As a feng shui consultant, I have been to thousands of homes. I see some homes with hardly a book in sight. And I see others overflowing with books, although not nearly as often. I feel like most people reside in one of three distinct camps when it comes to book collection.

There are those who have hardly any books, as Group #1. This does not mean these folks don’t read. They may in fact be Kindle people, Lap-Top, or Desk Top readers. They may be neat freaks who think that books are messy looking. I just saw a Houzz.com living room make-over where the book shelves had been given doors to close off what’s inside.

Group #2 is those who love, love, love books. They actually read them. And then they save them to read again one day, as in a rocking chair during their Golden years. I like to gift books I’ve read to those who I think will really find the information to be transformative, or hilarious. I have saved many books for my son to read one day. Major book lovers like to display their books in home libraries, or anywhere. They are not to be hidden inside of closets or in boxes.

I lugged around many cases of books for years, the ones I had from college. Complete sets of Jane Austen, William Carlos Williams, D.H. Lawrence, Shakespeare’s plays, or whatever was the required reading when I was a Creative Writing major at UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies. A decade later, I felt like if I was ever going to read those classics again, that I would have no trouble finding them in the library or a bookstore. I was trying to live a more Spartan yogic lifestyle and felt I could do without them. But I sort of regret giving away so many complete sets of books. Later I dedicated an extra room in my house to reading, got a large wall book case, a comfy chair and started collecting again.

Group #3 people are those who have some books or a lot, but have not committed to housing them properly or just don’t know where they stand with all the books. How to organize them? How to display them?
I have some organizational method to my madness and do keep the few cook books in the kitchen. Since I rarely follow a recipe, my cook books are on top of a cabinet for decoration. I have Feng Shui books in two places, with the ones I might want to refer to in my office. What about the big bookcase in the home library? Some people like to organize by title or by author. But I think that the vast majority of us should organize by subject matter. You may not remember the exact title or author, but if there is a subject you need to get some information about, then organizing by subject matter seems like the best route.

Sub-categories could be a division of books first by topic and then by author if you have more than one book by the same author. Because I have so many health-related and metaphysical books, I further sub-categorize them into such sections like a bookstore: Aromatherapy, Color Healing, Self-Help, Nutrition, etc.

From a Feng Shui standpoint, there is nothing wrong with having books out on display. Contrary to some popular, but misguided authors, the edges of bookshelves do not create “poison arrows” causing harm or chaos in a room. Nor does having books in a bedroom make a person too “bookish” and not interested in romance! Just another annoying myth.

Books can be used as decoration, with their colorful covers and cover art. One clever use of a book is to turn it into a mounted wall shelf to support other books! A stack of books with a lamp on top is what I call “functional art” where you are re-purposing something and it is modular as well.

If you have books with obsolete information in them, then I think they are best discarded. Anyone still have Susan Powter’s anti-fat diet book, Stop the Insanity? That one can be tossed. Do you still have the 1972 World Book Encyclopedias? No library or school will accept them because the information is so out-dated. Toss them also. How about the 1991 Guide to Landlords? You might want to toss that if you are no longer a landlord, or suspect that the laws have changed enough that the internet is your best resource on landlord legal matters. These are just a few examples where information may be quite out-dated.

To sum up, if you really want to keep and display your books, there are many creative, organized and decorative ways to do it. I am also rather fond of the “Lend a Book” trend I see in some neighborhoods, where people have a little outdoor cubby to house books right near their curb and neighbors are welcome to share.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions (R) Since 1992
From the Tao of Organizing Blog Series