ever read. Glad that you like Mass books too. Send me some recommendations for dark/high/epic fantasy reads if you can. I need some good fantasy in my system! Thanks again Chyna.

What do you think of Chyna’s answers or her bookshelves? What about the authors and books she mentioned, are you familiar with all of them?

Share Your Shelf – Kayla of The Bookish Owl

Share Your Shelf feature is back on the blog and today we have Kayla of The Bookish Owl to share her bookshelves with her collections of books and to answer bookshelves related questions.

For those who haven’t met Kayla yet she is the lovely owner of The Bookish Owl Blog. She used to host her blog under the free wordpress.com but now she got her own domain, thebookishowl.net, which I recommend for everyone to visit. She got this clean and sleek design that I like because it is so easy to navigate. Very user friendly. And her reviews are a must read.

I first met Kayla during the Pinoy Book Tour’s Christmas Party last year. I don’t really get the chance to chat much with her that day since I’m busy as one of the organizer. Then recently I got the chance to chat with her at NBS Bloggers’ Forum with Becca Fitzpatrick. Kayla is really nice, bubbly and very enthusiastic. There’s no dull moment with her. Add her own unique get-up every time I see her, she’ll surely leave a mark. I’m not good with names but when Dianne first introduced her during our Christmas Party I easily remember her. There’s something vibrant about her. Anyway, before I rant so much, I’ll just let Kayla sway you away with her own words as she answer all bookshelves related questions below.

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.

I used to have an organization method for my books but then I ran out of shelf space. As of this moment, I buy books and I pile them up on either my bookshelf or my nightstand. It’s not the best shelving method as there’s always a possibility that the books will fall on your feet, but it creates that neat disorganized look so I’m alright with that. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of very neat shipshape shelves.

2.  If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep? why?

Oh my goodness, this is so hard! I’ll probably pick The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because it had a huge impact on me when I first read it. The Book Thief is a brilliant piece of work because every time I reread it (3 times so far) I come away with a new piece of meaning or another message. It doesn’t feel as if you’re rereading a book because with the beautiful writing and the fantastic story, you wouldn’t get tired of it. I know I haven’t.
The Book Thief is beautiful and I love it to pieces.

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?

I honestly can’t remember. I always use either my ATM or my credit card whenever I’m purchasing books so it feels as if it’s my money but in reality, it’s my mom’s.

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)

My books need to be stacked in the order of which I bought them. For example, all the books I bought on Tuesday are piled together, the books from Wednesday’s spree are in another stack and so on and so forth.
Ever since I started book blogging, I’ve been very picky about covers, especially with classics. I hate the Signet and Enriched classics editions as the covers are very blah and dull. Even if they’re expensive, I will always buy the new Penguin covers.

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favorite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?

Not really a shelf but sections on my shelf since my bookshelf has dividers on it. All my classics share two sections, all my review copies are in the bottom section and all my non-fiction books are in the middle section. I used to have my TBR pile on my nightstand but as I stated earlier, I ran out of shelf space so I now utilize my bedside table as another bookshelf.

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?

Nope. I loathe the idea of using my love of reading as a way to impress others. It’s pretentious, pompous and I just hate it. I’m not judging others if they do this but I don’t think I will ever do it.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?

No. I think I’m very immature when it comes to books because I can’t read NA or Erotica. Sex scenes are alright with me but when it turns graphic and detailed, I find myself cringing. It’s weird because violence is fine with me (one of my favorite books is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess) but vivid sex is another story. I guess it’s due to the fact that I come from a very religious family and have been studying in a Catholic school all my life.
Environment really does play a major part in a person’s reading habits.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?

*Books. I received for review World War I by Robert Freeman and The French Revolution by the same author. Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen. My last purchase included Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers.
My 10th StS will be out soon!

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?

All my Geronimo Stilton and The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes are now in the attic because of the lack of shelf space.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?

Mostly they’d find YA, Historical Fiction, Classics and Middle-grade. A few adult fiction and fantasy and a good amount of non-fiction. Perhaps they’d think that I have a weird taste in books, haha. 

Thanks for having me on your blog! I enjoyed answering your questions! It really made me reevaluate my shelving methods, lol.

Find Kayla

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Thank you so much Kayla for sharing to all of us your bookshelves and for taking time answering all the questions above. Seems you got a nice collections of classic on your shelves! I wish every reader I know still read them like you do. It’s nice that between middle-grade and YA books you got to mixed some classics on your reading list. I hope you like Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, it’s one of the best book I’ve read. As for The Book Thief, I couldn’t agree more with what you said about the book. I think I need to do a reread soon.

Thanks again Kayla for letting us see your bookshelves and books!

Share Your Shelf – Kat of SassyCat’s Books Review

When I decided to start Share Your Shelf feature few weeks ago, I know I have to invite people/bloggers/readers to guest post and willingly share their shelves to my readers. I have to send emails to some of my friends and ask for their precious time to answer few questions related to book shelving and book buying. But during the second run of Share Your Shelf, I am surprised to get an email from another blogger who wants to guest post and share her bookshelves to every followers of this blog. Since Share Your Shelf is just new I didn’t expect that someone will actually offer to guest in my not so famous blog. So when Kat of SassyCat’s Book Review offer to be part of this weekly meme, I am grateful and stoked. I love meeting new friends online and book blogging offers surprises like this sometimes which I welcome with open arms.

Anyway, before I ramble too much I am really thankful and stoked to have Kat of SassyCat’s Books Review here today. And since Kat and I are just new friends and still barely knew each other, I will just let her introduce herself to all of you. Lets all get to know Kat as she answer all bookshelves related questions which for sure will leads us to know more about her as a reader…

Well first off my name is Kat, I’m 22 although people thinks I’m younger than that and I am the sole blogger of SassyCat’s Books Review.

My love for books didn’t start until sometimes during my senior year of high school, the first book I picked up that wasn’t school related reading material was Twilight (Cliché I know) but then I picked up other books along the way and while starting college, although it is not 100% clear why I had such trouble reading any type of book when I was younger but I’m glad I turn over into a new leaf. Books are fun and so is Blogging! When I’m not reading and reviewing or doing blogger things, I am a student at my local technical college. I just made a degree change to Diagnostic Medical Sonography (Ultrasounds/Imaging) which I just recently been accepted into the core program Whoo!.

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.

Right now I have what I call a messy/scattered organization, I have only one 3 shelf bookcase then I have four miniatures crates, and one large crate. Two of the mini crates are books I have already read then I believe the other two are books I haven’t read. The large crate has books that haven’t been read. I have too many to keep track of!!!!

Then I have a weird thing about keeping any Barnes and Noble shipment boxes because one my cat likes to play in the box and two, I may need it in the future. So any mass paperback books that I’ve read or unread are in one of the small Barnes and Noble box, then I have this sewing machine(which I don’t used) but it has a flat surface(it’s the fold out kind) so I have books shelved there and those are my more recent ones.

2. If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep? why?

Rise (Nightshade Prequel #2) By Andrea Cremer, aside from it is signed by Andrea herself it is also one of my favorite nightshade books. Don’t get me wrong her other books were great but I really enjoyed how Rise was written and it explains more about the witches’ war and how werewolves were created. Rise explains a lot of those questions that many of us had when reading Nightshade (Calla’s story).

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?

Unfortunately I can’t think that far back but if I were to really identify what books might have been my first couple purchases. I would say My Soul to Take (Rachel Vincent), Twilight (Stephanie Meyers) and The Mortal Instruments (1-3) boxed set (Cassandra Clare). I do try to plan my purchase but I do a lot online with Barnes and Noble, when Borders closed out in my town many of us thought Barnes and Noble would swoop right in but somehow that didn’t happen. We are the only city in the state of Wisconsin that has a Books-a-Million, and all the surrounding larger cities and Minnesota has a Barnes and Noble. We got the short end of the stick. So going to BAM is not as enjoyable like it was when Borders was here and even Walden books that was in our mall. Sometimes it is frustrating because you go to look for something and they don’t have it, They are also not well stocked in my opinion, you almost had to look one by one with books when it was originally borders because they were that tightly packed on the shelf.

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)

I am one of those people that would buy two copies of books (Just not at the same time), and I actually have quite a few of them. I really like the difference between covers either from hardcover to paperback, from different country, or redesign of the covers, and with some books becoming motion film I like to get the books with the motion film photo as its cover. I also much rather have the paper form rather than ebook, but I am getting use to reading ebooks on my Ipad.
I do also want another shelf that is my collection books and signed books both if I can.

I also sometimes go on a book buying binge, but typically I buy books because I hear so much about it on twitter or from bloggers so I have to know what the buzz about the book. Then I don’t read it right away in fact I don’t quickly jump to read books I get for Christmas or my birthday! I think because there are so many books that I’ve been anxiously waiting for, I want to read those books before anything else.

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favorite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?

Well considering I only have one bookshelf, I don’t really have specific place for my books that are signed, my favorite titles, or TBR pile. I just kind of put them wherever I can, but most of my recent purchases of books will end up on the sew machine shelf or my printer. Yes I’m that weird and I don’t have a whole lot of space. Right now I am in the process of expanding my closet so hopefully after that is done, there will be that shelving system that I very much needed and I can go out and buy more crates.

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?

I have put books on my one shelf even though I don’t know when I’ll ever read them and one of my miniature crates has books that I purchased but I don’t think I’ll ever read them. I still need to organize my bookshelf a little bit more. I also had to rearrange books from crates to crates since I needed more room on my one spot where most books were before I got crates.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?

Right now some of those guilty pleasures are on my Ipad and unless that person knew which book was my guilty pleasure, they are not going to know or have any ideas. But I do have some paperbacks books but I’m not necessary hiding them, they just move from one spot in my room to another spot, a lot of my books are like that move here, move there.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?

Well back in May I made a huge book purchase,
Sweet Evil (Sweet Evil #1)
Sweet Peril (Sweet Evil #2)
The Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)
The Goddess inheritance (Goddess Test #3)
Invisibility
Shift (Shade #2)
Shine (Shade #3)

Then I’ve gotten a recent giveaway from Fiktshun, Black City and Unbreakable ARCs

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?

Heck YES!!!!
Dare You To By Katie McGarry
The Beautiful and The Cursed by Page Morgan
3:59 By Gretchen McNeil
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting

I also want to repurchase Rachel Vincent’s Shifter set since my first copies are falling apart but the new set would be my collectors set and that goes for her Soul Screamers as well but I’m still working on getting the UK editions and that would be my foreign editions collection.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?

Most of my friends already know that I love Young Adult, a lot of books are typically in the genre but also those books falls under other genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal and romance. Then I also have a selection of adult books such as urban fantasy as some authors would describe their book. With the new addition “New Adult” being added to the list of genres a lot of people get some adults books mixed up and authors clarify it as urban fantasy or something else but not New Adult or Erotica. I’ve read some science-fiction, while that genre sounds awesome in its own way but some books were confusing to me so I try to stay away from science-fiction but I like Young Adult Science-fiction.

People would also see that I have numerous books by the same authors, that means they are pretty good writers and I love their books so much that I continue with the series. I think author can have unlimited potential but some choose to end a series on their own time for the characters and may bring in a new group of characters for another related series.

So the big question people would probably ask is who’s your favorite? I’m torn between Andrea Cremer, Rachel Vincent and Cassandra Clare because they have the longest series.

I’m sure whenever I decide to (in the right time) move out of my parents’ house, I have to take all my books with me. Hopefully I’ll find a place that has a big enough office space where I can have two – four bookshelves. My own personal Library 😉 Then I’ll probably have people say how can you have this many books? Did you really read all of them? Or that boyfriend I might have might suffer my book boyfriends drool fest or more book purchasing.

Books are my escape from reality; I like how many are each unique and the book guys that I wish were real have a heart of gold or drool worthy. I like the ups and downs, sometimes even the cliffhangers or that ending where I wished that the next book was out. I also keep in touch with a lot of author on twitter so people end up hearing me talk about someone whom they never heard of before and I have to say I’m talking about one of the authors duh!

Find Kat

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Thanks so much Kat for willingly sharing to all of us your bookshelves. I hope you get a copy of those books you want to add on your shelf, especially Dare You To by Katie McGarry. I love that book and definitely a must own and read for contemporary readers. You are the third person I know who actually buy two copies of books, I used to have multiple copies of some books but that only happen when someone gifted me titles I already own. I usually end up giving away my own copy to friends or via giveaway. Sometimes I feel guilty owning multiple copies that’s why I have to share them to others. I’ll be pushing Nightshade series to top of my TBR since you consider it as your most precious read.

Thanks again for answering all the questions above and for sharing your bookshelves to all of us.

Share Your Shelf – Alba of BookPics

This is the third run of Share Your Shelf, and today I have another book blogger/reader friend, Alba of BookPics to answer some bookshelves related questions and of course to show to all of us her bookshelves. But before that, let me share a little background about Alba first…

Alba is another reader/blogger I’ve came across online when I’m still new in book blogging. I’ve met her through Rachel’s blog, Fiktshun where we usually hang out online. Aside from reading books she also loves taking pictures which explains the name of her blog, BookPics. There you can see her passion for books and photography. Beside with her own blog and fan page, she also administer few book fan pages such as Easy by Tammara Webber and Ashfall. I don’t know how she managed to run all those pages together with her other active accounts and still got the time to actively participate with the book blogging community. Obviously her passion for books and reading extends beyond the pages of books. She is very active, passionate and enthusiastic in what she do. I’m really thankful that in-spite of her busy schedule, she take time to join us today to answer all the questions for this post and share to all of us her bookshelves.

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.

I organize them by favoritism… ¿? lol Hehe but yeap, all my favorite ones are on the top shelf and so on… And also by genre… I’m kind of weird when it has to do with arranging shelves. But those are the 2 things I usually use to order all my books.

2. If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep? why?

You did NOT just ask me that!! Woman!!! I couldn’t, for the love of me, pick only one… It’d be awful!!!
So I’ll mention a few -cheating, I know, but I can’t help it-
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, I believe I’ve mentioned this one here before. For me, she is one of the BEST writers of our generation. Her writing and her stories are flawless and beautiful! I could live inside her books forever and ever! Also, The Scorpio Races by her 🙂
Then I’d say… Easy or any other book written by Tammara Webber, she just has a way with words that draws you in. Once you start a Tammara Webber book you cannot stop. No matter what.
Then it’d be Everneath, that story T_____T Brodi Ashton is a GENIUS!! GENIUS!!!!
If I Stay by Gayle Forman because, well, it saved my life.

And I’ve got so many more!! See?! I couldn’t possibly only pick one!

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?

Jesus christ, I can’t remember well… But I think it had to be either House of Night by Cast mom and Cast daughter hehe or My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent *-* I was so proud of myself!

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)

Ummm funny you ask. Since I’m a complete and utter cover lover I might be swayed when a book is too worn out at the edges or the cover has been damaged… I’ll HAVE to replace it WITHOUT getting rid of the damaged copy so when I want to go and reread it I’ll pick up the old one and keep the new and shinny one in my shelves.
And when buying, I almost always check out FIRST the books with the pretty or interesting covers… and I almost NEVER read a book description…

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favorite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?

Nope, I don’t even have a shelf right now (it’s being made I hope) 😦 But nope, I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of different books from the same series being strewn all over… I need them to be in order. I don’t make reading piles and put them aside to read… I just write down what tittles I’m planning to read and then go ahead and look for them in my shelves later 🙂

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?

Ummm interesting question. I think I have done this once or twice before but because back in the recesses of my mind I believe I’ll, someday, somehow, get to that book and finally read it. I like to think I’m a person who never gives up on a book not until the third try fails to make me read the whole book.

But when a book has been there for too long and I KNOW I won’t read it I give it away.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?

Bwahahah, why Maricar! If I told you… I’d have to… 😉 You know what they say.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?

Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent. Got here just last week 😉

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?

Ahhhh WHERE TO START???!!!!
-Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown
-Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins
-Drink Deep by Chloe Neill and all the other books in the Chicagoland Vamps series after this one that have been released already.
-Second Grave On The Left by Darynda Jones and the rest of the published Charley Davidson books
-Incarnate Jodi Meadows and Asunder as well!!
-Nameless by Lili St.Crow
-Black City by Elizabeth Richards
-Something Like Normal Trish Dollar
-Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
Sophie Jordan’s books and so many more!!!! The list is endless.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?

I have seriously? No idea!
Maybe they think I only like fantasy and paranormal readings but then they’d see those contemporary tittles… And think I’m weird…

I don’t know and I really have never thought of what I would like people to think of when and IF they saw my shelves… They’d be lucky if I ever were to let them near my precious… I rather buy them one for themselves hehehe.

But I do hope they get curious and try to start reading themselves 🙂

Thanks so much for asking me girl!!
I had fun answering and not answering hehehe the questions 🙂
-hugs-

Find Alba

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

You are really good in avoiding some of my questions Alba. Will I ever get a straight answer from you? 😀 But seriously, Thank you so much Alba for taking time answering all those questions and for sharing your shelves and books collection to all of us. I can’t wait to see your new bookshelf when it’s finally up and ready for your books.

Share Your Shelf – Rachel of Fiktshun

Welcome to the second run of Share Your Shelf where every week we got the chance to peek to someone’s bookshelves. Today we have Rachel of Fiktshun to share to all of us her tower of books and answer some bookshelves related questions.

To those who haven’t met Rachel yet, she is one busy blogger who owns multiple book related blogs. Her site, Fiktshun is one of the few blogs I first link to my site and actually visits every time I am blog hopping online. I usually get book recommendations from her reviews or just directly from her. She is one person to blame why my TBR is never ending. ^__^

Rachel is also the first international blogger friend I’ve met online, back when I was still new in book blogging, and she is also the first book blogger I interviewed here on the blog two years ago. The first one I brave to asked a favor for this blog. I still remember how nervous I was sending her an email. And to be honest, every time I’m asking Rachel a favor I still get nervous. I guess that’s me when I have to ask something to someone I look up to. So when I ask her for this another favor — to guest post and share to us her bookshelves, I have to put aside my shy self once again. When I got a positive response you can’t imagine how happy I am not only because she agreed but because finally I’m getting to see her bookshelves. It’s like knowing her one step closer, as I said before, a person bookshelves is one way to know more about the person behind the shelves.

Now let me give you Rachel as we peek to her shelves or towers of books…

1. How do you organized your books? Do you have a shelving obsession? Like arranging them in alphabetical order of author/titles, or by genre, height, or using a color coded system.

I used to have a bit of a shelving obsession when I had bookshelves. Now I just have a tower or two and my eReaders. And while I’d love to be able to organize my eReaders, it’s just not possible.

But I used to organize books by author, then by color, height of book and format. Hardcovers and paperbacks each had their own bookcases.

At one point I wanted to remove all book jackets and put white book covers on them so they’d be less colorful. But money and time weren’t things I had at the time.

My book towers now are a mess. But they’re mostly only ARCs that I plan on getting rid of once I read them. So I don’t take the time to organize them in any real way.

2. If you can pick just one book from your shelves to stay with you, what book are you going to keep? why?

That’s easy. WIZARD AND GLASS by Stephen King. When I did my book purge a few years ago I gave that one away to a library who sold it for a quarter. At the time it was selling (unsigned) for $500. I bought a copy back from a collectible bookstore, which I have now, and I’ll never, ever get rid of it.

3. What was the first book you ever bought with your own money and does it reside on your shelves now?

Oh I don’t know if I can remember that far back. I used to buy books at garage sales when I was a kid. Then in high school I’d have to pay for books for class assignments. But it might have been PET SEMATARY by Stephen King, which mysteriously disappeared from my bedroom. Or Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan when I decided I only wanted to read books en francais.

Neither book lives on my shelves. The King book disappeared into thin air, a.k.a. my mother didn’t want me to read it so she threw it away when I was at school. I donated Bonjour Tristesse to the library back in the mid-2000s when I moved West.

4. Do you have any quirks in buying, shelving or stacking your books? (I know someone who actually buy two copies of books, one for reading and one for collection purposes.)

I never read the books I buy in print anymore. Those are strictly for the collection. So I will have doubles in that I have the eBook and print book.

My quirk, I suppose, is that I go on book buy binges then decide I have too many books so I give them all away. It’s a bit of a painful endeavor, actually, but I can’t seem to change my behavior. But in terms of buying books, I’ll never buy a book that has too many fingerprints on it, if the spine has been cracked, if it’s the one in the front of the display, if the cover is dented, if the edges of a hardcover are bent. And if the cover falls open too easily – meaning that someone’s likely read it – I won’t buy it either. It has to be in pristine condition if it’s coming home with me.

5. Do you have different bookshelves for different books (for example, I have all my signed books on one shelf, my favorite titles on a different shelves, and more shelves for my TBR pile) or systems of separating them/spreading them out?

My signed books are in an archival box inside a plastic bin. Living where I do the books get all wrinkly because of the moisture in the air so I don’t want them to get ruined. My immediate TBR pile lives on my sidetable or my bedside table. The other books I plan on reading soon actually live in one of those book totes you can buy from Barnes & Noble.

6. Do you keep book(s) on your shelf that you don’t have plan on reading? Like maybe keeping them for the sole purpose of impressing others?

Ha! No. That would be my Dad and his fancy encyclopedias from yesteryear. I don’t like having stuff that doesn’t have an immediate use. It drives me crazy. So I’d never have a collection of books just for looks.

7. Are there any guilty pleasures on your bookshelves you would be embarrassed people might see, or do you have a hidden shelf for those somewhere else?

That’s the wonderful thing about the eReader – no one has to know what I have on my Kindle or Nook unless I want them to. But, hmmm… I mean I’m a little embarrassed to own the Twilight books. And while I don’t consider them guilty pleasure reads, if I had the Lords of the Underworld books on my shelves I might blush if someone were to see those covers.

8. What was the last book that you added to your bookshelves?

That would have to be DANCE OF THE RED DEATH. It just arrived today from Amazon. (I wanted to make sure it was unread as it’s a keeper.) But just the other week I bought a paperback of CINDER by Marissa Marr and JOYLAND by Stephen King from Barnes & Noble. And, of course, I did end up buying ten eBooks in the past week, seven or eight of which downloaded today. But they’re technically not on my shelves.

9. Are there any books that you wish you had on your bookshelves but don’t have it now?

Any signed book by Stephen King. LOL. But aside from that, THE IDEALIST by Glen E. Friedman. It’s a photography book. I have three of his books, the titles of two of which I’d rather not repeat here, but the third is DOGTOWN: THE LEGEND OF THE Z-BOYS. But he has some amazing shots of skateboarders and musicians in the two unnamed books. Those were the only books I kept after my bookish purge.

10. If someone will peruse your bookshelves, what do you think they would think of your reading taste, or what would you like them to think?

They would clearly think I love young adult literature – which I do – and would wonder what the heck is an ARC. Most of my friends and family don’t get my reading preferences. They most certainly would not approve of the lack of classics – been there done that – contemporary literature – not particularly a fan – or non-fiction – no, no, no.

And what would I like them to think? Whatever they want to think. I read for me. I read what I like. I don’t acquire books so that I can be labeled or to pretend to be someone I’m not. If I ever stayed put long enough to have a home with a library that I could fill with books, they’d all be books I read and loved, not some books that create a false persona.

Books aren’t about image for me, they’re about enjoyment, escape. If I were to stack my shelves with books that made me appear a certain way, but which I’d never read, I’d feel very much the fraud and I’d feel sorry for those unread and unloved books.

Find Rachel

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr

I didn’t know, Rachel, that you are picky in buying books. I never checked fingerprints when I buy my books, I probably won’t noticed them unless the prints leaves obvious marks. I love your answer to the last question — reading for your self, sometimes in this book blogging community with so many book review request readers like me tend to forget that. And did I see six e-Readers in that towers of yours? That’s a lot and for sure those holds thousands or more of electronic books.

Clearly, you’re a fan of Stephen King, an author whose works I haven’t really explored yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to read some of his works in the near future.

Thank you so much Rachel for letting me grill you with all those questions, and for allowing us to see your towers of books and reading pile. Obviously there are more books you are keeping there in your lovely place. and I hope someday you’ll allow us to peek on your especial collections of books. 😉