A.R. Geiger

I have 644 books in my office library.

No, I have not read all of them.

Yes, most of them are from library book sales, thrift stores, and second-hand bookshops.

Do I look like the kind of person who has Barnes and Noble money? I do not.

Plus, there’s just something about the hunt, you know? You never know what you’re going to find in a thrift store or in a second-hand bookshop. It’s like a treasure hunt!

There’s no treasure hunt on Amazon, y’all. Just the soul-sucking knowledge that whatever I add to cart is snipping away at my monthly budget and reducing the number of books I can buy by at least half, probably more.

That is not a joyful process.

Anyway, I have 644 books in my office library. They are spread across three shelves, two of which are double-sided. After a while, it gets a little hard to remember which books I already own and which are on my wishlist, especially when I’m standing in a thrift store, staring at a mint copy of one of my childhood favorites that happens to be 50% off because we came on a Saturday.

I’ve bought a lot of duplicates over the years. And then been forced to weed them out again when my shelves got too full.

So finally, I decided enough was enough and, after some serious app research, I downloaded Bookshelves.

It’s an app. For your phone.

No, this is not a sponsored post. But y’all already knew that. I am very obviously not popular enough to be an ‘influencer’, and thank heavens for that.

I would be a terrible influencer.

Mostly, it would just be me throwing books at people and telling them to stop disrespecting libraries.

Ahem.

But! I downloaded Bookshelves. And I spent several days scanning each and every book I owned into my ‘virtual shelf’. It took a long time. Was it worth it? Absolutely, because now, when I’m standing in the thrift store drooling over a gorgeous used copy of Hamlet that costs $1.99, I can pause, whip out my phone, and do a quick search of my bookshelf to remind myself that I already own Hamlet and no, I do not need another copy.

It’s saving me money, y’all. A lot of it.

Another useful feature has been the ability to tell if I’ve read the book before, and to keep track of my progress as I’m reading through each of them. Cause let’s be honest, a TBR pile that is 295 books long can be a little hard to keep track of.

That’s how many of my books I haven’t read. 295. My rule is, that number has to be less than half of the books I own, otherwise I’m not allowed to buy any more books until I catch up.

Turns out, that is a very motivating rule. Especially when I know Saturday is half off day at the thrift store and there are new books calling my name. 644 is not my limit, y’all! I’ve still got space!