Help in cataloguing my library.

[GOLLUM]

Hi there.

Most of you probably know I have quite a few books. Anyway I'm currently reorganising my bookshelves and will have enough space now to shelve everything I own.

To this end I am trying to come up with major categories of the stuff I own in order to label the shelves appropriately. I don't want to get too bogged down in sub-genres but I was wondering if anyone can have a look at my current list in case I've missed something obvious.

NB I'm a big fan of EPIC and military fantasy but decided not to have this under a sperate category.

Cheers...

Pre-War Fantasy
Post-War Fantasy
General Literature
Crime and Mystery
YA
New Weird and Cyberpunk
Horror
SF
Pulp Fiction
Fantasy Masterworks
SF Masterworks
Australian SFF Authors
Anthologies
Arthurian
Post-Apocalyptic
Graphic Novels
Asian and African
Mythology/Legends
World Fantasy Award Winners
Poetry
Magic Realism (very loose umbrella for my Marquez, Saramago and Calvino collection)

[Cayal]

Author and Order series of the author.

eg. Feist - Magician, SIlverthorn & Sethanon, Krondor series, Krondors Sons, Serpentwar series, etc.

Simple.

[j. d. worthington]

Perhaps (if you have enough to make it worth the bother) adding "New Wave SF" in there somewhere, especially with the inclusion of Cyberpunk. And, since it has become a subgenre of its own, perhaps Lovecraftian fiction (again, if you have enough entries to make it worth your time....)

[GOLLUM]

Thanks all.

@Jaire, that's what I have at the moment but I thought it would look more interesting and be more informative if collected by category if you see what I mean.

@JD Maybe New Wave SF could be a possibility, not sure though... Probably won't pick up on Lovecraftian fiction as I don't have much at all. *I can hear a certain Texan saying Shame Shame as I post this... *

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

@JD Maybe New Wave SF could be a possibility, not sure though... Probably won't pick up on Lovecraftian fiction as I don't have much at all. *I can hear a certain Texan saying Shame Shame as I post this... *

Mmmmm... not necessarily. The jury is very divided on that sub-genre, though having some writers like Campbell, Klein, and Ligotti doing Lovecraftian fiction makes it at least worth looking into for anyone interested in modern fantasy or horror. But a great amount of it is rather esoteric, and no little of it quite forgettable. (But then again, we now seem to have some very good writers coming up who use Lovecraftian themes and motifs to tell their own original sorts of stories, very much in their own voices; so it may become much more worthy than it often has been....)

On New Wave... it has some close affinities with fantasy, obviously; and is (usually) less oriented toward the "hard" sciences, so more likely to be up your alley....

[GOLLUM]

Yes, I don't really like Hard SF much, you've got me well summed up on that score.

I was going to put my Ligotti and Campbell under the general label of Horror to keep it simple.

Wish me luck as I reorganize things for my move to another location. A job I look forward to really because you often rediscover stuff you forgot you had. I really love that sensation!

[Wiglaf]

If you have enough for all those categories, you have me beat.
I would put the YA and anthologies into whatever other category the volume best fits.
I just have reference, literature, childrens. Where do you find the room for them all? I already have a space problem.

[GOLLUM]

I have a spare room with lots of shelfspace. I would have over 450 books and more than 50 graphic novels as a rough estimate.

[Wiglaf]

Wow! Maybe you should steal the library's Dewey decimal system.
I still wouldn't have the YA as a separate category though; the type of story matters more than the targeted age level for non-kids books.

[Culhwch]

I'd go with a simple alphabetical system, myself. What do you do if books cross over your classifications? Australian cyberpunk, an Arthuran anthology... As far as I can see a lot of your categories aren't necessarily exclusive.

[Cayal]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

@Jaire, that's what I have at the moment but I thought it would look more interesting and be more informative if collected by category if you see what I mean.

Pretty certain that, outside of yourself, not many will notice.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

I'd go with a simple alphabetical system, myself. What do you do if books cross over your classifications? Australian cyberpunk, an Arthuran anthology... As far as I can see a lot of your categories aren't necessarily exclusive.

That's true but I know if it's not in 1 category it wil be in the other and quite easy to find. Within each category I will have books in order of author's surname.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Wiglaf

Wow! Maybe you should steal the library's Dewey decimal system.

Won't help much if it's mainly fiction...

I've got mine (about 3000, now) in Alphabetical Authors Surnames. I find that if I know the author, I know the genre or sub-genre anyway, so this keeps it as simple as possible.
The only downside is having to move all the rest of the books along every time I buy a new book or series....

[GOLLUM]

Which is why I'll have it by category with several shelves spare in each section as it were. Then I only need to rearrange/slot in the latest book in a given category rather than shift a lot of books at once.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

...with several shelves spare in each section as it were.

Oh, the luxury! Mine's crammed onto two walls....I think I need a bigger house......