Bookshelf Tumblr

November 8, 2010 8:14 AM

Book lovers never go to bed alone - a tumblr dedicated to bookshelves.
posted by peacay (36 comments total)

Why would book lovers sleep with a bookshelf? What about the splinters?
posted by inturnaround at 8:20 AM on November 8, 2010

The real problem with this is that I'm not able to look at every title and judge the shelves' owners accordingly.

Seriously I went to a party at my ex's and she and her husband had, like, hardly any fiction and it was one of those What was I thinking during that relationship?! hindsight moments I mean she's nice and all but gah
posted by shakespeherian at 8:22 AM on November 8, 2010 [9 favorites]

green apple?
posted by mrgrimm at 8:27 AM on November 8, 2010

It turns out I can recognize City Lights from a single "MORE BOOKS DOWNSTAIRS" sign despite not having been there in three or four years.

I think the "current events - 60s & drugs" one is Green Apple but I'd need independent confirmation
posted by theodolite at 8:28 AM on November 8, 2010

It turns out I can recognize City Lights from a single "MORE BOOKS DOWNSTAIRS" sign despite not having been there in three or four years.


Then crossing over to Specs for a drink ...
posted by The Lady is a designer at 8:29 AM on November 8, 2010

The real problem with this is that I'm not able to look at every title and judge the shelves' owners accordingly.

That's what I was hoping for too...

Judge away on Ideal Bookshelf (no association - i have linked to it twice in (relevant) comments)
posted by mrgrimm at 8:30 AM on November 8, 2010 [5 favorites]

I was thinking about what my bookshelves would look like and figured that they would probably be pretty empty, judging by the mountainous pile of books beside my bed. But then I realized, that no, they're still all full, because I always have more books than shelves. It's a happy way to live.
posted by specialagentwebb at 8:34 AM on November 8, 2010 [2 favorites]

green apple?

blerg. i haven't been to city lights or green apple in years. i don't live in the city anymore, and pretty much exclusively frequent Dog-Eared, Aardvark, and ... what's the one on 2nd ... Alexander.

Spoiled we are.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:34 AM on November 8, 2010

I think the "current events - 60s & drugs" one is Green Apple but I'd need independent confirmation

Nope, that is definitely Aardvark.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:35 AM on November 8, 2010

My headboard is a bookshelf. Am I doing it right? Because it sure feels like I'm going to bed alone a lot of the time.
posted by penduluum at 8:37 AM on November 8, 2010

green apple green apple green apple                          green apple

green apple
posted by mrgrimm at 8:40 AM on November 8, 2010

Nope, that is definitely Aardvark.

Now that that's settled, we can all sit down and judge this guy, with whom it would be impossible to hold more than five minutes of conversation without the topic turning to something about quantum mechanics explaining how 9/11 was a lie.
posted by theodolite at 8:41 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Book lovers never go to bed alone

Mmm, hard bound leather edition...
posted by nomadicink at 8:51 AM on November 8, 2010

Now that that's settled, we can all sit down and judge this guy

I'll admit to owning the Cosmic Serpent, though I also admit I haven't read it yet. Also, Robert Anton Wilson is the bee's knees.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:06 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

I can't believe Alexander is still open!

Green Apple (sigh) is one of the handful of things I really, really miss about SF ...... that and living within a very short bus ride from it ..... there is a serious paucity of really great bookstores where I am now.
posted by blucevalo at 9:10 AM on November 8, 2010

Alexander does pretty serious business. It's an odd combination of black fiction, best sellers, textbooks, magazines, and discount books, but there's really not much competition (any?) in downtown SF after Stacey's left.

I judge any used bookstore on its half-off-cover-price mass-market paperbacks, hardcover fiction, and sex/erotica. I judge any new bookstore on its sex/erotica. :D

There are a few interesting bookshelves as the pages go on.

My favorite so far is the eminently impractical and likely dangerous ladder bookshelf.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:17 AM on November 8, 2010

I'm touching my self-help section!
posted by applemeat at 9:22 AM on November 8, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'll admit to owning the Cosmic Serpent, though I also admit I haven't read it yet. Also, Robert Anton Wilson is the bee's knees.

It's not so much any particular book as the combination of Dawkins, Howard Bloom, HST, RAW, Crowley, and whatever "Psychic Dictatorship in the USA" is that says talking to this guy will be like listening to Alex Jones through a bong
posted by theodolite at 9:25 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

This one is incredibly sad to me.

It's the sole remaining refuge a person who has lost their battle for equality with their (substantially more) significant other. At one time an aspiring writer with a penchant for retro photography, his or her dreams have now been relegated to the far bottom corner of the basement. There was once a small desk and a somewhat comfortable chair, but those were decided to be in the way, and now there is a single metal folding chair that must be put away after each use. In a few years the area will be put to better use as a storage area for seasonal decorations and forgotten boxes of children's schoolwork. The final ember of a heart that held a once burning dream will be snuffed out.
posted by bionic.junkie at 9:44 AM on November 8, 2010 [7 favorites]

Now that that's settled, we can all sit down and judge this guy

Heh. I have 9 of the books in that picture, including all of the RAW (I don't have that particular Lovecraft collection, but I have all of its stories in other volumes.) And I could easily come up with a selection of 20 books from my library that would make me look even crazier than that.
posted by Zed at 10:31 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

My current studio apartment has a cubby hole type sleeping area which is walled by bookshelves. It has lots of room to grow.
posted by The Lady is a designer at 10:39 AM on November 8, 2010

The final ember of a heart that held a once burning dream will be snuffed out.

Quit looking at me. Get out of my brain!
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:44 AM on November 8, 2010

bookshelfporn
posted by sweetirony1 at 12:01 PM on November 8, 2010

It's an odd combination of black fiction, best sellers, textbooks, magazines, and discount books, but there's really not much competition (any?) in downtown SF after Stacey's left.

That makes total sense to me. When Stacey's was really booming circa 10 years ago there was a moment when it looked like Alexander might go under. I loved Stacey's too but I'm glad Alexander has had a chance to get out from under Stacey's shadow.
posted by blucevalo at 12:18 PM on November 8, 2010

There's nothing quite like floor-to-ceiling bookshelves to make your home cozy, but I love my Kindle possibly more than any inanimate object I've ever grown fond of. So conflicted.
posted by halogen at 12:51 PM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

When I was a kid and would imagine being a "grown up", I'd always picture a library - a room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, that was old style leather armchair and floor standing reading lamps cozy.

Vat iz zis keendell of which you spik off?
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:02 PM on November 8, 2010

I am somewhere in between this and this.
posted by fake at 2:27 PM on November 8, 2010

I'd always picture a library

Me too. And I suppose I'm a "grown up" now. And I've got a room much like that. Growing up isn't all bad — it gives you time to acquire more books.
posted by Zed at 2:31 PM on November 8, 2010

Perpetually torn, myself, between my desire to eliminate all the clutter and my obsessive love of books. Thank goodness for the public library and my electronic book reader. But still have sneaking desire to set up my bedroom and a big comfortable chair in one of these book laden spaces.
posted by bearwife at 2:31 PM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

this is my idea of heaven. i miss my books. :(
posted by Heliochrome85 at 3:35 PM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

There's nothing quite like floor-to-ceiling bookshelves to make your home cozy, but I love my Kindle possibly more than any inanimate object I've ever grown fond of. So conflicted.

I feel for you! And I've only had my Kindle for two weeks. I'm finding a lot of my wish list isn't available on Kindle, though, so I think I'm going to end up fine.
posted by mendel at 5:35 PM on November 8, 2010

After getting my Nook (ebook reader), I'm torn when I see these pics. I actually don't browse through used book stores anymore, something I love to do, because I don't want to justify the expense of buying a physical book when I can read the same thing for free (there are ways) on my ebook. Or maybe the opposite--I want to justify the ebook, and if I buy books then that gets chipped away.

I have a bookshelf at home, but it's mostly books I've already read, and now that I'm on board with the ebook thing, plus the fact that I need to reorganize and clear up some space...

This is the future, isn't it? In fifty years bookshelves will be quaint, only maintained by hipsters kickin' it old skool.
posted by zardoz at 6:05 PM on November 8, 2010

One of my favorite libraries in the world is in Ndioum, Senegal.

After half a year in Africa, where even French language books were sparse and hard to come by, I had no idea how much I missed the comfort of a familiar book, a voice that you can understand, that understands you. I chanced upon a PCV who invited me to the house -- and then I saw the library. It wasn't huge by Western standards, just a standard bedroom -- but it was filled with 30+ years of books, either brought by American kids, or sent by their friends and parents. I'd like to say there was a certain quality to the books. Sure, there were a few Grisham, but there was a lot more Marquez, Murakami, and Joyce (though the latter looked barely touched -- trying to comprehend the plot of Finnegan's Wake while learning Pulaar and negotiating a village cooperative of pottery production too ambitious even for the stars of PCV).

I put down a mat and lived in that library. Closing off from the world that was Africa, I ate bookdust for a week, sleeping in between the shelves. Amidst the books were the occasional forgotten journal or a volunteer, left behind, abandoned. I copied down a passage from one, which I produce here:

Community walk observation

Animals, trash + animal
sees everywhere
women + children (not many
men) out walking around.
all women have head wraps
+ wear traditional clothes
while men + children wear
western + traditional clothes.
ppl sitting in under
huts/shaded area
kids run up to shake
my hand - but don't say anything
women balance things on
head - the huge buckets of waer (a long w/
baby on back
dirt, kids almost white
+ dirt gets in my eyes
Not everyone greets
but when they do they
don't stop, jus keep
walking + talking
even w/back turned
narrow pathways b/w
houses (w/douches running)
some teeth rotten
kids w/no pants or underwear
running around
animal parts on ground
(goat leg)
ppl yell _ then have to
go to them, they
won't come to you
I get some smiles +
ppl don't react @ all
ppl think Marie + I are
sisters b/c we look alike
all wear flip flops
smells like BO
after breast feeding don't
put breast away
lots + lots of kids + babies

Of all the other authors I read, that nameless one touched me the most. It's funny in it's confusion. Whoever this person was, whenever they were here, I could understand that bizarre line of walking between two worlds. I vaguely remember before I left the house and back onto the road, scribbling out some note, some poetic ode to libraries as nexuses of atemporal communication or something, which I slid behind a bookshelf to someday be found. After all, that's what libraries are -- collections of Solomons' bottles, waiting forever, silent and ready to speak and challenge and comfort whomever comes next.
posted by iamck at 7:10 PM on November 8, 2010 [2 favorites]

I should have known about this sooner. A FOAF has a books-images tumblr as well. I recently moved, but none of my books came with me. It makes my home seem... empty. I look forward to filling my empty bookcase.
posted by knile at 4:43 AM on November 9, 2010

The real problem with this is that I'm not able to look at every title and judge the shelves' owners accordingly.

For some reason I thought of this comment immediately when I saw my New Yorker cartoon for today. It is a man and woman, both clutching their glasses of wine at a cocktail party being held in a room lined with books. As she stares at the bookshelves she is saying to him, "We're not leaving until I find every book we ever gave them."
posted by bearwife at 1:26 PM on November 9, 2010

I've been doing a lot of thinking about ebooks recently, as more and more people I know have gotten Kindles (and I've warmed to the concept; I think I'm going to pull the trigger soon, although I'm probably depriving the SO of an easy Christmas gift...). The switch from paper books to ebooks is going to be much more of a game-changer, although probably more gradual, than the switch from CDs to MP3s and virtually-delivered music was.

The iPod has always been advertised in number of "songs". "30,000 songs in your pocket" or whatever. But a "song" is a pretty abstract thing ... I guess you can represent it as a 45RPM single, if you're old enough for that to have any meaning, or as a sort of fraction of a CD or LP.

But books are a lot more tangible. The idea that you can load a few thousand books onto a handheld device and carry them around with you ... that impresses me in a way that the iPod doesn't. I guess it's just because it's easier to grasp what's being squeezed down into a few grams of Flash when you're talking about books.

It'll be a very long time before people stop wanting to fill rooms with paper books, though. We've had much longer to build a relationship with the "charming little clothy box" than we had with any particular music format. But I wonder if they'll become more for display than they already are? I mean, no need to defend your pulp teenage-vampire habit (or medical / self-help books) to guests when you can keep that stuff safely out of sight on an ereader; the bookshelves become something more closely curated.

Will the end result be a loss of a way that we currently use to get to know someone?
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:59 PM on November 9, 2010