"Now that the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) has come to a close, we bet that you scored a haul of books at the event. Whether it’s books that you’ve been wanting to buy for a long time or books that you decided to pick up at the event itself, you’ll need a new bookshelf aesthetic that’ll suit your new pile of books. That said, here are some tips on how you can achieve a geektastic bookshelf aesthetic.
5 Ways to Achieve a Geektastic Bookshelf
Shelving matters.
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You can choose to shelf your books in style, depending on the look you want to achieve. The old school, tried and tested alphabetical (by author or title) or by genre is always reliable, but can also get pretty boring especially if you’ve always arranged books this way. Sorting books by color may make books more, er, challenging to find, but you can’t deny the aesthetic of a rainbow wall of books. The position of books on your shelf can also do a lot for your aesthetic – they don’t all have to be stacked the same way, and there are countless ways to do it: horizontal, vertical, spines out, spines in (oooh, a perpetual mystery!), covers the facing front, or even forming shapes.
Think outside the box.
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If you’re on the hunt for another bookshelf for your home, consider getting shelving that’s not a grid. There are a lot more options in the market these days, and even custom builders, so you can go for a shelf design that will showcase your books in unique ways.
Go for unusual displays.
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Books don’t always have to stay on the shelf. A short stack of books by your bedside, office desk, coffee table, or even a corner of your kitchen, topped with a curio, marked by quirky bookends, or placed beside a houseplant or a vase of fresh flowers, is always a pretty sight to behold. Curate your book stack around a certain theme, topic, or color, and you’ll have an interesting conversation starter as well as little reading nooks around your space.
Add some breathing space.
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This can be quite challenging for all of us with tsundoku problems, but having some breathing space in between books is always easy on the eyes. Adding non-book accents to your shelves is also a great way to break up the monotony of a shelf; you can keep it book-related with figurines of your favorite book characters, photos with your favorite authors (if you attended book signings at the event, you’ll have a photo with your favorite authors), and other bookish memorabilia.
Regularly evaluate your stash.
Speaking of breathing space, you will need to periodically liberate some space on your shelves. We all have books we didn’t enjoy so much or outgrew over time, and it’s always a good idea to send them over to the nearest book charity. That way, you can keep your collection updated with the perfect excuse to go book shopping. ![]()
The recently concluded MIBF was held from September 18 to 21, 2022, at the SMX Convention Center Manila, Mall of Asia, Pasay City. The event featured the biggest collection of printed literature of different genres under one roof. The event also featured over 100 exhibitors – making it one of the best events to go book shopping! The Manila International Book Fair was organized by Primetrade Asia, Inc. in partnership with Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc. (ACCI), Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), Philippine Booksellers Association, Inc. (PBAI), and Overseas Publishers Representatives' Association of the Philippines (OPRAP). MIBF has also announced that they’ll be returning in 2023. Further announcements will be made on the event’s official Facebook page and their other socials. This is a press release from the Manila International Book Fair. Minor edits were made prior to publishing."
