I love books. I have dual hobbies — reading and collecting them. Since moving back to the United States in 2022, my slow-moving project has been to build the personal library of my dreams.

Purge the Ancient Tomes

One of the first things I did upon my return to the States was to get rid of books that I knew I’d never touch again. I had books from middle school, high school, college…and I knew I wouldn’t read them again, so they got tossed. I also had an overabundance of books on the same topics, such as mythology or castles, and I chose the best ones to keep, and tossed the others. I also got rid of all of my Harry Potter books because I am one who cannot separate the art from the artist, and I can never read those books again.

I lost track of how many got donated to the Volunteers of America, but I believe it was around 100-200 books.

Make room for books from Japan

I had a personal library in Japan that I was incredibly proud of, and it had a ridiculous manga collection featuring the boys love genre. I had to sell most of it to Book Off because I couldn’t ship all of them (made over ¥10,000). I did manage to grab the books that were really important to me, and I shipped them back to the US along with the copious doujinshi I bought at Otome Road in Ikebukuro. Doujinshi are self-published manga that are classified as fan works but created by incredibly talented artists. They are truly one-of-a kind comics, and I sent all of them back home. Lastly, I picked up some Japanese art books celebrating the beauty of the bishonen and ikemen, and sent those home, too.

Update the library with books aligned to my current tastes

After adding my books from Japan, I started collecting English-translated (and a lot of times uncensored) boys’ love manga from TOKYOPOP, Seven Seas, Yen Press, SuBLIME, and Animate International. I would read the BL as eBooks first, and then, if they were keepers, I’d get hard copies and use them to create my dream library. Only the best of the best BL would be allowed, and they completely dominate my collection.

I also updated my Writing References section, which I keep nearby in my room in case I need to check something out while writing. I added more young adult and new adult fantasy, some more horror, and more LGBTQIA works to both the upstairs and downstairs shelves. I even have some romantasy in there. I added authors like Holly Black, Alix E. Harrow, T. Kingfisher, and Margaret Rogerson to my mix, which diluted a lot of classic literature and Stephen King books I used to have.

Start collecting beautiful books

I started preordering limited editions, and purchasing from places like Fae Crate and Illumicrate to get exclusive designs. I have really gotten into sprayed edges and beautiful cover art. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but once these became more available to the average consumer, I hopped onto the collector train and started acquiring these. I also have started getting into Pango Books, an app that sells used books directly from readers to readers. There are a ton of exclusive editions on that site, and I’ve managed to save some money there when I’ve wanted to complete collections for relatively cheap.

I’ve set aside a special bookcase to house these unique editions, but unique editions are starting to become more commonplace, so I’ll probably have these leak over into other shelves the more books I acquire.

Document every book with the Libib app

I’ve written about the joys of Libib before. Every time a new book comes into my possession, I log it electronically in Libib. Sometimes I have to manually upload things when it comes to Japanese books published in Japanese, or when it comes to custom editions from Fae Crate, Fox & Wit, and Illumicrate. But I make sure that I have every book logged (doujinshi can’t be at this time) because I’m at the point where I’ve been carefully curating my library, and the books I own are valuable to me. If they get flooded or burned in a fire, I’ll have a catalog of what I’ve got in case I need to rebuild.

Anime the crap out of the shelves

I started collecting small anime figures once I got back to the USA. I have large figures of Aoba, Hua Cheng, and two of Gilgamesh, but I don’t have any more room for the big ones. So I started loading up on the small ones here and there.

The predominant figures I’ve gotten (that look the best on the bookshelves) are what’s known as “perching figures” or “noodle stopper figures.” The characters are always seated, sometimes with a leg draping over the side. I don’t understand the “noodle stopper” thing…I know from a friend they’re supposed to go on ramen cups somehow, but these figures are kind of heavy and I can see them falling into the the broth and noodles. I think “perching figure” is more apt.

Anyway, perching figures and small figures (excluding Nenderoids) are way more affordable than the scale figures I have. They are much easier to collect, and decorate bookshelves nicely. In the pictures above, I have Gojo and Geto guarding my Writing Reference shelf, while Sesshomaru is keeping an eye on my YA fantasy hardcover shelf.

I did cave when I started getting emails showcasing Nenderoids and began preordering them because my favorite characters were being created. However, once I started getting them, the “shiny new toy” syndrome wore off. Nenderoids are hard to build. Like, nothing went smoothly putting them together, including pieces not fitting holes properly. I tried to cancel some preorders but have pretty much locked myself in to those orders, so I have maybe 8 million more coming in.

The figures look great on my bookshelves, though. In the picture above you can see the Alucard Nenderoid I’d just built at my computer desk. The other picture at right shows small figures of Bakugo and Midoriya enjoying All Might trading cards when they were children. Awwwwww….I have an MHA figurine shelf that these will go on downstairs, sharing space with adult romantasy hardcovers, lol.

In summation

In pursuit of my dream library, I confess I’ve probably lost my mind. Things look wonderful, but there’s a lack of practicality. 1, my wallet says “ouch,” and 2, the figurines look awesome but I’ll have to move them every time I want to dip into the shelves for books. D’oh.

But who said dreams made sense?