Question: Do you ignore a, an, and the when organizing your lists, or do you include them exactly as written?
I recently ran into a situation that made me completely rethink how I organize my reading lists. For years, I’ve ignored “the” when alphabetizing book titles, but I didn’t apply that same logic to “a” or “an.” It honestly never occurred to me that I should be treating all three articles the same way—until now.
That got me wondering how other readers handle this. Do you organize your book lists alphabetically at all? And if you do, do you file titles with the article included, or do you alphabetize based on the first meaningful word that follows it?
For example, would A Court of Thorns and Roses be listed under A or C? Does The Night Circus live under T or N?
I’d love to hear how you organize your shelves, spreadsheets, Goodreads lists, etc.!
I don't have enough books to have to organize them in any particular ways but I do organize them by height and then author because I dislike how tall books stand besides short books.
ReplyDeleteIf I was to organize in a much particular way, I would go by author's last name - they do this at the public library so you can't go wrong with that. But if by title, I would disregard the/a/an - but it's kind of weird because without those the/a/an, the title sometimes don't make sense.
Have a lovely day.
I don't have a system for organizing my bookshelves. Sometimes it's by color, other times I choose by author... it really depends on my current mood. However, I do keep my blogging book lists alphabetized to make reviews easier to find, and in case any visitors want to look for something specific.
DeleteI struggled with removing "a" and "an" when alphabetizing, because it DOES make some titles sound weird.
I don't organize anything. lol
ReplyDeleteI like to keep my book lists on my blog organized. It makes it easier to find reviews! My shelves are a hot mess.
DeleteI just put them in with their author in chaos. But it does make me think
ReplyDeleteI keep series in order on my shelves, but I alphabetize everything on my blog to make it easier to navigate.
DeleteI skip the articles because in my head I always skip it too. When I name an image, I skip it. So many books start with THE too. I don't keep physical books, but this would be how I do it in my file folders.
ReplyDeleteI don't organize my physical books alphabetically, but I do keep the list on my blog organized to make reviews easier to find. I've always ignored "the" when alphabetizing, but only recently redid my list to include "a" and "an" as well.
DeleteYou don't keep ANY physical books???
I put them as with a comma at the end. Example; Wild Card, The
ReplyDeleteSame! That's what I've started doing with all three articles and not just "the."
DeleteIf I organized my books alphabetically, I would ignore all articles. I like that you fell into a unique system that worked for you, haha. I group my books very roughly by genre/target age and how much I like them, then whatever looks most aesthetically pleasing.
ReplyDeleteMy bookshelves have no organization whatsoever, other than keeping series together and in order. My book list on my blog stays alphabetized to make reviews easier to find.
DeleteIt's an age old question that I've never really settled on. A couple times a year, I do a deep clean of my shelves and end up reorganizing all my books. Currently, I am using The, A, An, etc to alphabetize.
ReplyDeleteMy physical shelves have zero organization. I keep series together, but that's about it. 😅 It's my digital shelves and lists that I try to keep organized for my sanity.
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