So, I posted about my digital library that has catalogued all of my physical books (except my doujinshi, which don’t have ISBNs). I use Libib religiously–every time I get a new book, I add the book’s ISBN to my catalog. But what about how the books look on my actual shelves?

It’s been an ongoing project ever since I moved back to the United States in 2022. I did a mass clear-out of old books that I knew I was never going to read again, and emptied a lot of shelf space, some of which got filled right back up with books I bought in Japan. But still…lots of space.

Then I started collecting books–special editions, books with sprayed edges, etc. I have a lot of them already as an eBook, so they’ve been cleared as keepers (but for the ones I haven’t read, if I don’t like them, I’ll just donate them). One of the shelves that was completely empty has now been almost completely filled with them.

There’s still some blank spaces on the shelves, and those areas are being reserved for manga and manhua. There’s also an entirely empty shelf just chilling in the corner that I will probably fill, too.

When we were a full house, each of us kids had at least one shelf (although I had like three), and my mother had two. Now almost every shelf is mine. I am an avid reader and avid collector of books.

Now, let’s take a look at the shelves as they are right now. Notice that I’ve been collecting Nendoroids and perching anime figures to decorate the shelves in honor of my love of anime. I’m not done collecting anime figures–I want them on all shelves (except the bottom rungs because they’re so close to the floor it’s hard to see).

My book collection starts in my bedroom:

The top rung are all of my writing craft books. I had maybe fifty more but they got lost in the great purge. I only kept the ones that applied to me and my writing. On the writing shelf is Gojo and Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen season two Hidden Inventory / Premature Death Arc, back when these characters were in high school when their lives changed forever. I think what happened to Geto and Gojo is one of the most tragic things ever, and I thought them worthy of collecting.

Below that are my fantasies and to the far right, copies of my books. I’ll slowly rearrange this shelf to accommodate all of my writing, but that’s what it looks like for now. The character perching on the shelf is Sesshōmaru from Inuyasha.

At the very bottom are some of my top fantasies, including the complete Folk of the Air Series and Stolen Prince Duology. Almost all of my Holly Black books are there. I have some great standalones and series, too, and one omnibus manga volume. I like shelving books based on series and also book size, so I try to keep things together in a way that makes sense. On this shelf, the perching/seated characters are Shoyo Hinata and Tobio Kageyama from Haikyuu.

Oh! And the giant figurine on the desk next to my glasses holder is Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing.

The rest of my books are downstairs in the basement.

Atop the bookshelf are more Jujutsu Kaisen figures–Mahito, Geto, and Megumi. Below that are collector editions of classic books mixed with YA and adult fantasy. The characters on that shelf are Dabi and Todoroki from My Hero Academia.

The shelf below it is my danmei shelf (collector’s editions), so far full of nothing but Mo Xiang Tong Xiu works. There’s a space leftover for two books missing from The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation series that will be coming in the mail soon, which should complete it. If there’s leftover space, my preordered Little Mushroom books, which are two volumes, should squeeze in there ok. On this shelf are cute figures of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.

Below that are more collector editions of YA and adult fantasies. On that shelf are more Jujutsu Kaisen figures–Gojo, Sukuna, and Yuji.

Below that are a continuation of collector editions of YA and adult fantasy, with characters from Demon Slayer–Inosuke, Doma, and Obanai.

At the very bottom I didn’t want to put collector’s editions in case flooding in the basement reached the shelves (we do have water come in sometimes, so we constantly have a dehumidifier running), so the bottom shelf consists of very old hardcovers and paperbacks that survived the great purge.

Left bookcase

At the top of the case is an elaborate acrylic of Zhongli from Genshin Impact, and then the shirohebi (white snake) from a shrine in Aso I would go to sometimes that had live snakes. The gold backdrop keeps falling over and won’t stand up on its own anymore, so I might just throw it away and leave the ceramic snake alone.

The top bookshelf consists of old graphic novels, art how-tos, and fairytale books. The acrylics on the shelf are of characters from the mobile game The Arcana–Muriel, Julian, and Lucio.

The next two shelves are of my Japanese books. First are all the doujinshi I bought in Ikebukuro, followed by manga in Japanese. The manga dribbles down into the next shelf, and there is a tiny bit of space there for me to order more (some of the books I have are part one in a series, so I’m saving room for the second parts). The large books on the end of the third shelf are art books, mostly of male characters. The acrylics and figurines on both shelves are from Twisted Wonderland and are of the characters I find the best-looking: Malleus Draconia and Leona Kingscholar. I tried to play the game in Japan but didn’t know enough of the language to figure things out…and the anime is on Disney + on my watchlist. I hope to get to it soon.

The fourth shelf consists of books in English from Japan and some old favorites; a mix of genres. The framed pictures are of Andresh from the thesis version of The Name and the Key. However, the art kind of applies to the current version of the book, too, so they are staying out.

The fifth shelf is the coffee table books–history, art, and mythology. I don’t like putting decorations on the bottom shelves because there’s no room and it’s hard to see them.

Right bookcase

At the top of the bookshelf rests the Seven Lucky Gods from Shinto. I bought this in Takachiho in Miyazaki, Japan. Below it are the books. Shelf one is Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Re: and the Tokyo Ghoul novels, featuring a figurine of Kaneki Ken from the manga/anime. There is a second figure of Kaneki that I want to get of Kaneki in his ghoul form, so the shelf isn’t 100% complete yet.

The second shelf is entirely BL. I have turned over framed art of characters from Diabolik Lovers that originally decorated the shelf, and then at right are the child versions of Midoriya and Bakugo from My Hero Academia. Those are going to go on another shelf at some point.

The shelf below that is also BL (and will be entirely BL once I add more books) and features the characters from NieR Automata. I’ve never played the game but I like the aesthetic. The anime is in my Crunchyroll watchlist.

The empty shelf below it with Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist will also be devoted to BL, and possibly my Little Mushroom manhua.

Below that are more coffee table books, this time devoted to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

These shelves are leftovers from my apartment when I lived in Columbus. They fit perfectly under the light fixture in the room. They also perfectly hold my collector figurines of Gilgamesh from Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Grand Order. Surrounding the figurines are acrylics of a variety of characters from My Hero Academia, Haikyuu, Yoru to Asa no Uta, Diabolik Lovers, Heaven Official’s Blessing, Hypnosis Mic, Free!, Demon Slayer, and some weird bunny men from a konbini promotion and some androgynous Victorian men I bought from Anime Japan. I never figured out what they were from.

Left bookcase

The top row is devoted to fiction books of similar sizes, all fantasy. The Nendoroids are of Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shinji from Evangelion, and Ash Lynx from Banana Fish.

The middle shelf is devoted to the omnibus editions of Noragami, which complete the series. The space is for me to find other books roughly of the same size; preferably manga.

The bottom row are photo albums from middle school to college. Some photos I took in elementary school are in the smaller albums.

Right bookcase

These are my Japan books. The small books to the left that are all the same size are my goshuincho that I collected for six years in Japan. I bought too many books–not all of them are filled. Next to that are postcard albums, one of photos of Japan, and the other of artworks. Then there are Japan guidebooks and Japanese language books, and the large black files to the right are my collections of clear files. I consider them to be more like art and less like a file folder. The Nendoroid on the left is of Blade from Honkai Star Rail and the middle characters are Shoyo and Kageyama from Haikyuu (they’re not Nendoroids though), and the Nendoroid on the right is Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3.

The middle shelf is all BL manga. The center figures (not Nendoroids) are from Korea and are of Ahn Yiyoung and Kang Daehyung from the manhwa On or Off. I have the entire series from my Tappytoon subscription; TOKYOPOP started publishing the series in book form, but has left us hanging for YEARS on volume five. I asked them in a social media post and they said they are still waiting on the license. Anyway, the characters are cute, though. Two more Nendoroids (my last) will go on that shelf with the On or Off characters: Sebastien Michaelis from Black Butler and Kaeya from Genshin Impact. After that I swore off buying Nendoroids because they are the absolute worst things to put together.

These last shelves are of my DVD and Blu-ray collections.

Right bookcase

The small shelf not built into the wall is all of my anime. The top row has the anime stacked horizontally to show that it was purchased in Japan and requires the Japanese DVD player I shipped back home. The vertical Blu-rays and DVDs I can play on my US Blu-ray player. On top of this shelf are my little decorative goodies I brought back from Japan, all from shrines.

Left bookcase

The built-in bookshelves feature my live action Blu-ray and DVD collection. I love physical media and will continue to collect it even though I also stream like 900 different things. Like I do with eBooks, I’ll watch it digitally first, and if it’s a keeper, I’ll get a hard copy.

On top of the bookshelf is a photograph of a koi fish and higanbana (Japanese spider lily), a figurine of Aoba from DRAMAtical Murder, and an arrow set from Futagami Shrine in Takachiho, Miyazaki.

The empty bookcase

I have some figures coming to fill it–Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan, Choso and Gojo LOOK UP! figures from Jujutsu Kaisen, and my goal is to somehow get Qifrey and Olruggio perching figures (or standing figures, though perching is preferred) for a shelf. I really liked Witch Hat Atelier so I hope they come up with some affordable figurines soon.

The shelf itself will likely be filled with more hardcover collector editions, since that special shelf is almost completely full.

I’m like stupidly proud of these shelves.

They fit our basement perfectly. If I ever move out, I don’t know if I could get things to work in the same way, especially with all the large-scale figurines. It’s taken me years to get things organized in a certain way, and I absolutely love my collection.

It’s still a work in progress, but it’s nearing completion!