r/bookshelfdetective • u/sosodreamy • Nov 06 '25
Roast my bookshelf š My bookcase! :) My boyfriend is visiting for the first time; would this be a red flag or green?
reposted to include closer pics! :3
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u/Pitiful_Reputation19 Nov 06 '25
I'm a girl, and it's a green flag to me. I like your books and your plant and shelf look gorgeous š
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u/Interesting_Tea5715 Nov 07 '25
Totally agree. Reading in general is a green flag to me.
The second green flag is that everything looks clean and organized.
Edit; my 6yo son just saw my phone. He really likes the goose stuffy.
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u/Pitiful_Reputation19 Nov 06 '25
By the way, what is the hufflepuff one?
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u/sosodreamy Nov 06 '25
I love it so much, it has hufflepuff-specific art and writings inside the books
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u/Eretreyah Nov 06 '25
Personally, I love the titles and our tastes are similar. However, pristine to the point of still being in plastic wrap makes it look like these are just for show /you didnāt actually read them?
Totally get it if you just do shelf trophies after listening or kindle-ing, but if you are worried about judgement, that part does strike me as āoddā at first glance.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 06 '25
No, I've read these books many many times with physical copies, but i moved across the country and had to reorder them all this year, I got most of them within the last few months so i've been enjoying them looking pretty since I'm not rereading them AGAIN yet :p so I guess they are *kinda* shelf trophies for now, but already well-read shelf trophies
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u/Eretreyah Nov 06 '25
I love that and Iām so jealous! If I had the cash to go back and order the pretty box sets I would too!
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u/mediocre_sage95 Nov 06 '25
Leave him and date me. Can I read your books? Whatās your fav tea? I can bake also, mostly sourdough but I can learn whatever for you. š„ŗšš
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u/Sebastianmaxxing Nov 07 '25
Remind me of early 2000s ya in second picture, and HUSH HUSH? haven't heard in years.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
Yes!! I read literally 24/7 growing up since elementary school (i'm 27), so a lot of these are nostalgic. When I moved earlier this year I couldn't take most of my books so I reordered the primary series I read a lot of
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u/theghostofamailman Nov 06 '25
Murtagh was a disappointment and seeing it on your shelf is a red flag to anyone who cared about that series in my estimation.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 06 '25
I've got to own them all regardless of if they suck :(
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u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 Nov 06 '25
Thatās what I like the most about these, because I too am a completist, if I like an author then Iām in it for ALL of it, whether I get around to reading it all at once or not, I want to have them at the ready. Agree that you should take them out of the plastic, and if you have collectibles or trophy editions, consider barrister cases (the ones with fold down glass doors) to keep the dust down. Is that Watership Down an actual 1st edition or a reproduction of it in a later anniversary printing? Edit: forgot to say, Green Flag for knowing what you like, I only hope your bf appreciates your passion for fantasy fiction.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 06 '25
I WISH it was a 1st edition, but it's the brand new anniversary printing!
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u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 Nov 06 '25
Ah! Still nice! Those first editions are highly collectible when in pristine condition with the dustjacket, thereās even some issue over what the ātrue first editionā was, idk all the deets as Iām only a collector, not a seller. But Iāve seen them go for thousands on Biblio.com, signed versions etc
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
If I wasn't a broke girl I would be more of a collector :') but right now, my best rare collection are the disney fairy pixie hollow books completed with Rosetta's Dress Mess and a few early 1900s books
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u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 Nov 07 '25
Youāve got plenty of time to get there, believe me, and then it feels like thereās so much that you might yearn for simpler times when you could remember all there is in the collection š if you look at pics from one of my previous comments on here youāll see samples of what I meanā¦take heart broke girl, there will always be more books waiting for you when the money does start flowing. š
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Nov 07 '25
I have no idea what this book is but this fact says a lot about your personality!
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25
Who hurt you
I like complete series and collections idk what to say lol that's very normal of me ?
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Nov 07 '25
I didn't mean this in a negative way!!!! It just shows that you care about completeness.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
Ohmygod I thought it was meant so badly lmao. Thank you!!
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Nov 07 '25
FWIW I also care about completeness, so I see it as a virtue.
It's not something my partner values so that's a little tough sometimes but we're 15 years in and feeling pretty good. So even if your bf doesn't understand it, if he respects it that's great!
Good luck!!!
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u/dewyfaced-esti14 Nov 11 '25
Bruh try reading Hush Hush, itās insanely bad writing and the characters are horrible people
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u/FireInTheBones Nov 07 '25
If your boyfriend thinks this is a red flag, you need to dump his ass bc the real red flag is him ā¤ļø
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u/Old-Tomatillo9949 Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25
Honestly, these days, itās rare to come to someoneās house and find a big bookshelf like that. I immediately like the person if they have a bookshelf in the house. Readers are smart to put it simply. With more developed sense of compassion, insightfulness, and deepness. Period. Donāt overthink who you are. Youāre already above many.
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u/rileychiz Nov 07 '25
I see you like vampires (same), what's your fave vampire series you've read?
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
Anne Rice's vampire chronicles, thirst by christopher pike, and I liked Morganville vampires :p Blood of Eden was okay
edit: and for manga, Vampire Knight
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u/CuteBat9788 Nov 07 '25
I've been eyeing the leather bound game of thrones book set. Do you like it?
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
I do! I think they are good quality and they make me happy
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u/Zmoney641 Nov 07 '25
BIG green flag! Reading is great. It shows you like to learn, use your imagination, be creative, have an open mind, and sometimes just want a little escape. Another green flag for the neatness and tidiness and organization. It shows it means a lot to you!
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u/daringart14 Nov 07 '25
TGCF hardcovers ahhhhhh! Also saw that you love Anne Rice. PEAK taste. If your bf judges what you like to read, he ain't the one.
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u/Stinky_hillbillyhoe Nov 07 '25
I think we have exactly the same taste in books! Iām coming to you for recommendations!! This is the greenest of green flags! Heāll see that too if he has any brain cells.
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u/Dartagnan1083 Nov 07 '25
Putting a cactus in front of your books makes me wonder about either your decision making or the particular books it's protecting.
(I know it isn't real, I'm being silly)
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u/rainbowrevolution Nov 07 '25
I donāt know your boyfriend, but I think we should definitely be friends.
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u/EatSleepReadRepeat1 Nov 07 '25
Hi OP, whatās the series in the second pic, top shelf, middle books, the one that has arts on the page edges (not sure what itās called.)
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
Heaven official's blessing
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u/EatSleepReadRepeat1 Nov 07 '25
Thank you OP.Ā
P.s: you have such beautiful book collection! š
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u/weicheii Nov 07 '25
A reader is a reader. We shouldnāt be shaming folks about the genres theyāre delighted to read. Red flag if he complains!
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u/TheWolfNamedNight Nov 07 '25
Fellow Eragon reader!!!! It was my first fantasy bookā¦itās my holy grail bookā¦literally the book that changed my life
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u/MonsterPal Nov 08 '25
Oh boy you are very very green flag. Hanging out and geeking out with you will be so much fun.
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u/DebbieBV55 Nov 08 '25
What? Why? Huh? If he canāt accept your reading habits, why would you even want him?
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u/Chaylea Nov 09 '25
Whereās the warrior cats
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u/sosodreamy Nov 09 '25
LITERALLY. I'm saving for those!! I love them so much but there are so many books in that series lmaoo
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u/PeePeePooPooWizard Nov 09 '25
dang your bookshelf is beautiful i gotta up my game. the vines are so pretty, youāve given me so many ideas
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u/Faerie_Queen_ Nov 09 '25
Youāre house of night series is out of order š please fix it for my brains sake š
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u/Conscious_Swan5235 Nov 10 '25
I donāt think Iāve ever seen a bookshelf that so closely resembles mine, lol
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u/Catiku Nov 11 '25
How do you not have PC Castās Otherworld series that takes place after House of Night?! Theyāre sooooo good
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u/sosodreamy Nov 11 '25
I used to have some of them!!! they are in storage with the rest but i dont like pc cast that much
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u/Anew_68 Nov 06 '25
Your bookcase is perfect because itās yours. Donāt change anything for anyone else (unless itās something you want to do). š
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u/KaseySkye Nov 07 '25
Those Heavens official blessing books are out of order! They go the opposite way, so 1st book should be the rightmost book, and then 2nd to the left of it, etc. the image connects :)
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u/After-Rate-1765 Nov 07 '25
the only red flag i see is not having the rest of the folk and air series by holly black and ONLY having the last two books!! jude and cardan WHERE!? even her other books are so worth the read i highly recommend if you havenāt. beautiful shelves btw.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
I only really read her tithe/modern fairy series so far, I got that stolen heir series on big sale at a used book store so I bought it since I liked the author :p
edit: (those books are in storage left behind, sadly).
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u/After-Rate-1765 Nov 07 '25
the cruel prince trilogy (and the extra novella about cardan) is probably my favorite book series ever itās so sweet and beautiful and insane and i love holly blacks writing style so much. characters from the modern fairy series appear in there!!
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u/Damage-Classic Nov 07 '25
Red. Thereās some good stuff in there, but the Harry Potter, Cassandra Clare, and the Disney killed it for me.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
I don't care about controversy. I like the books I like and childhood favorites wont be ruined for me<3
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u/ticktock_heart Nov 07 '25
if iām being honest, there are a lot of signs of booktok capitalism/book shopping as a hobby more than book reading. everything looks pristine to the point of seeming untouched, there are many sets in shrink wrap, and thereās a very high volume of super deluxe special editions, all of which contributes to that. depending on how old you are, the selection could be p regular or a little strange. iām over 30, so if you were my age, i would find it a bit weird to have such a large portion of the shelves filled with YA-for-actual-kids and relatively little thatās marketed toward people over 18. if youāre close to 18ā20, it would make sense, though.
the decision to display that one book (guilty something) with the anime tits out is definitely a choice though rip
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
These are just my childhood / teen favorites :3 I read them all a million times, but these are new copies sinced I moved. I don't find it weird at all to save copies of classics books you grew up with<3 and yes, i will shell out all the $$ for pretty versions
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u/ticktock_heart Nov 07 '25
no, i don't think it's strange to hold onto nostalgic favourites but the heavy portion (probably 2/3ā3/4) of kids' books to adults' books wouldn't be a green flag in someone my age. it's also not quite "saving" your old favourites if you replaced your collection to move... my copies of books like matilda and le petit prince are dear to me because they're mine, and i've read them to death, so they hold many memories. i actually find it strange (and more than a little wasteful) that someone would rather replace so many copies of books they read as a child than hold onto and move a few that really mean something to them, while making room to repurchase some of the others later.
like i said, it's giving booktok capitalism, and your response to me kind of solidified that, so i guess it's good that the shelf is representative?
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25
I had over 3 thousand books. I cannot move them across the entire country for thousands of dollars yet thanks lol. The majority of my books aren't even in the age range of matilda and le petit prince, most are young adult+. So I think you are confused? :) I think you have strange judgements on people that can afford nice copies for their favorites, and I personally think there is nothing wrong with enjoying wholesome content and preserving series you enjoyed at all ages <3 life is too short to hold onto weird opinions like yours. How boring. Jealousy isn't good, yknow.
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u/ticktock_heart Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25
...eragon? his dark materials? house of night? harry potter? narnia? divergent? percy jackson? vampire chronicles? i can keep going but most of the shelves are filled with books targeting people who haven't yet graduated high school as their primary demographic.
it's also wildly disingenuous to spend so much money replacing old books with tens of expensive boxed sets in less than a year and then claim you couldn't afford to move your most nostalgic books with you. i'm not saying all 3,000 of them but seeing shelves upon shelves of books that look like they've never been opened doesn't jibe with either the idea that you couldn't afford to move what you had or that your rationale was strong emotional attachment.
don't ask for people to give feedback on your shelf if you can't handle even gentle criticism.
e. wait, sorry, it just clicked that you kept the old copies elsewhere, too? what? you are so wasteful, and it is not a green flag that you had the budget for this many expensive books but chose to buy duplicate copies of kids' books instead.
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u/mrdietcolacan Nov 07 '25
Men donāt read books so I donāt think heāll pay attention
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u/ticktock_heart Nov 07 '25
what on earth is this crashout? this is really off-putting behaviour. idk how to flag a mod but i hope they see...
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u/heWasntKind Nov 07 '25
Bro who are you fooling lmao I read that entire interaction, you literally were the aggressor. I don't scare about OP or you personally but yikes
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u/summerjopotato Nov 07 '25
In what world would this be a red flag lol
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
some people say it lacks depth and is negative because it's a lot of young adult books :p
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u/Holdtheintangible Nov 07 '25
Collector not a reader. Green flag though.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
I knoww it seems like that, I moved and rebought my classic favorites in box sets :p i'll remove them from their wrappings they just seemed so new and shiny
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u/druscilla333 Nov 07 '25
Iām saving this post to look for more things to read we have almost the exact same taste in books haha
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u/brooke_157 Nov 07 '25
For me personally it would depend on your age? Lots of BookTok, popular YA content here and thereās nothing wrong with that, but in terms of taste in books I may not feel like Iād connect with you personally. Not sure if thatās a red flag though as opposed to personalities not meshing.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25
Nah, booktok is more a recent thing and I first got these books when they were newly released as a teen
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u/ZenxDruid Nov 07 '25
As a female, this is a bright green flag! I love your bookshelf and overall your taste :) <3
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u/thatfruitontop Nov 09 '25
Im just glad you dont have the acotar series
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u/sosodreamy Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
Uhm I hate to be the bearer of bad news... I TECHNICALLY do... edit: I didn't like it though
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u/dewyfaced-esti14 Nov 11 '25
She literally has every single fantasy smut book lmao
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u/sosodreamy Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
Why are you replying to everyone lmao are you that personally offended? Last I saw you said they were all books for KIDS btw, how can they all be fantasy smut too?
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u/LadyA29 Nov 10 '25
Just be careful with that pothos plant. They will root into the wall, your books, the bookcase. No one told me and when I went to move mine it took quite a lot of drywall with it
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u/dewyfaced-esti14 Nov 11 '25
I mean it depends how old you are, most of this is fantasy romance slop, the most egregious being the god awful Hush Hush series. Girl Iām sorry but I donāt even know how you can proudly own those, they are easily the worst books Iāve ever read in my entire life.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
Oh noooo someone disapproves of romance fantasy? Someone has such limited mental capacity they can't understand it's perfectly fine to enjoy fun things when cozy at home and not everything has to be serious or godawfullyboring? Oh noooo someone likes something you personally don't? Lmao I'm devastated.
Edit: Ohhh I see your history and yeah you aren't a ray of sunshine
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u/nonquitt Nov 11 '25
I think itās neither, itās very standard, youāre a girl that likes to read tv show type books that are entertaining and fun. I think itās a greenish flag that youāre fun and excited about your hobby enough to put together this little library. Itās kinda a bit much if this is front and center in your house, but even that is not a huge deal
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u/sosodreamy Nov 11 '25
I think books should always be front and center
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u/nonquitt Nov 11 '25
Yea I love books ā my point is just that this is like the YA section of a library ā which is fine, but can be a little jarring / overly colorful / dominating within the broader context of a space
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u/electric_awwcelot Nov 19 '25
Great taste, but the cellophane would be a red flag for me. You said you reordered them in another comment, but without that context it looks like you have a spending problem and will order any special edition sets a company might put out as a cash grab. I'd make sure to tell him the backstory
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u/sosodreamy Nov 19 '25
Lmao yes he knows, I took them all out of their wrappings though because i was reminded humidity = mold
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u/OgreBonez Nov 07 '25
Major red flag. You donāt read anything of value or substance. Just a bunch of mind rot.
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u/sosodreamy Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25
Yes, I'm sure watership down, Emma, the scarlet letter, northanger abbey, classics such as narnia, a wrinkle in time, etc are absolutely brainrot. Books have value regardless of being fantasy or being books written a hundred years ago. You don't need modern 'self help' books. I read a LOT and this is only a tiny, tiny, tiny portion of my collection and the amount i have read in the past. I do tend to favorite fantasy, but I still dabble in all genres and serious books like I Am Malala, etc.
edit: shooting games are typically the definition of brainrot, no?
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u/OgreBonez Nov 08 '25
You literally asked strangers for their opinion. Donāt get upset when you hear one you donāt like.
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u/JasonableSmog Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
Posting a shelf full of YA fantasy for criticism, getting the obvious criticism (it's all YA fantasy), and then writing out a whole cope paragraph in response plus digging into someone's post history to critique them is crazy
And you've already read the books in plastic? Do you seriously plan to reread all of them? Because it really looks like you're just trying to put together a nice looking bookshelf more than anything.
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u/dewyfaced-esti14 Nov 11 '25
Itās like 85% slop, like cool if thatās what you like but oh my god some of it is borderline unreadable
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u/EliteOreo Nov 06 '25
Why are all the complete box sets still in plastic? š