My books are ordered by author's last name because I'll remember a quilter's name more frequently than I'll remember a title. Also, I have multiple books for some authors.
My magazines used to be in stacks by year and now are in stacks by name. Really don't think one way has worked better than the other! LOL :D There are MANY flags in my magazines and I still have to sit down and search through a bunch to find what I want.