Getting Books

There's a lot that goes into this site for bookish posts that are somewhat random, somewhat useless... but fun. I've been debating doing this kind of post for awhile, figuring maybe it was overdoing the 'pointless kind of post' thing, but ultimately I just enjoy going all out when it comes to books, talking about them, and making posts about them.

I've come to realize the way I receive books now is a process, an enjoyable one, and much more involved than it used to be. In the old days I'd just get a new book and toss it on a shelf, waiting to be picked up when time permitted. With the site now and being so involved with Goodreads and having fun with shelving, keeping track of stuff, and being downright obsessive-compulsive with the books, this process has evolved over time.

I thought it'd be fun to share with you how I receive new books and what my personal process is, and to see what yours is. I know a lot of book bloggers will have similar methods, and those that use sites like Goodreads or LibraryThing will also do something similar that I do.

Of course when I get a book, I'm in a happy place. This picture I took at the beach sums it up nicely -

Log Into Goodreads

Goodreads has made my life as a book blogger, reader, and book enthusiast so much easier. I probably need to do a post about the social networking/categorizing website all to itself. When I first became serious about the website and wanting to categorize my books and keep accurate counts (something I hadn't paid much attention to before), I remember it took a few weeks to keep getting books from the physical shelves so I could mark them owned and sort them on GR's virtual shelves. (It didn't take weeks because of the size of my library, but because I'm slower than molasses with getting around to stuff.)

Now it's second nature and the first thing I do each time. I purchase books at the store or receive them in the mail, and I plop them down on the desk or on the floor depending on the count. Within a few hours I catalog the books on the Goodreads site by putting the book information in, first choosing an exclusive shelf (To-Be-Read is usually it, but sometimes they have been read before), then I mark "own-book-form" to keep a count of my physically owned count, and then I put them under their genre shelves (Mystery, Urban Fantasy, etc.) Some get other special shelves, such as "part of a series", "vampires", etc.

If the book is missing information on the database, I do an edit of the book and upload the cover, type up the synopsis, or add other site librarian information.

Stamp Them

I DID do a post about the amazing asspocket productions, who does hundreds of book stamp designs for book enthusiasts. I love bookplates but let's face it, they're hard to find anymore and add up in ridiculous prices if you need more than a few. With my book count it wasn't practical at all. I love and now prefer the book stamps. I've purchased one for my best friend as well - it's fun to play with the ink color. It took weeks to go through the shelves and stamp all the books, but has been so worth it.

I always make sure to stamp before moving them to the bookroom, bottom line. It's become a fun process with receiving. If I did a large order, I usually sit and stamp while watching a TV show or movie.

Tell My Friend About Them

This isn't always a requirement, and not always in order, but my best friend Melissa and I have a thing where if she gets new books, she'll always mention it on our nightly conversation, and I'll do the same. We love going to bookstores together, but when we get the books while not around each other, we always make sure to let the other know what we got.

Take Pictures of Them for Blog

This is the second most time consuming part. I have a lot of fun with this but haven't found my 'niche' yet with displaying books. I was always impressed by a lot of blogger's methods for displaying their newly received books, so have experimented a few ways. I'd like to start doing some outside shots when I get the garden fixed up. I think the lighting will be a lot better and have less glare.

I've done without any backdrops at all

I've done with different backdrop types for the books to sit on

I've tried to include the books with the animals

I've even thrown in stuffed animals

Make Mailbox Monday Post

Probably the most time consuming part, usually the last stage before they're shelved, I make the Mailbox Monday posts (usually, not always) after receiving into Goodreads, stamping, and taking photos. I've experimented a lot since starting this weekly meme, as you can tell if you look at the older ones versus the new. With this I like designing the header (have two I switch every other time) and for October I use the Halloween theme, for Christmas a Christmas theme. I've now played around with different div boxes. When it started, I listed the full synopsis, but now I do links. Still not perfect, but the meme I enjoy the most.