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Climbing the Bookshelves
Climbing the Bookshelves: The Autobiography of Shirley Williams | Shirley Williams
33 posts
The role of women in our society has changed out of all recognition. But it has changed least in the House of Commons. I want to describe those changes and the resistances to them through the magnifying glass of my own life, a life that coincides with our turbulent post-war history.' Shirley Williams was born to politics. As well as being influenced by her mother, Vera Brittian, her father George Caitlin, a leading political scientist, encouraged his daughter to have high ambitions for herself - including daring to climb the bookshelves in his library. Elected as MP for Hitchin in 1964, she was a member of the Wilson and Callaghan governments and was also the Secretary of State for Education. As one of the 'Gang of Four' Shirley Williams famously broke away from the Labour Party to found the SDP in 1981 and later supported its merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. CLIMBING THE BOOKSHELVES is the voice of strong and passionate woman of luminous intelligence.
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Mitch
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The fiction, nature and city section of my shelves seem to be dangerously near capacity! What to do!

Deifio More shelves! Bigger house or build an add-on 😉 2mo
Mitch Ps - Happy #nationalshelfieday 2mo
Shemac77 Oh this is beautiful! 2mo
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dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 2mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚❤️📚 2mo
Gissy 📚📚📚📚😍 2mo
iread2much 💜📚 2mo
81 likes7 comments
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swishandflick
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Ok, I couldn't resist posting one more status report of my beautiful new shelves for my home library. Gahhhh. Once I had 9' ceilings I just KNEW I had to fulfill my lifelong dream of floor to ceiling shelves with a ladder. I am so excited I could cry. The next pic I post will be after I've loaded up the shelves, and I'll show you from the other angle so you can get the full effect of the furniture and decorations I picked 🥰

JamieArc Amazing 🤩 7mo
Read-y_Picker It's gorgeous! Congratulations 🎉 🎉 7mo
TheBookHippie So beautiful!! 7mo
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IndoorDame 🤩🤩🤩 7mo
KateReadsYA Loving these updates. 🥰 7mo
AkashaVampie Awesome. Do u have enough books to fill it??? Are u going to buy more if u dont? 7mo
Enchanted_Bibliophile I'm in LOVE 😍 7mo
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 7mo
AmyG I can‘t wait to see it all filled up! 7mo
DivineDiana Very exciting! 👏🏻📚👏🏻 7mo
Amiable Gorgeous!! 7mo
Soubhiville Oh my gosh beautiful! 7mo
Aims42 Beautiful!! 🤩 7mo
mrp27 So awesome! I can‘t wait to see those shelves filled. 7mo
TheBookgeekFrau Lookin' good!! Can't wait to see the whole thing--I Love a home library 🤩 7mo
marleed The library ladder!!!! 7mo
BarbaraBB That ladder is a dream come true indeed 😍 7mo
Larkken Omg how cool is this!! 😍 7mo
ICantImReading This is soooo exciting!! 7mo
95 likes19 comments
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swishandflick
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It's a glorious day in my house! My built-ins are being installed today 😆📚

julesG 🥳🥳 7mo
BethM Ahhhhh so cool! 7mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Awesome 👏🏻 7mo
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Leftcoastzen As good as it gets for a book person! Filling them up too ! FUN! 7mo
TrishB Very cool 👍🏻 7mo
BeeMagical 😍😍😍😍😍 7mo
Jess Beautiful! 7mo
Meshell1313 😍😍😍 7mo
marleed Oh so beautiful! 7mo
114 likes9 comments
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GidgetsTreasures75
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7-15-23: How the move is going. My daughter unpacked all my books and stacked them 3 deep on the shelf instead of spread out and I‘m dying to get over there to fix it the way I like it. Have to get the rest of the boxes out of the way first.

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Mitch
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Have you seen this!!! When you run out of wall space for shelves there‘s always the roof! Probably provides good insulation too! 👍🏼

TheEllieMo I suggested this to my partner; he reckons it‘s an accident waiting to happen! 14mo
Amiable I proposed this to my husband and he said, “you are not doing that to our ceilings.” I interpreted that to mean only the ceilings are off limits and the rest of the house is in play! 😀 14mo
Mitch @Amiable @TheEllieMo The o ku thing missing though is a ladder rail and ladder to swoosh yourself around! 14mo
marleed Oh my goodness! I can‘t stop thinking about the condition of the roof and hope it has no leaks. And I‘m studying those sky lights and it looks like they were painted installed out of harms way of books. I have a sky light in my current home and my last and both leak after leaves thread themselves in the seams of roof and window. 13mo
64 likes4 comments
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Teresereading
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The final tally!

Jeg Wow. Well done. 1y
14 likes1 comment
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HufflepuffGirl90
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Bug has usurped his sister as being The Cat Above All (aka on top of my bookcase). We‘ll see how long Mori allows this to happen lol.

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Kshakal
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Eggs Pretty 📚🤍 2y
25 likes1 comment
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Johanna414
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I moved some bookshelves around from the library to the living room today. Its silly how much fun I've had rearranging and admiring my books... 😂

The_Literary_Jedi I ❤️ rearranging my shelves! My hubs…not so much 🤪 2y
Oryx Love rearranging the shelves too! 2y
47 likes2 comments
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RamsFan1963
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📚 I used to keep the in order by when they were purchased, but recently I changed it to alphabetical by author's last name.
📚 My bookcases are in the living room, with my recliner/reading chair.
📚 Physical, ebooks and audiobooks. It's about 65% Paperbacks 35% Hardcovers
Thanks for the tag @MoonWitch94 #thoughtfulthursday
Wanna play? @audraelizabeth @Buechersuechtling @ReadingIsMyHobby @Onceuponatime @TheBookDream @Daisey @Bookishlie

BookNAround Your answer to number one speaks to both sides of me. I keep a spreadsheet of my tbr books listed in the order I bought them but I shelve them alphabetically by author. The best of both worlds. 😁 2y
Bookishlie Mine are completely chaotic every where. I shove them where they will fit. I have bookcases in the living room in all the bedrooms and a book room instead of dining room and they still overfloweth, I have a problem maybe:) 2y
45 likes2 comments
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Amiable
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I was watching the news and I don‘t know who this woman is but looking at her gorgeous bookshelves I totally think we should be friends.

Suet624 😂😂😂 3y
dariazeoli One of the bright spots of the past year is seeing all the bookshelves during tv interviews. 3y
BookmarkTavern There‘s a fun twitter account that‘s been reacting to all the bookcases we‘ve seen. https://mobile.twitter.com/bcredibility?lang=en 3y
batsy Lol! 3y
Amiable @ozma.of.oz Ooh, I like that! 3y
68 likes5 comments
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Chrissyreadit
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When I find myself in times of trouble 🎶 organizing books comforts me 😊#BOTM bookshelf. Playing with #rainbowshelves

kspenmoll Wow!!! So pretty, like the rainbow idea! 3y
AmyG Me, too. 👊🏻 and your shelves...perfection! (edited) 3y
MyNamesParadise Beautiful! Those are some good titles! 3y
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sharread Me too! I call it playing with my books. 3y
Clwojick Pretty!!!!! 3y
BennettBookworm Relatable!! 3y
CaffeineAndCandy 😍❤❤❤ 3y
LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻 3y
Ruthiella I love shelfies! 😍 3y
ValerieAndBooks So cool!! 3y
GingerAntics This is so cool!!‘ I‘d just be afraid of not being able to find the book I wanted. 3y
Megabooks Love love!! 💖💖 3y
Chrissyreadit @GingerAntics I‘m only doing it with BOTM so I can keep track for now. 3y
TEArificbooks 😍 Love it 3y
GingerAntics Oh okay, that makes sense. 3y
dottie.floating.on.words Stunning 😍 3y
meghathecloud 😍😍 3y
Avanders Oooooooh 😍😍 That‘s a lot of BOTM!! 3y
106 likes18 comments
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Thndrstd
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Finally got most of the books unpacked yesterday 😀

Riveted_Reader_Melissa 💙 so pretty!! 4y
Susanita Such a satisfying accomplishment! 4y
Curiouser_and_curiouser Looks amazing! Congrats!! 4y
Curiouser_and_curiouser What wonderful sight! Congrats 😊 4y
43 likes5 comments
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ManyWordsLater
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So many books, nothing to read.
#shelfie

thebluestocking I hate that feeling! 💙 5y
britt_brooke An all too familiar feeling! 5y
dylanisreading Me right now. I also have books out from the library. 😬 5y
Buechersuechtling If you wait some more time, let‘s say until they wait over 2 years, you then browse through them looking for something to read and will meet books where you wonder how they ever found the way on your sub. 😉🤷🏽‍♀️ 4y
48 likes4 comments
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CarolynM
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GlassAsDiamonds Ooohhh Loebs! And red Loebs!!!! 😻😻😻😻😻 Which ones? Wish I could zoom and read all these titles! (edited) 5y
Nute Great organization! Yay, Minette Walters! 5y
60 likes3 comments
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Teresereading
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Books sorted by colour in a Melbourne opshop. I think it browsing harder. What do others think?

CarolynM Absolutely! Alphabetically by author or at least separated into genres makes it so much easier! 5y
8 likes1 comment
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kstadt929
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Our messy, half organized, double stacked bookshelves will get rearranged soon because....

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! 😆🎉🏡 Ahhh! SOOOO!! Excited!!

Cinfhen Congrats🥳🥳🥳 5y
LiteraryinLawrence Oh my gosh!! That‘s great news, Katie!!! 5y
mreads Congratulations 👏👏👏 5y
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JoScho Yay yay yay!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ 5y
Librarybelle Congratulations! 5y
Jee_HookedOnBookz Cooooongraaaatulations!!! 5y
Stacy_31 Congratulations!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 5y
37 likes8 comments
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WeeziesBooks
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My TBR shelves and kindle TBR hit 325 today... and 2018 isn‘t over yet. My goal is to read at least 100 off this massive stack and also get caught up on 2018 releases that I bought... but haven‘t read yet (40 of them omg)

SMayWrites Ambitious! Best of luck! My tower only ever seems to grow taller lol. I should work on that 5y
AmyG Wow. I am probably close to that. Good luck! 5y
julesG Good luck! 5y
26 likes3 comments
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Rachellynnwright
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#24in48 hour 42 challenge: your actual bookends. Technically I don‘t have actual bookends, just stacks of books! I like to organize my books by color and alphabetically. I love a pretty bookshelf!

bridge12 This is absolutely beautiful, you have a great eye! 6y
Sara_Planz Gorgeous!!! 6y
Kalalalatja Pretty! 6y
Linsy Beautiful! 6y
51 likes4 comments
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BooksForEmpathy
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My lunch and view. I missed my bookshelves while I was away!!

Kalalalatja I would miss them too 😍😍 6y
DivineDiana I can see why! ❤️ 6y
95 likes2 comments
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kstadt929
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I saw this posted on Facebook and it is literally a visual representation of the TBR at our house. My fiancé and I started with each filling a cube on a cube shelf for our TBR books...we now have had to expand to 3 cubes each and still can‘t fit them all! ??‍♀️ Always so many more to read!!! Luckily we like the same types of books and can trade ?

8 likes1 comment
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saresmoore
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Painting prep for the whole inside of my house begins today! I love a good transformation. Now, if I can just keep my kids from using the empty bookshelves as a way to reach the ceiling...

Ddzmini 🤣 good luck 6y
LauraBeth Oooh - this is exciting! 6y
Suet624 Can‘t wait to see what color you picked. 6y
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saresmoore @LauraBeth I‘m losing sleep over it! It‘s very exciting and I‘m overflowing with gratitude, but I‘m ready for it to be done. 😬 6y
saresmoore @Suet624 Most of the house will be white, white, white—sunlight bouncing everywhere, like a perfect Vermont winter day. That back wall, though, is going to be the surprise. And the library, too, once my brother and I get around to constructing bookshelves. Our collective woodworking experience is limited, but he‘s an engineer and I have a knack for design, so I think we‘ll be able to figure it out... (edited) 6y
Suet624 That sounds so lovely. I vote for blue on that back wall. 💕💕 (edited) 6y
saresmoore @Suet624 We are kindred spirits of the truest kind! ♥️♥️♥️👯‍♀️😘 6y
Suet624 Yes we are. So glad to have found you. 6y
Zelma Heh, that‘s what I‘ve been doin all week too! Tired but it is so worth it. 6y
saresmoore @Zelma You are a champion! We just moved into a much larger house that needs a total makeover, so I scraped my pennies together to hire a professional. I painted in my last house, though, and it really was rewarding! I hope you‘ll be able to get some rest in your fresh & beautiful new space soon. 😊 6y
LeahBergen I can‘t wait to see how it turns out. 😍 6y
readordierachel Love your rug! 6y
saresmoore @ReadOrDieRachel Thanks! It‘s from IKEA and yet, has held up surprisingly well over the years. 6y
Zelma @saresmoore you are smart and I am just tired. 😂 I just do a room at a time; we‘ve been in this house for 4 years and it‘s a complete fixer. My folks are here right now and super handy and motivational. So we‘ve done the laundry room and working on the master bedroom. it‘s amazing what a ton of paint can do. 6y
britt_brooke I always love your home photos because I can pick out the IKEA items, much of which we also own. 👏🏻 6y
saresmoore @britt_brooke I swear I‘ve suffered from IKEA withdrawals since we moved to Wilmington. Thank goodness for Target clearance! 😆 I joke about how someday I‘ll buy real furniture, but by the time I‘m ready for it, I‘ll probably just sell everything and move to Europe. 6y
britt_brooke @saresmoore I honestly don‘t think we‘ll but real furniture until the boys go to college (in 13-15 years). What‘s the point?! They are so damn rough and messy. I like your plan. 😆 6y
RealLifeReading I adore your rug! 6y
saresmoore @RealLifeReading Thanks! It‘s held up great! 6y
LauraBrook I know that this is pre-paint, but it just looks lovely. 😻 6y
87 likes20 comments
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Balibee146
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Here's some #shelfie action including some of my beloved Kate Atkinson 😍😍 for today's prompt #marchinbooks @maich

Cathythoughts You are a real Kate Atkinson fan. I must read her sometime, I never have ! 6y
TrishB Kate is awesome ❤️ 6y
LeahBergen I love Kate Atkinson, too. 👍🏻 6y
48 likes3 comments
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CoffeeCatsBooks
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Lol, only off by two decades! 😹The link to the bookshelf 📚 quiz is on @julesG ‘s Page.

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swishandflick
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SO RELATABLE 🤣

kspenmoll Just what I asked for my birthday - 2 new bookshelves! Ikea trip coming up! 6y
Cailey_Mac MEEEE😂👏🏼👏🏼 6y
Amanda.T Pretty sure I‘ve had this same exchange with my husband. 😂 6y
BarefootBurk Also: "What's in that box?" 6y
95 likes4 comments
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Natasha.C.Barnes
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My #TBRList for the #MountTBRchallenge is at 39 books right now, not including comics that I know I'll fly through during the upcoming readathon. On the facing page I plan to draw myself a little mountain and write down the titles I end up reading.
🗻📚🗻📚🗻📚🗻📚🗻📚

AceOnRoam I have 3 of these titles in my own mount TBR. I tried to tag them all but only the last tag shows so I'll post them individually. Sorry. 6y
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Natasha.C.Barnes @AceOnRoam I know, doesn't it suck that you can't tag multiple books like you can people? That would be so great. I'm excited to find out about our overlap! This should be fun. 6y
AceOnRoam Yeah, I thought about spreadsheeting everyone's lists to find common books, but then remembered this is a low key thing and I need to just relax LOL. I do love a good spreadsheet though🤓🤓🤓 6y
Natasha.C.Barnes @AceOnRoam HAHAHA yeah me too 6y
AceOnRoam 😆 happy reading 6y
DivaDiane @AceOnRoam @Natasha.C.Barnes I would love to find out what books people have in common. Maybe I‘ll do it, but you all should just relax!! 6y
AceOnRoam @DivaDiane no pressure LOL we can compare as we go.. 6y
Andrew65 Some great books on your list. @Natasha.C.Barnes @AceOnRoam I agree I‘d love to tag multiple books. 6y
Andrew65 @AceOnRoam It‘s not just me then! 😂 Can‘t beat a good spreadsheet! 6y
AceOnRoam @Andrew65 that's right, they rock! 6y
AceOnRoam @DivaDiane @Andrew65 I just discovered this spreadsheet that Bookriot released last year for tracking RH2017 and LitsyAZ https://bookriot.com/2017/01/03/its-the-great-reading-spreadsheet-charlie-brown/ 6y
Andrew65 @AceOnRoam Thanks for this, I can see it bring a great help. 6y
104 likes15 comments
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LauraBrook
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Work is done! Yesterday Kevin finished up on the bulk of stuff in my house, and I‘m so relieved! Now all I have to do is work on getting rid of the seemingly thousands of teeny bits of styrofoam attached to every bookshelf surface and floor, and then it‘s time to do my favorite thing - organizing and reshelving books!

LauraBrook I should add: I ordered 4 of the dark wood cases and got two of those and two of the black. Too annoyed to bother returning and fixing it, so I‘m making do. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 6y
MayJasper Styrofoam is disgusting. How lovely to have shelves to fill 💟 6y
LauraBeth New shelves 😻😻 6y
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britt_brooke Are these Ikea Billy cases? That really sucks about the order getting messed up but at least they still look nice. 💚 6y
DeborahSmall I have the same bookcases in the ‘birch‘ wish I‘d stuck with black though. Looking forward to seeing them filled ❤️ 6y
LeahBergen And the fun part begins!!! 6y
LauraBrook @MayJasper It is so gross. And I hate that it‘s just garbage. But, my cheapo shelves arrived in good condition and for that I‘m thankful. But still. I‘ve damp-rag wiped and wet swiffered and vacuumed the shelves and floor and there‘s still little bits of styrofoam. 😤☹️ 6y
LauraBrook @LauraBeth I know. 💖💖💖 It‘s a rarity. 6y
LauraBrook @britt_brooke No, they‘re cheap ones from Walmart. I broke my no-Walmart ban to get them too. Billy cases would have been preferable but I couldn‘t have fit 4 of them precisely on my large wall so I went with these. And then bc I‘m a dope and forgot to include the baseboards when I measured, I can only fit 3 there anyways. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Damn. And thanks! I keep standing in the doorway looking at them. 😍 6y
LauraBrook @DeborahSmall I wish I would‘ve gotten black ones earlier, I‘m loving the way they look! 6y
LauraBrook @LeahBergen Yes, you‘re right! And of course, now that the shelves are up and ready to be filled, I can‘t find the list of how I wanted to organize them that‘s been sitting at the top of piles for the last few months. *sigh*. ☺️ 6y
britt_brooke @LauraBrook They really look about the same. Good move going with the less expensive, but too bad that 4th one won‘t fit. 😩 6y
batsy Sorry the order got messed up but the dark wood and black do look nice together! I hope you find your list and enjoy the delicious feeling of sorting books into new shelves ❤️ 6y
69 likes14 comments
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DebbieGrillo
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Hey @BookishTrish congrats on 1000 followers! I JUST reached half of that. #LitsyGoals When I reach 1000 I'll give my favourite book away too! #loveitstealingit

Thanks to Litsy I need to straighten my bookshelves before my neatfreak of a hubby loses it. I keep taking pictures of colourful stacks and pulling the books out and not putting them back. #1000reasons

TK-421 I do that, too! My library was much more organized before I started participating in photo challenges! #BlameitonLitsy 6y
109 likes1 comment
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Kalalalatja
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A new and updated #shelfie. I feel like I can breathe more easily now that there is some form of order again 😄📚

TrishB Lovely 💜 7y
Jess_Read_This Absolutely perfect! 😍 7y
Lacythebookworm Looks great! 🙌 7y
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JenP Looks great! 7y
Lcsmcat Nice! You should hire out! 7y
kylienoele Looks great!!!!! 7y
alisiakae Looks great! I love the Folio shelf on the right. 😃 7y
CoverToCoverGirl Beautiful! 7y
CoffeeCatsBooks I love seeing other people's shelves! Very pretty! 📖 7y
DGRachel Nice!! 7y
kspenmoll 📚❤️ 7y
OrangeMooseReads Very nice 7y
LauraBrook So lovely and soothing to look at! 😍 7y
Mommamanzi This is amazing! 7y
LeahBergen ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
Zelma Very pretty! 7y
JacqMac So tidy! It looks perfect. 7y
BooksForEmpathy This is gorgeous. 7y
elkeOriginal Gorgeous! Love how you can spot the Robin Hobb shelf from a mile away 💕 7y
Kalalalatja @elkeo I thought it was time to give the books the space they deserve 👌 7y
140 likes23 comments
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Kalalalatja
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When you decide that the best cure for your tiredness is to rearrange your bookshelves 📚 I am trying to arrange them alphabetically, at least the front row books, so that's the reason for the weird stacks 😄

vivastory Good luck! 7y
BarbaraBB I love doing that! 7y
Sarah83 Did you make it? 😉 7y
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Kalalalatja @Sarah83 I did! But once I finished, the lighting was too bad, so I have to wait for tomorrow to post a picture 😉 7y
Kalalalatja @BarbaraBB I have been wanted to do it for ages, but kept putting it off. Now, that I'm finished, I'm so glad I did it! 7y
Kalalalatja @vivastory haha thanks! 7y
Sarah83 I will wait for the photo 😉 7y
elkeOriginal 👏👏👏 7y
103 likes8 comments
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RealLifeReading
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Instead of reading I have been...
at the National Gallery balancing on books (sort of)

Avanders Very cool! 👏🏽👏🏽 (edited) 7y
TrishB Wow 😀 7y
monkeygirlsmama So cool! 7y
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8leagueboot I'll just climb into your work bag... 7y
Chachic You're in SG! If only I was still there, it would have been lovely to meet up. 7y
LukkiAnn Amazing!!!! 7y
159 likes6 comments
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ReviewsandReadathons
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Here's my shelfie for #24in48...it's getting a wee bit full...

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goodbyefrancie
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Half Price Books is a dangerous place for me. #bookhaul

PurpleyPumpkin Wow, great haul!👍🏽 7y
TheBookStacker I miss half price books! I was always selling my old books and picking up new ones with the money lol 7y
Leftcoastzen I loved Union Atlantic. A bookseller from skylight books in LA had it on his recommendation list. 7y
Leftcoastzen Also Turner House , family entanglements and a vivid sense of place. Very Good . 7y
71 likes4 comments