Reading habits · August 9, 2026

How to Organize Your Bookshelf: 8 Systems, Ranked

By colour, by genre, by author, by read status — here are eight ways to organise a bookshelf, what each is actually good for, and which to avoid.

1. By genre, then author (best all-rounder)

How bookshops do it, because it answers the two questions you actually ask: "what do I feel like?" then "do I own more of them?" Start here unless you have a reason not to.

2. By read status

Read, reading, unread. Brutal, clarifying, and the only system that makes your to-be-read pile impossible to ignore.

3. By author, alphabetically

Best for large collections and for anyone who reads deeply into backlists. Poor for browsing by mood.

4. By colour

Genuinely beautiful, genuinely impractical. Viable if your collection is under about 150 books, or if you keep a searchable record of what you own elsewhere. Otherwise you will buy a second copy of something you already have.

5. By size

Not a system, but it is the one your shelves want. Mass-market paperbacks and art books do not want the same shelf height. Combine with any of the above.

6. By publisher or imprint

A niche pleasure — Penguin Classics, NYRB, Persephone. Looks superb, only works if you buy that way.

7. Chronologically

Either by publication date or by when you read it. The second is more interesting than it sounds: a shelf as a diary.

8. No system

Defensible if you enjoy rediscovery, indefensible past about 200 books.

The trick that makes any system work

Keep the physical arrangement for pleasure and a digital record for retrieval. Sort the shelf by colour if it makes you happy — as long as you can still search what you own, filter by unread, and check whether you already have book three before you buy it again.

Shelfies is a modern, mobile-first reading tracker with AI recommendations, progress tracking, streaks, and quotes — built to replace Goodreads and StoryGraph for readers who want a faster, prettier experience.