Mine are mostly shelved with one row of books that are very close to the full height of the shelf, and a second row in front of flat ones that are not close to the height of the shelf. I only start thinking of it as "jammed in above and beside" when I have horizontal ones jammed into the bare inch of space left above the vertical row, or face-out ones in the bare inch of space in front of the horizontal row!
(For awhile I had my fiction paperbacks as 2 inches or so of books laid flat across the back of the shelf to create a "riser" for a back tier, and then a second lower tier in front. I used books from long series for the risers, so I could see at least part of the spines of all the others.
...I had to stop because I needed the vertical space above the lower tiers.)
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Mine are mostly shelved with one row of books that are very close to the full height of the shelf, and a second row in front of flat ones that are not close to the height of the shelf. I only start thinking of it as "jammed in above and beside" when I have horizontal ones jammed into the bare inch of space left above the vertical row, or face-out ones in the bare inch of space in front of the horizontal row!
(For awhile I had my fiction paperbacks as 2 inches or so of books laid flat across the back of the shelf to create a "riser" for a back tier, and then a second lower tier in front. I used books from long series for the risers, so I could see at least part of the spines of all the others.
...I had to stop because I needed the vertical space above the lower tiers.)