Hello my friends! Today I am going to take you on a journey over a years time…a long journey…a journey of discovery…mostly. You don’t have to go anywhere, you just have to put up with pictures. And some text. But this is a blog post talking about how quickly I got out of control in terms of book collecting in a little over a year! (And how I’m attempting to reign it in.)
July 2019…I was just beginning this journey. It was a small shelf then. I had a few books, but not many.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/july.jpg?resize=657%2C768&ssl=1)
August 2019 wasn’t much different, still only a few books. It wouldn’t be until I got my first OwlCrate that I developed a collecting bug.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/august.jpg?resize=611%2C768&ssl=1)
September 2019…I painted a new shelf. I loved it! It was bigger and better than my old one! I was also prepared for Spooky season! I could not wait!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/september.jpg?resize=432%2C768&ssl=1)
October 2019 had A LOT of changes in it. Far too many, but part one looked thus! Two full shelves! Lots of great books! All rainbow ordered (when it was easy!)
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/october.jpg?resize=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
Part 2 turned into this…more books, but just a few.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/october-2.jpg?resize=432%2C768&ssl=1)
Then came a little later in October…and all the shelves were full! I was making use of my local used bookstore and of BAM’s bargain bin! Love them both!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/october-3.jpg?resize=432%2C768&ssl=1)
Then this was the last change in October of 2019…I got myself a target shelf. And some more books. So my collection had drown! It was still looking lovely and had plenty of room to grow.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/october-4.jpg?resize=432%2C768&ssl=1)
November came and I got myself a second shelf. YALLfest had been good to me, and I had more books than ever before. It was lovely to feel that my collection was growing. I was starting to feel like a part of the community.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/november.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1)
January 2020. No pictures for December as I apparently didn’t take many? Also, apparently it didn’t change a lot. We then move onto having moreeee books. I was getting addicted to book buying. But it was fun!!!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/january.jpg?resize=377%2C768&ssl=1)
February came, and again, very little changes other than some more books. It wasn’t anything hugely different to be honest.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/february.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1)
March I started actually decorating the shelves more. The HP set (and funkos) gifted to me moved to make room for my sign. I added more shelf decorations. At this point they were still organized by color.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/march.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1)
When Covid hit in March we were only working Mon-Thurs. So one weekend late March we repainted my room, and I moved my 2 shelves together and stacked all the books up. No longer by color. I loved the corner shelves!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/march-2.jpg?resize=576%2C768&ssl=1)
April 2020 I went and got a third shelf. I was really enjoying the look of them together. It really appealed to me.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/april.jpg?resize=576%2C768&ssl=1)
June 2020. No May pictures as nothing changed. In June I added a fourth shelf! It was starting to look really good and I was happy with it!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/june.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1)
July 2020. In which I acquire a fifth shelf. They are slowly taking over my room — the only space I have for bookshelves.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/july-2020.jpg?resize=576%2C768&ssl=1)
August 2020 I added a sixth shelf. Lots more space! Lots of good books!
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/august-2020.jpg?resize=1024%2C908&ssl=1)
Right now, I have space for one more shelf and that’s it. But it is all good because I can stack books on the shelves I have, and take up unused space. I have started buying less books in general, and buying more used.
It’s really interesting to see how my shelves evolved over a year. In another year they probably won’t have changed much, except for maybe order. Recently, I started thinking about arranging them by rainbow again, which I may do.
![](https://i0.wp.com/loreofthebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/comparison.jpg?resize=768%2C640&ssl=1)