This title has been on my "maybe" shelf for years; the shelf serves for books I need to think about, need more information on, or books I'm only going to buy if I find them used and cheap.  Living with Books met that last condition, as I'd heard it was a bit disappointing overall. 

 

I'd heard correctly; it's a bit disappointing.  The pictures are great - some really clever solutions and some just gorgeous libraries are included, but the text has less to do with books and libraries than it does about interior design and architectural theory, about which I have mostly derisive opinions.  

 

I gave it an extra half-star though because it includes a few pages at the back with DIY instructions for making different types of bookcases, and I thought that was a nice touch.  For that reason and the good pics, I'll hang on to my copy, but I"m awfully glad I found it used and cheap.

So after all that cleaning and tidying of the library last weekend I felt the need to undo all my good work, and went on a small binge.  Ok, medium sized binge.  The first batch arrived today, which was pretty good timing because a trip to the city centre of Melbourne had me pretty cranky with humanity.

 

Normally, I'd include a pic of the books, but, while my library might be tidy, my coffee table is absolutely not and I'm not letting y'all see my mess.  

 

A bit of everything in this box, including Living With Books, which is probably what I'm looking forward to most, and the title that will surprise everyone the least. 

 

Here's hoping everyone has a lovely weekend!

This was one of the more boring collections of pictures of bookshelves you'll find. There's another book I also read the same day with the same title which will also be getting a poor review, just for a different reason.Honestly, if you're looking for ideas for your home, you'd find far more inventive and interesting ideas by visiting an IKEA store. I'm not a huge IKEA fan, either.

This was an interesting book to read. I had the same problem with it that I have with books about interior design though, much of it what they were showing seemed at least somewhat impractical for daily life. I do own some books that could be put in an area that's not easily accessible, but it's a relatively small amount. Even if there's a book that I don't think I'll be rereading soon, there's a good chance that a friend will want to borrow it.

I really liked the idea of painting a speaker to look like books on a shelf so it blends in.

The pictures are gorgeous and provide excellent examples of the ideas the author is talking about. However, I noticed a lot of the books on shelves were faded with pale or lightly colored spines whereas my own books tend to have dark spines.

Also, I love the idea of a shelf in the bath for reading and keeping the book dry. But I very much disagree that it should be installed to make bath time "more productive." Reading in the bath should be a pleasure, not just another opportunity to work.

So again, there are some interesting ideas but a number of them are impractical for anyone who does not have a nonstandard architecture home (many of the homes in the book were either designed by well known architects or were built hundreds of years ago) or for a person who wants ready access to most of the books in a large collection. Still, it's fun to go through and look at the different ways people display and store their books.