Let People Organize Their Bookshelves by Color If They Want!

Yesterday, author Jennifer Wright caused a stir on Twitter by posting a picture that ignited immediate controversy: she had organized her copious books in her shelves … by colors.

For those delicate souls that are upset by this, please don’t faint when looking at the picture below, you’ve been warned:

Horrifying I know.

Wait, no. I’m being sarcastic. This is FINE. Neat even! More importantly it’s just a woman showing off something she enjoys so obviously, Twitter had to go berserk. The reaction to Ms. Wright’s post has been, how should I say, ridiculous. Not only were many of the replies rude, but many were also ableist, elitist. and sometimes even sexist. Here are just a few examples of the vitriol.

It’s honestly amazing that people on the internet can get so upset and so mean over things that don’t affect them, and completely fail to grasp the simple fact that … everyone likes different things. And the corollary: If you don’t like a thing, you don’t have to do it.

There is nothing wrong with organizing a library this way, in fact, it’s really beautiful and cool! As someone with a primarily visual memory, this seems like a great idea. I might remember that a book has a yellow cover and find it that way. If you can’t find a book that way and you’d rather alphabetize or whatever: do it! I also get the objection that this breaks up series, which is why I personally might pass. But the thing is, someone else having their books this way doesn’t hurt me at all.

The main objections here seem to be “well this is only decorative!” which is extremely silly because … books are always decorative. If we didn’t like looking at them they would all have plain black covers and no embellishments. Our spaces express who we are, and if we want them filled with color-coded books, that’s fine. This is certainly nicer than the shamefully high pile of “need to read this” books I have just sitting on my floor.

Oh come off of it, Russel. To you and to the people claiming they organize their home library by the Dewey decimal system I say: that’s BS. Anyone insulting someone, or groups of people for simple life organizational things are very insecure people who need to find some joy and get over your judgemental nonsense.

The real kicker here is the accusations that Wright, by virtue of having her books like this, isn’t a reader or is vapid in some way. This is extremely humorous considering she’s a published author that lives with and is married to … another published author. But go off I guess.

So go forth, friends, and organize as you wish. As long as you’re happy and reading, that’s what matters.

(image: Pexels)

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Jessica Mason

Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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