Post a Picture of Your Library!

[chrisvia]

I'm a sucker for home libraries. Often I can be found trawling the Internet for images of home libraries, and, whenever I'm invited into someone's home, I get stuck in the home library (if there is one), perusing the volumes and observing the setup of the shelves, the organization of the books, and so on. For at least my own entertainment, post a picture of your home library, and perhaps cite your favourite books therein.

(I'm at work at the moment, but I will post a picture of my modest library as soon as I can.)

[Vota]

If you do post shots of your library, please take some panoramic shots to get a feel for the whole, as well as close-ups so we can see the books!

[stlukesguild]

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0216jpg_zpse5d807f2.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0216jpg_zpse5d807f2.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0218jpg_zpsc9d55f19.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0218jpg_zpsc9d55f19.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0219jpg_zps7a917cf6.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0219jpg_zps7a917cf6.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0224jpg_zps2c2fecfe.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0224jpg_zps2c2fecfe.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0221jpg_zps0c46d445.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0221jpg_zps0c46d445.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0223jpg_zpsca2a08d8.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0223jpg_zpsca2a08d8.jpg.html)

http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/

[JBI]

I'm impressed - if I see it right I only have about 30-40% of that size myself, now divided over two continents unfortunately. But damn, that's an impressive amount of literature - oh if only I had the money.

Though I will say when I was younger I didn't understand the point of a personal library - I would just borrow from the big one and bring them home - now I have sort of caught the bug, and it's impossible to control. Especially here when they publish such beautiful collections of works.

[mona amon]

Wow!!! :)

[Lokasenna]

Nice library Luke... but I have to ask, why all the teddies? I didn't have you down as a stuffed animal lover..?

[qimissung]

Impressive and beautiful. I don't think there's anything that decorates a room as much as books do. How easy or difficult is it to keep them dusted though?

[Babyguile]

Here's my "library"

http://i41.tinypic.com/mj7ono.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/ezjsb7.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2csfcl2.jpg

:blush2:

[stlukesguild]

I'm impressed - if I see it right I only have about 30-40% of that size myself, now divided over two continents unfortunately. But damn, that's an impressive amount of literature - oh if only I had the money.

Though I will say when I was younger I didn't understand the point of a personal library - I would just borrow from the big one and bring them home - now I have sort of caught the bug, and it's impossible to control. Especially here when they publish such beautiful collections of works.

Of course you are a couple of decades younger than myself, JBI. My library was accrued over many years. I didn't have much of a library when I was the proverbial "starving" art student. Lots of cheap old used paperbacks. I lucked out in that the small independent book stores were still a reality when I started to earn a real salary, and if you put in the time scouring these you could stumble upon some incredible finds. On the other hand, Amazon.com has allowed me to find nearly any book in print by writers I spent years looking for.

Nice library Luke... but I have to ask, why all the teddies? I didn't have you down as a stuffed animal lover..?

A close friend of mine always "did" Halloween and so my wife and I became the ones who always "did" the Christmas/New Years party among all our friends. We started collecting bears embroidered with the year every year since we were first married.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/ChristmasLitNet_zpsaaa69327.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/ChristmasLitNet_zpsaaa69327.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/ChristmasLitNet2_zpsf8598d8c.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/ChristmasLitNet2_zpsf8598d8c.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/ChristmasLitNet3_zps568b786d.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/ChristmasLitNet3_zps568b786d.jpg.html)

The wife decks the place out like something out of Macy's... with not only bears but the characters from Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other stuffed animals and a crown on the tree that includes real roses. My contribution includes making a special Christmas Chili, Pork Ribs and Sauerkraut, and a great selection of beers. We have so many of these stuffed animals that we leave a slew of them up throughout the whole of the year. Actually we tend to leave the tree up until well past Christmas and heading toward Valentine's Day if not St. Patrick's Day. All the colors and lights tends to help with the usual blahs of January and February with the short days, long nights, and crappy weather of an Ohio winter.

How easy or difficult is it to keep them dusted though?

Dusted? What's that?

[Pierre Menard]

As impressed as I am with your library, I must say I'm just as impressed with that Christmas tree! I love a tree with lot's of random stuff thrown on, tinsel and **** everywhere, seems more fun. I much prefer that to the old classic - boring, symmetrical tinsel in two colours-minimalist approach.

Great library though. I can imagine moving house would be a delicate process.

[JBI]

Sucks that we westerners get ripped off so hard for books. The State publishers here put out fantastic editions of everything good for nothing. Even here where the amount of second hand stores are overwhelming, picking up a 10000 page mass edition of a book is literally 35$. It's just icing on the cake that the quality is superb.

[luhsun]

.. in your photo no. 6, there is a bottle of windex with a roll of toilet paper. You use the glass cleaner to clean your shelf/books?!!

[Lokasenna]

Nice library Luke... but I have to ask, why all the teddies? I didn't have you down as a stuffed animal lover..?

The wife decks the place out like something out of Macy's... with not only bears but the characters from Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other stuffed animals and a crown on the tree that includes real roses. My contribution includes making a special Christmas Chili, Pork Ribs and Sauerkraut, and a great selection of beers. We have so many of these stuffed animals that we leave a slew of them up throughout the whole of the year. Actually we tend to leave the tree up until well past Christmas and heading toward Valentine's Day if not St. Patrick's Day. All the colors and lights tends to help with the usual blahs of January and February with the short days, long nights, and crappy weather of an Ohio winter.

Aww, that's rather sweet... it reminds me of a lecturer I once had who one year was given a teddy bear as a present by a grateful class, and which was given a pride-of-place spot in his office. The problem, though, was that it became a tradition for each year group to get him a teddy as a consequence, and they are now beginning to rather dominate his room...

I'll post a picture of my library once I've had a chance to tidy up a bit - it's looking a little like a bombsite at the moment.

[mal4mac]

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg.html)



I like that the teddy bear is classified next to Umberto Eco. Are the stuffed animals positioned next to the authors they most resemble? Speaking of Eco, he famously has a very large home library:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/arts/international/umberto-eco-a-master-of-fiction-considers-historys-lies.html?hpw&rref=arts&_r=0

[Clopin]

stluke you took the dust covers off the everyman hardcovers!? Why would you do that?

[Vota]

I love personal libraries. This is roughly 50% of my collection that I have been working on for about a year. Several of my pictures were over 2 megs and I could not get them to load. I scour the used bookstores, Half-Price, Goodwill's and Value Villages for many of my books. The leatherbound are mainly from Half-Price and Ebay. I love my gaudy books no matter what they say.91979196919591949193

[Vota]

Squeeze another pic in. in.9198 These are actually about 75% of my library in total. At last count I had around 375 books. My goal is to have a collection of about 500 specific books. I only have so much space and am only willing to accumulate so many books. That said, I might be full of sh*t and have 2000 books 10 years from now, who knows.

[stlukesguild]

... in your photo no. 6, there is a bottle of windex with a roll of toilet paper. You use the glass cleaner to clean your shelf/books?!!

My wife probably just left it there after cleaning the TV screen. Toilet paper left that low down doesn't last long with two rapidly growing puppies in the house.

I like that the teddy bear is classified next to Umberto Eco. Are the stuffed animals positioned next to the authors they most resemble?

He's actually sitting on a stack that includes The Brothers Karamazov, Emanuel Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell, and a two volume set of the works of Hugo von Hofmannsthal... whatever that might add up to?:ack2:

Great library though. I can imagine moving house would be a delicate process.

Indeed! A process that I have done more times than I care remember.:crazy:

stluke you took the dust covers off the everyman hardcovers!? Why would you do that?

Honestly, I'm not overly fond of dust-covers... which far too often seem marred by the cheesiest of art work... but in most of the instances here I purchased these volumes san dust-covers at a second hand book store.

The leatherbound are mainly from Half-Price and Ebay

I have a good number of those beautiful leather-bound books by The Franklin Library and other publishers. I tend to avoid the non-English-language texts as they often don't employ the better translations. Nice Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

[OrphanPip]

Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

Although, here's one of my terribly maintained chaotic bookshelves.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z241/i_feel_tiredsleepy/IMG_0061_zps00f27929.jpg

[Lokasenna]

Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

Although, here's one of my terribly maintained chaotic bookshelves.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z241/i_feel_tiredsleepy/IMG_0061_zps00f27929.jpg

Thank God I'm not the only one with multiple strata of books piled chaotically on every free bit of shelf! I was starting to get a bit paranoid at all the neat bookshelves on display...

[Babyguile]

I can see dust. Opening up one of those books must give you a coughing fit Pip lol

What translation of Franz Kafka are you using?

[JuniperWoolf]

Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

Ditto, with the added bonus of being scattered across three provinces.

[OrphanPip]

I can see dust. Opening up one of those books must give you a coughing fit Pip lol

What translation of Franz Kafka are you using?

Breon Mitchell, it has been 9 years since I last read it, so I'm not sure I'd be able to comment on any specific element of the translation. I have another copy of The Trial I read more recently (4-5 years ago) somewhere in my room, not sure where though.

[stlukesguild]

Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

That's true of my library on most occasions... but this thread just happened to catch me after cleaning the room up for Thanksgiving (guests) as well as to avoid the damages done by two crazy young puppies running rampant. I've already had to repair the cover on a favorite volume of tales by Theophile Gautier.:frown5:

[chrisvia]

As promised by your OP, here are some shots of la biblioteque chez moi!

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This is an attempt at a panoramic shot of the library, which is a comfy ex-dining room. The smaller case to the left contains philosophy and history. The big case contains solely classics, literary fiction, and literary theory. There's a stack of art books under the lamp-topped table to the right.

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The larger case (with a single case addendum).

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Some philosophy.

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Some books I became intimate with in grad school.

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Some of my most treasured.

[chrisvia]

stlukes, I noticed you have House of Leaves in your library. Have you yet read it?

[Lokasenna]

Ooh, that's a nice and spacious library!

[chrisvia]

@Vota: Beautiful volumes!

[Vota]

@Vota: Beautiful volumes!

You have a very nice library yourself. That reading room is very comfortable and well laid out. My bookshelves are scattered where I can fit them in my room, but someday I'll have a dedicated room or corner for the best part of the house.

[krishna_lit]

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0216jpg_zpse5d807f2.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0216jpg_zpse5d807f2.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0218jpg_zpsc9d55f19.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0218jpg_zpsc9d55f19.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0219jpg_zps7a917cf6.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0219jpg_zps7a917cf6.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0220jpg_zpsc68022bd.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0224jpg_zps2c2fecfe.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0224jpg_zps2c2fecfe.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0221jpg_zps0c46d445.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0221jpg_zps0c46d445.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/BeFunky_IMG_0223jpg_zpsca2a08d8.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/BeFunky_IMG_0223jpg_zpsca2a08d8.jpg.html)

http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/


Awesome collections...especially the tumblr url of Kamasutra erotic book art is outstanding! Thnx for sharing:)

[Dono]

For some reason my attempts to post my library are being denied. Hmmm.

[Glass]

Wow, people here have some awesome home libraries. I'd post a picture of mine but it is really more of a messy amalgamation of books strewn about both a bookshelf and my bedroom floor.

[chrisvia]

Wow, people here have some awesome home libraries. I'd post a picture of mine but it is really more of a messy amalgamation of books strewn about both a bookshelf and my bedroom floor.

I'm still interested!

[Snowqueen]

Wow really great stuff here guys!



Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

Although, here's one of my terribly maintained chaotic bookshelves.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z241/i_feel_tiredsleepy/IMG_0061_zps00f27929.jpg

Currently mine exactly looks like that…. But I’ve to arrange my books. Then I'll try to post some pics.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Most of my "library" consists of stacks on the floor or put away in closets and any other space I can find.

That's true of my library on most occasions... but this thread just happened to catch me after cleaning the room up for Thanksgiving (guests) as well as to avoid the damages done by two crazy young puppies running rampant. I've already had to repair the cover on a favorite volume of tales by Theophile Gautier.:frown5:

Note the clearance, or lack thereof, between the ceiling fan blade and books on top of the shelf !

Great collections by all !



Here are some shots of the shelved library which comprises about 90% of paper books. The remainder are in isolated stacks scattered about. The photo clarity isn't the best since I used an I Pad camera.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/071f26938beb20f4ee6814885503b9f6_zpsd5c7a238.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/dab00507eadfde7e5e46b2f952fd3017_zpsa058ca7e.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/583febebd1a8a9c0c91cd1a97c3297f2_zpsc1b36371.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/ac1cc67bcc3a25ce958e24783a5944bd_zpsc06b2ae2.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/8de25617ea9c4d662dc31746409d4256_zps8f94c44e.jpg




Here are a few close up shots taken some time back for a similar thread.

(Click on thumbnails )

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2437.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2437.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2435.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2435.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2434.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2434.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2433.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2433.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2432.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2432.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2431.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2431.jpg)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/th_IMGP2429.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Books/?action=view&current=IMGP2429.jpg)

[stlukesguild]

I'll have you know that ceiling fan blade has a good inch and a half clearance from the top of the stack nearest. :D

[Aceda]

Nice personal libraries. I'm planning to have a room in my home dedicated for being a proper library one day.

[Snowqueen]

Nice collection Gilliatt. Here are some pics as promised.

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv183/SheherBano5/For%20Posts/shelf.jpg (http://s682.photobucket.com/user/SheherBano5/media/For%20Posts/shelf.jpg.html)

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv183/SheherBano5/For%20Posts/shelf2.jpg (http://s682.photobucket.com/user/SheherBano5/media/For%20Posts/shelf2.jpg.html)


Second shelf in this picture mostly contains Urdu literature.

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv183/SheherBano5/For%20Posts/library.jpg (http://s682.photobucket.com/user/SheherBano5/media/For%20Posts/library.jpg.html)

I hope Qimi sees it.

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv183/SheherBano5/For%20Posts/librarycloseup.jpg (http://s682.photobucket.com/user/SheherBano5/media/For%20Posts/librarycloseup.jpg.html)

[Lokasenna]

So, I've had an hour or so this morning to try and tidy up as best as I can - thus, I can my show my Library in only part of its usual chaos. Sadly, the camera on my phone is pretty dreadful... well, here goes nothing:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i48/Naeblis1963/IMG_0081_zpsa51f6c35.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/user/Naeblis1963/media/IMG_0081_zpsa51f6c35.jpg.html)

This represents about 40% of the full collection, and represents my 'priority' books. There are a load of books in boxes under my bed (storage space is a premium in student housing!), and there are several further loads in my parents' house in Wales.

So, here are some close-ups - good luck making out the titles!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i48/Naeblis1963/IMG_0082_zpsfd9db580.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/user/Naeblis1963/media/IMG_0082_zpsfd9db580.jpg.html)

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i48/Naeblis1963/IMG_0083_zps98f30c1f.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/user/Naeblis1963/media/IMG_0083_zps98f30c1f.jpg.html)

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i48/Naeblis1963/IMG_0084_zps4af303a1.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/user/Naeblis1963/media/IMG_0084_zps4af303a1.jpg.html)

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i48/Naeblis1963/IMG_0085_zps3a7086a4.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/user/Naeblis1963/media/IMG_0085_zps3a7086a4.jpg.html)

[qimissung]

Oh, Snowqueen and Lokasenna, what beautiful libraries you have! All of your books look so well and lovingly used. I particularly love your beautiful copy of Les Miserables, Snowqueen. :)

[Proust's Lover]

Hi Guys and Gals. I'm new to this site and would just like to say I love looking at these library photos.

[Poetaster]

Resurrecting this thread: here's most of my collection.

The top self of my main bookshelf and some hardbacks

9295

Close of my pocket poetry book and reading bear.

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Bottom shelf, mostly poetry for some reason.

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More books, not part of my main collection. Books just out of view are the glossed text of Beowulf and Catullus's poems, translated with original Latin text.

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Some more hardbacks, again not part of my main collection.

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I have books across two locations, which is why I have four groupings of books. The forth, which I haven't posted pictures of, is in a big box under my bed and is fill of random books like Stephen King books and collections of horror stories that I still have from my teens.

I also have on my desk other Latin books, but I don't have a picture of them.

[Poetaster]

Also: Middle section of my main bookshelf:

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Also, one of my favorite books. A copy of Stories from Homer, published 1900:

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[deborah8315]

I really love all of your lovely messes! hehe

[perhapsican]

Gorgeous! I long for the day when I can dedicate a room to my books. Cheap student shelves for me right now. Would post a photo of my books, but they're currently all 5000 miles away!

[Iain Sparrow]

I live in a turn of the century house and because it has so many big windows there isn't a lot of wall space for bookshelves, which I would love to do... so instead I have books here, there, and everywhere.
This is a pic of where I put some of my favorite books, and whatnots...

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/Sparrowyn/Photos/killerbookcase_zps5160b5b2.jpg


And a book signed by mystery writer, and convicted murderer Anne Perry... that might be a cool thread to start, pics of your favorite books... special editions, signed copies, rare books.:)
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/Sparrowyn/Photos/highgateriseap_zpsa90e008f.jpg

[chrisvia]

Resurrecting this post in honor of the new room I just acquired for my library!

9761

[Poetaster]

Resurrecting this post in honor of the new room I just acquired for my library!

9761

Nice! I love that room.

[qimissung]

What a clean, well lighted space! Love those book shelves.

[YesNo]

The feng shui in your room looks positive, chrisvia. It is simple, uncluttered and civilized. I have a few books in the room where I work, but nothing so organized.

It occurs to me that my library is probably the opposite. It used to be in boxes after we moved ten years ago, but this past year I started cleaning things out, donating what seemed obsolete which I would never read and keeping what I thought might still have value but would likely never read. The books are still in our darkish, but dry, basement, however, now they are on display in bookshelves I made from 1x8 common boards. I went the extra mile and used wood screws rather than nails to hold the boards together.