A bookshelf has sparked outrage on social media platform X after users were left appalled by the organisation method. Whether arranged alphabetically or by genre, organising your bookshelf can be accomplished in numerous socially acceptable ways. However, a recent post on the social media platform showcasing how to store “unfinished books” has caused a sensation.
Its popularity stems not from being a useful tip, but rather from the shocking condition in which the books are abandoned. Hundreds of comments and responses flooded the post, with numerous members of the public suggesting the dreadful organisation method might “shame” someone into completing their books.
A photograph of the volumes, splayed open, creased, and piled atop one another, was shared on the social media platform. The image has subsequently attracted over 34,000 likes and countless comments from alarmed members of the public.
The user posted: “Please enjoy my shelf where I store my unfinished books.” X users were astounded by the organisation technique, and whilst many were swift to dismiss the shelving arrangement, some appear to have worked out the reasoning behind the chaos.
One individual commented: “This is a good way for the mere shame to get you to read all of these.” Few agreed with this “shame” strategy though.
Many believed the conventional method of organising books was superior, and that this approach of keeping the book open to the page where the reader stopped has left people horrified. One X user expressed their distaste, stating: “I’ve actually never enjoyed anything less this should be illegal.”
Another added: “Please tell me this is rage bait.” A third labelled the bookshelf as “chaotic evil.” Alice Vincent, the Features editor for Penguin Books, shared her unique method of organising books, which she described as “impossible to explain to anyone else.”
She wrote: “When I lived alone, my books were organised in a matter that made perfect sense to me, but was, essentially, impossible to explain to anyone else.
“Then I moved in with someone who enjoys alphabetising and a convoluted compromise has unfolded. It all starts with ‘the unread bookcase’, which does what it says on the tin and contains non-fiction and fiction.
“Once a book has been read (or abandoned), it moves to either the charity shop pile or the main bookshelves, which are alphabetised by the author’s last name. Despite being fairly large, we have to insist on a one-in, one-out policy because they’re pretty full.
“Chaos reigns, however, on the separate bookshelves where our distinct interests our housed ( gardening and theatre, respectively). There, as with the shelf of art books, I allow happy chaos to reign – books ordered by subject, size, sometimes colour and mostly hunch.”
However, neither Alice nor her colleagues at Penguin Books endorsed the chaotic arrangement of the viral X post.