Thursday, January 31, 2013

The art of book-shelving

Carefully curated.
When I was unpacking from our move and setting up the new apartment, I noticed something funny.  As I emptied boxes of books and placed them on various shelves, I was carefully selecting which ones got primo exposure in the living room versus those which were relegated to the bedroom. Law school text books? Hide them, hide them now! Travel books, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Stewart/Colbert publications? Front and center baby. Without realizing it, I was creating a conversation piece, a snapshot of my interests and tastes through a carefully curated selection of books. It’s not that some books I own are “good” for display and others “bad” or embarrassing (I am proud of my Mr. Met book!), it's just that this collection, taken together, says some...thing, about ME. In my living room, everything from Fodor's and fiction to Jane Austin and Chuck Klosterman made the cut until I had created shelves which seemed to portray a perfect representation of my personality.

Brings new meaning to "reading rainbow"!
I think you can tell a lot about a person based on their bookshelves. I’ve seen organization by author and topic, years of saved magazine issues and even one “sort by spine color” collection. The books, their arrangement and even their mere presence as décor, tells you a story. What does your bookshelf say about you?

 

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