Perusing the current issue of Southern Living, I could see that they were still sound on questions of barbecue and forsythia, cooling drinks, and baking with lemon. But on the subject of the arranging of books, they have clearly lost their minds.
First, they suggest that you arrange your books not in the dull vertical fashion, but with some of them in horizontal stacks, for interest. It may be interesting, but how are you supposed to read the ones on the bottoms of the stacks? You have to unstack the entire stack every time you want to pull one out! They also want you to put art objects on top of the stacks. So you not only have to unstack the books, but also to find a resting spot for a the bibelots every time.
Then they recommend shelving the books according to color and size. I can see doing this within author and subject categories, but a strict adherence to the rule will put The Beatrix Potter Knitting Book with 50 Selected Songs by Schubert and Wedding Keepsakes. August Folly will have The Music Dictionary and Bunnicula Strikes Again as shelf-mates. How will you ever find a book? I don’t know what they are thinking.
Actually, I do know what they are thinking. They are thinking that you never read your books, or if you do, you will be idly browsing among them for something to read, not trying to put your hand on a particular book. They are wrong.
I was at Partygirl’s having a mimosa yesterday, and there were at least four occasions during our conversation when one or the other of us picked up one of her books. She wanted to read me a passage that had particularly impressed her, my eye was caught by the title of one of the volumes on her sofa table, we wanted to check a quotation.
Our houseguests noticed Rhinos who Skateboard on the shelf and had to read the whole series, plus of course checking out the sheet music collection.
In daily life, I often turn to a book to check a stitch pattern or planting distances for a vegetable. The boys need to look up information for school or a game. Even when you remember a particularly amusing scene in a novel, it is natural to grab the book and savor it again This is what books are for.
So here are my tips for arranging your books.
* Put them in some kind of logical order that will enable you to find them when you want them. If you have books which you never look into, you could stack them and set some objets d’art on top, but you might be better off trading them in at the used book store for something you will want to read.
* It is okay to put the most attractive books in the most public rooms, and even to hide any self-help books, bodice-rippers, or other embarrassing titles in another room. However, bear in mind that if you have only classics on all public shelves, it will look as though you have never read anything that wasn’t assigned.
* If you have plenty of space on your bookshelves for collectibles, go right out and buy more books.
I think that covers it. For details on forsythia, check out Southern Living.
We see eye-to-eye on this one. The books you display at home send a strong signal to your guests.
My guests would probably think I only cook. Actually we have many many books, some upstairs, some in the basement, some on the main level. I read in a magazine about using larger type books stacked in place of an end table!! A stack of old suitcases I could understand…but books?!
books do dictate a lot about how a person is seen…
Totally agree – the more accessible the books the better. I don’t however restrict what books I have available to public view. If those looking at my bookshelves know me quite well they shouldn’t be surprised by whatever they find there. And if they don’t know me very well then they are just passing through and are not important so why should I worry about what they think.
NZ did have a very good education system once. During my school days and my parents’ schooldays we were supposed to have the highest literacy rate in the world. That is no longer the case. We are also falling behind in maths and science I think. One bright spot, bi-cultural education. In the last 15 years or so Maori culture and language has become an integral part of education system. It is just a shame that it seems to have coincided with a decrease in the quality of more traditional academic subjects. We seem to have difficulty finding a workable happy medium. Pure test based learning discriminates against those who do not have very good test-taking technique but who know their stuff. Pure liberal internal assessment works against the principle of striving for excellence and rewards mediocrity.
Yeah, for the person that got brave and booked an appt. with her hairdresser. : ) . I like Southern Living mag. they have some great recipies and gardening tips. Like CheriM I remember that side table thing and tried it myself with a round piece of glass on top of it. WRONG! Ya gotta take the table apart if you want to look at the book. Plus its cute but not very stable. I guess the best tip for books that I have is that I try and go through them once a year and get rid of the ones I’ve read or are no longer of use. Weeding them out so to speak. The times I dislike books the most are when I’m moving. LOL.
As a college girl with limited space for housing books, all of mine are grouped roughly by class and – within that – are grouped roughly by height and/or size. No use having tall skinny books in the front (they’ll never hold up anything, it’s like trying to stop a stampede with a baracade of matchsticks).
YES, YES, YES! I admit, though, I do have some books shelved horizontally. But only because the shelves are too full, and I can fit more in that way. No art, I promise!