I’ve been torturing myself lately over systems of shelving books, now that I have brand spanking new bookcases in my house. How to organize? What goes where? I’ve been forced into an arrangement that’s pretty much no method at all — the bookcases with shelves placed closely together are now housing all sorts of mass market paperbacks, and the bookcases with more widely spaced shelves get my hardcovers and trade paperbacks.

Within those sections, all hell breaks loose. I have science fiction cozied up to urban fantasy. Horror is co-mingling with mysteries. One bookcase is pretty much devoted to young adult and children’s fiction, but even there, chaos abounds. Some books are shelved by author, some by theme, some just because that’s where there was a space. Then there’s my favorites bookcase, where Harry Potter books pretty much have a shelf to themselves, Outlander and all of Diana Gabaldon’s other books get their own shelf too, and everything else is just a big mish-mosh. Christopher Moore’s oeuvre sits shoulder-to-shoulder with Stephen King’s recent tomes, Under The Dome and 11/22/63. Mary Doria Russell’s books sit alongside George R. R. Martin. Every time I look at my shelves and think, “There’s got to be a better way,” I get a little scared and overwhelmed and find other things to do. (Organizing sweaters? Sweeping up dust bunnies? Sorting paper clips? Sounds swell!)

So I was heartened to read this piece by Geraldine Brooks, author of some books on my aforementioned favorites shelves. Now instead of just organizing by title, author, genre, color, or size, there’s a whole new set of considerations! How would Christopher Moore feel about being seated next to Stephen King? (I’m guessing they’d have a great time together, actually). I love that people I admire spend time worrying about where to put their books too. See, famous authors are really just like you and me! (but with more bestsellers to their credit, of course)

Just for kicks, I Googled “organizing bookshelves” to see if any other clever, erudite folks had something interesting to say on the subject. Alas, the majority of hits were for home decorating sites and self-improvement publications, telling how to get rid of unwanted clutter, how to make your bookshelves aesthetically pleading, and how to cull all those annoying classics left over from your youth. (I’m projecting a bit here…) Because gods forbid a visitor comes into your home and is shocked by messy books! What might they think?

As I was about to abandon my Google quest of the day, I did stumble across this funny, lovely how-to guide at TheBarking.com, offering twelve approaches for organizing bookshelves, among them:

You could organize the books in order to create an overall aesthetic impression. For instance, you could group according to spine color or size, or arrange the books graphically and, thus, create a literary mosaic of sorts. This is an interesting potential variation—and does have a certain appeal—but is only really feasible in circumstances in which the books are not actually intended to be read.

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. The beauty of it all is that there’s no rush. I can take books down, put them back, shuffle and swap to my heart’s content. And then, when I’ve had enough, grab something good off the shelf, curl up in a big chair, and get in a smidgin of quality reading time. Bliss.