While my book collection has been constantly changing, it has been a while since I’ve posted an update on it. This is the perfect time to share my bookshelf with you since I actually just got a brand new one! Plus, there’s an exciting surprise at the end of this post.
My ever-changing book collection
My last bookshelf update was in October of 2020, and it looked like this:
My book collection has gone through a lot since then. In June of 2021 I moved into a new house and actually sold so many books that I was able to fit them all on one bookshelf again! Granted, a lot of them just moved to other places in the house as decorations since that’s all they really were anyway, but sometimes it feels so good to audit what you have and get rid of what you don’t really need.
For a while I have been much more intentional with the books that I buy than I was when I started. The great majority of the books I buy now are ones on my wish list, that I’ve been specifically looking for. The only time in the last year I really splurged and got whatever caught my eye was at a massive book sale where everything was 50 cents! While my book-buying restraint has stayed virtually the same for a while, my areas of interest still constantly change.
A couple years into blogging and reading nonfiction, this was my full book collection:
There are only three books in that entire picture that still have a place on my bookshelf. (Undeniable, Did Jesus Exist?, and Breaking the Spell.)
Making room for more books
However, there are actually a handful in that picture that I still have but that are now shoved in my closet since my single post-moving bookshelf was full. Even as I was trying to thin out my collection to make room for new books, I finally admitted that it was time to upgrade. My logic was that with the inevitable march of time, whether or not I buy an absurd amount of books, I’m always going to be steadily increasing the size of my collection as I read things and keep them, then buy more. Duh.
This is one of those times when I know that I’m unavoidably going to be way more excited to tell you about this than you are to learn it, but this week I finally got the last of the new bookshelves I have been waiting for Ikea to restock for a month! Without further ado, here they are:
It feels so good to be able to fit all of my bookshelves in one picture without having to Photoshop them together! This also makes me feel as though my book collection isn’t as out of control as I may have previously thought, and I’m happy to have room for all of the books I’m bound to buy.
Speaking of which, I have actually bought a lot of books since my latest update during Nonfiction November. In the spirit of splurging and spending holiday gift cards, I had what I’ve been referring to as an “open enrollment for books” in January. I usually try not to buy too many new books at once, but I decided I just wanted to actually get through my massive wish list. Here are my newest additions:
If you’re wondering why there are so many books on Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and PTL, don’t worry, we’ll get there. I’m still investigating.
What I’m buying and reading
Besides that category, I’ve gotten more books on Christian Nationalism, biblical history, human evolution, language, science history, sexism in science, and abortion. In the past few weeks I have really begun doubling down on writing about issues surrounding abortion rights because it’s so important and so at risk. I’m surprised it took this long to dawn on me that what I really needed was an abortion-rights book haul.
I sat at my desk for about an hour one night to compile a wish list of all the must-read pro-choice books, and as you can see I’ve already started collecting them. Actually, I’ve already begun reading The Girls Who Went Away, which I bought only last week, after skimming through it standing in line at the store and then not being able to put it down.
I really hope I finish this book. I say that because since my last review of God’s Philosophers and reading Tammy Faye’s memoir just for fun, I haven’t actually gotten through a book or reviewed anything. That’s not for lack of trying; I keep starting things—in one case making it over 200 pages—and not enjoying them or having the patience to finish them. I think this is the result of buying so many books that I now feel that I don’t have the time to waste reading anything I’m not crazy about.
Revealing my latest project
With the updates out of the way, I finally want to share with you… my first-ever TikTok! I made this especially to go with this post so you can see as I fill my beautiful new bookshelves with my amazing books and decorations. It features many of my favorite books I’ve talked about throughout my time blogging, and I hope you like it!
Given what’s in my book collection in the image below and in my Goodreads, what do you think I should read next?
I’m impressed by your shelf restraint.
😁
That “Gods Right Hand” book about Falwell is excellent and really shows how the US got to where it is today in so many ways particularly politically (especially on issues like abortion).
Oh my gosh! That’s the book I read to page 200 and just gave up haha. I just could not read another word about that man. He’s despicable.