Bookshelf Tour, Pt. 8 | Hints at Fantasy (continues)

So how do you keep track of your books? I currently own over 1,000 physical and e-books (more physical than e-books, of course) says my book database. I hardly ever lend my books to anyone because those I’ve loaned my books to in the past proved to me that people don’t often care about books, and I’m very particular about mine, meaning no bent pages, no cracked spines, and no soiling or writing on the pages either. I like my books pristine, although messing them up is unavoidable sometimes.

But, since I own so many, I like to keep track of them so that I don’t unintentionally buy the same book twice (totally okay to do so intentionally). At first, I considered using Excel to keep track of them but because I wanted something that would also allow me to see the book covers and do all sorts of other things, I searched for a book database app and found Collectorz.com. I use their book database app to keep track of my books.

It works for me. I enjoy using it, but you do have to purchase it if you enter over 100 books. (And no, this isn’t some sort of advertisement. I’m just talking about what I use.) I like it because I can place my books in categories and can enter details like when and where I bought the book and its condition and can even include links to my review posts. What I love the most, of course, is that I get to view the books by their covers. Here’s what I mean:

Those are some of my fantasy books. Anyway, I’m just curious to know how you keep track of your books. Some people use Libib.com while others use Goodreads or other reading apps. I think Libib is a good one. I use it sometimes for books I’ve read, in addition to Goodreads.

But, we’re here to tour my physical bookshelves, so back to it we go.

We’re still on this 3-books-deep bookcase:

At the rate I’m going, we’ll probably be on it until the end of the year, lol!

We are now touring the second row of the third shelf from the bottom, which has a mixture of books but mostly fantasy books (it seems). Almost every kind of book is here, probably. Who knows?

Sitting on top

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

The Queen of the South by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, transl. by Andrew Hurley

A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes

I was glad to get a copy of this and I look forward to reading it. Dr. Forbes was one of my professors in college.

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Stacked: left to right

Horns by Joe Hill

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Middle Passage by Charles Johnson ★★★★★

I HIGHLY recommend this book. It’s one of the best novels I read last year. It’s historical fiction with a hint of the supernatural. Set in 1830, it’s about a young, freed Black man who unintentionally boards a slave ship that’s bound for Africa to pick up enslaved people from the mysterious Allmuseri tribe. It’s a great read that was surprisingly funny sometimes.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Soulless by Gail Carriger

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales by Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe (ed.)

Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin

Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean by Peekash Press (ed.)

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

Vicious by V.E. Schwab ★★★★☆ ½

My first Schwab book and I really liked it. I go back and forth on whether I consider it fantasy or sci-fi. Anyway, it’s about two young men who were friends in college but their pursuit for power, for extraordinary abilities, drove them apart to become enemies.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★★☆ ½

Another good read. It’s about a flu pandemic that wipes out most of the world’s population. In the postapocalypse setting, we follow a girl who lived through the pandemic and is current travelling with a troupe of Shakespearan actors. Through her eyes, we marvel at things we often take for granted in the modern world.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I have a bookmark in it because I started it. I read a paragraph and then got distracted by something else, lol! I’ll get back to it soon.

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Stacked: left to right (continued)

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers (illus.)

The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich

Mostly Void, Partially Stars: Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Imyril at There’s Always Room for One More plans to host a readalong for this September. I’m looking forward to it. I hope I’m not too busy by then.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood (illus.)

Glass Town by Steven Savile

The Book of Swords by Gardner Dozois (ed.)

Advent by James Treadwell

It’s the first book in a trilogy that I don’t think I’ll read. I might unhaul it.

By the Book: By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review by Pamela Paul (ed.)

I had to get this! It’s one of my favorite columns in the NYT.

World Religions by Robert Pollock ★★★☆☆

I’m fascinated by religion and mythology. It’s good as a brief introduction to various world religions.

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← Bookshelf Tour, Pt. 7 | Hints at Fantasy (begins)

Bookshelf Tour, Pt. 9 | Hints at Fantasy (continues) →

Some stats

Total books in this row = 29
How many I completed = 4
How many I will unhaul = 1

Total shelves so far = 3
Total books so far = 286
How many completed = 89
How many I will unhaul = 12

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