Nugget #5: Fill It Up!

I want to believe that I am not the only person who loves having books stacked up on shelves like Jenga towers.

I recently purchased a lovely Swedish bookcase that consists in 12 identical square boxes, and proceeded to decrease my chances at a book avalanche by sorting my books and saying "no" to stacking.

I quickly realized I could not tell whether I had read the books or if they belonged to the "let's procrastinate" pile so I decided on an approach you might find useful as well.

Designate shelves (in my case, boxes) as "I'VE READ THEM YAY" and "OOOH THAT IS FOR DESSERT (aka, later)". Don't move your books just yet!

If you remember what the book was about, "a-ah moments" and whether you liked it or not, add a little recap note under the cover. If you can't recall whether Mr Jones is the killer and whether you actually finished the book, then...re-read it and take notes!

Once you are done, move the book to the empty "I'VE READ THEM YAY" section. The benefits here are plenty and include:

• The satisfaction of moving a book from "not read yet" to "read". Who does not need a high five every once in a while?

• Seeing the section fill up gives a sense of achievement greater than point 1. You are getting closer to your objective, one book at a time! I personally love seeing the empty space as well, it is a good reminder there is always room to grow!

• You can make a bigger impact when you recommend a book, especially if you leave your notes inside (except for thrillers, naturally)

• Well, if you move a book from one section to the other, that means MORE SPACE FOR NEW PURCHASES!