I dont buy many books and the ones I do are usually Eleanor Burns so keep all hers togather.
I keep all the precut quilt books togather also.
Magazines since 2007 I have gone thru and listed ones I like on large file cards, one line only discriptions.
This way I have found out which mags I find the best patterns in and have stopped ordering any others. I am down to 3 subscriptions now.
Now when I need say a baby quilt I just look at my cards to find which mag its in.