photo by heipei on flickr

Although digital books and eReaders are becoming more popular, I still know several people who prefer to read and keep real books. While most of us don’t have a full library, we do have a few cases worth of books to store. Organizing these books can be both daunting and confusing; there are several different ways to do it. There are four main questions to consider before choosing an organizational method:

1. Who else, besides you, will need to find specific books in your collection?
2. How frequently will books need to be found for reference or other purposes?
3. How much do you care about the appearance of your bookshelves?
4. Are you fairly limited in shelf space?

Here are the three easiest ways to organize your books. Of course, the answers to the previous four questions will determine which method is best for you.

Alphabetically - This is the most standard way of organizing your books. Because this is your library of books, you can choose to organize alphabetically by title or by author. Choose the method that is quickest for you to find them. This method is best for those that have a few different people referencing the same library of books and if the books are referenced frequently. While this won’t make your bookshelves look like anything special, it will be easy to navigate and easy to keep organized. Recommendation: separate books into fiction and non-fiction.

By Size - Grouping your books by size has two main benefits: an aesthetically pleasant library and the best possible use of space in your bookcase. If your bookcase has adjustable shelves, organizing by size allows you to position the shelves tighter together. Each shelf contains one size of book and doesn’t need to accommodate several different sizes. This method is best for those who don’t need to reference books as frequently and if shelf space is fairly limited. Hidden benefit: As most books of similar genres are around the same size (novels vs. reference textbooks), this method also tends to group books by purpose.

photo by apartmenttherapy.com

By Color: Organizing your books by color is probably the least practical, but the most visually stunning. This method is best for those who store their books in main living spaces and would like to use their books as decoration. It does require an existing knowledge of the library’s catalog, as well as a memory for individual book covers, so this is not a good method if more than 1 or 2 people are referencing them.

photo by custom-juniperbooks.com

Recommendation: If you’d like your books to have visual impact, but can’t afford to organize them by color, consider making custom jackets for your books. They can still be beautiful, but organized alphabetically or any other way you choose. The photo above features custom book covers meant to look like traditional vellum. You can use any kind of material you’d like. Even something inexpensive like basic brown paper with black writing would look great.

When I told my friends I was excited to see Secretariat, I received a lot of scoffing. They compared the movie to Seabiscuit and claimed they “don’t want to see a movie about horses.” Well, I don’t know about them, but I usually love movies about horses. The Black Stallion, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, and Hidalgo are all amazing films. On top of that, Secretariat is a Disney film starring the talented Diane Lane and John Malkovich. I couldn’t see it soon enough.

Many will argue that Secretariat is formulaic, but the formula works to produce uplifting, family-friendly films that focus on determination and truly capture the essence of their subjects. I compare Secretariat to two other successful Disney sports films: Miracle and Remember the Titans. They all take a true and culturally significant event, put human faces on them, and, even though we all know what the outcome will be, manage to create nail-biting tension and anticipation.

It captures what was so great in The Blind Side: a powerful, determined woman taking what no one believed in and turning it into a star. But what I missed in The Blind Side was a feeling of love and respect for the sport of football. The actual football scenes were short and far between. Secretariat perfectly stitches in beautiful and heart-wrenching racing scenes that truly embody the passion of the trainers, the skill of the jockeys, and the raw strength of the horses.

It’s an amazing film that is suitable for all ages and promotes values like determination under pressure, faith during adversity, protecting one’s family, but also one’s pride, and also the connection between human and animal. Diane Lane did an amazing job and John Malkovich is hilarious in a tame, but clever role. It’s the first movie I’ve seen in a long time where you could feel the emotion in the audience and everyone genuinely clapped at the end.

“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”

This. Dog. Is. Awesome. Best part by far is at about 1:22. Love it.

EDIT: Since this entry was originally written, Patrick from DODOcase has contacted me through a comment (see below) and I emailed him to further discuss the situation. He expressed genuine concern about my satisfaction with my case, apologized for the lack of customer service response, and offered assistance with any future problems. I am happy to see that level of care and my impression has definitely changed for the better.

Several months ago, I purchased a DODOcase for my iPad. I had looked through handfuls of cases, trying to find a good blend of looks and functionality. DODOcase won me over, with its beautifully carved bamboo interior and resemblance to a moleskine notebook. It was on backorder, but I was willing to wait.

After 4 weeks, I finally received my DODOcase in the mail only to discover that it had warped during transit. The bamboo was clearly not meant to be exposed to the high heat of Arizona weather. It was warped so badly that my iPad wouldn’t even stay in place, rendering the case basically useless. I contacted DODOcase customer service to explain my predicament, mentioning specifically that two of my friends’ cases arrived warped as well. They wrote back mentioning the unexpected reaction to the heat and offered to give me a refund only if I sent back the defective case. I sent them a response asking them to pay for the shipping costs. I received no response. I sent two additional emails since then, but it appears they have discontinued trying to appease me and have no desire to keep me as a consumer.

Since it was apparent I wasn’t going to get any reasonable response from the people at DODOcase, I tried to make the best of what I had. I ended up sponging down the bamboo part of the case with water and leaving a heavy box on top of the case overnight. I did this for three days and I was able to bend the bamboo back into place. Now the case works fine, mostly for light usage and moderate travel. When open, you can’t turn the case upside down or your iPad will easily crash to the floor. I use my iPad mostly for movie viewing while in the car or airplane, so it works for me.

I’d recommend the DODOcase to anyone who would like a case for light protection and high style. I would not recommend the DODOcase to anyone who appreciates good customer service or who uses their iPad heavily.