What does a person's bookshelf say about them? What is on your bookshelf?

Books are so decorative, don't you think?

I keep it at the public library.

If they don’t read books, then don’t fuck ‘em.

If it's behind them on Zoom, it means they are an asshole.

And I would imagine OP hasn't read a single one.

I have the usual classic novels and Shakespeare etc, but most of my books are related to my work: advertising, fashion, music and photography.

A kindle, some art books and my drug box.

There's a smallish bookcase in the dining room full of my partner's cookbooks.

In the living room there are two bookcases, in each spare bedroom, there's a bookcase, and also one in the master bedroom. Those bookcases have mysteries, true crime, history, wars and famous battles, biographies and autobiographies, the paranormal, novels in general, books about animals, especially cats, elephants, and whales.

Most of my bookshelves and the books on them have been donated to charity. I am down to one glass fronted, 4-shelf unit that houses some of my favorites, including a few from childhood.

The rest of the books I read are in the cloud. I love reading but hate clutter.

Unpopular opinion, but I don't really judge people by what books they have or don't have on their shelves. You can figure out whether someone is well-read just by talking with them.

I'm trendy, fun and stylish and probably a bit dumb and shallow

A bio of Dan Quayle, OP?

Bookshelf? I have a library: classics of European literature, murder mysteries, theater (plays, play production, history), East Germany, Anthroposophy/Rudolf Steiner, Northern European architecture and interior design, history with an emphasis on the Hanseatic League, children's books, fashion including original 19th century fashion and dressmaking manuals, puppetry, etc.

You seem desperate for attention, OP.

My bookshelves are very much reduced. I moved to a different continent and ditched a couple thousand titles, art books within a narrow frame of related interests, and an already reduced to bare bones selection of favorite fiction. I moved just one box.

Three e-readers, no bookshelves.

I always thought I would have a huge book collection when I was younger. In fact, I did for a while until I realized that those books were heavy, collect dust and really were just me trying to show off how much I read. I sold most of them to a used book store, kept a few that had author's signatures and now I have my Kindle which I LOVE. I don't care if someone coming into my space will judge me for not having a lot of books to display anymore. When I die, no one will have to have the burden of throwing them all away now and I got $ for them.

It's a perk of getting older to realize that absolutely no one cares.

Every social worker who's been in my apartment has said "woah, that's a lot of books." The last time I needed a new worker I was asked if I had any preferences. I said I'd prefer someone who wasn't burdened by the thought of walking up three flights of stairs, but what I really wanted to say was someone who could at least pretend they'd been in a room with bookshelves before.

Vogue is my favorite book

Having a bookshelf says you're old, OP.

I grew up with lots of books around the house and I keep a lot of books in my house. (great insulation BTW) I once decided not to date someone because they dod not keep any books. I saw that as a red flag.

R21, yup, I have done the same.

No books= alliterate. Probably proud of it

Designer coffee table books, gucci, Dior, etc - exhausting pretentious, bottom, escort

Vintage books, classics, , variety of obscure, in the living room or bedroom- actually reads, intelligent, makes a good friend, would trust them to pet sit my dog.

Gay Magazines, wired pamphlets , gay club free magazines- ugly circuit queen, mostly alliterate, does meth

[quote] No books= alliterate. Probably proud of it

[quote] Gay Magazines, wired pamphlets , gay club free magazines- ugly circuit queen, mostly alliterate, does meth

It's "illiterate," R23.

Autocorrect fumble. I am not illiterate. Am to smart too bee a liter rat.

[quote] I always get compliments on it and told my shelf is "classy."

Mary!

"If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck them.”

― John Waters.

That I'm a genius.

What I hate are the people who obviously buy books by the yard. If you don't read, fine. If you have a shelf of Tom Clancy novels, fine. If you have several bookcases of books without any point of view, no thank you.

mine

Roast me!

Across my desk, floor and bureau (no, I don’t have shelves) are an assortment of gay legendary novels by Jean Genet (MIRACLE OF THE ROSE is my all-time favorite novel), Mishima, and Gibson, mixed with some classics like THE TALE OF GENJI, THE MABINOGION, THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW (Da Derga), PARADISE LOST, ORLANDO, STEPPENWOLF, CHÉRI, MAURICE, and BORSTAL BOY.

I also have some plays, short story and poetry collections bought for College that I live but haven’t really looked at in a while, such as MEDEA, Goethe’s FAUST, a Kit Marlowe anthology, LIFE IS A DREAM, THE LOWER DEPTHS, LE BALCON, THE THEATRE AND ITS DOUBLE, ANGELS IN AMERICA, a Basho anthology, THE EXETER BOOK OF RIDDLES, Borges FICCIONES, Alan Halsey compendiums, and some Robert Browning.

There’s some more modern culty trash in the pile, too, like Rich Farina’s BEEN DOWN SO LONG..., AMADEUS, GORKY PARK, Chabon’s KAVALIER & CLAY, Pynchon’s MASON & DIXON, a printout of T.A.Z, David Sims’ CEREBUS and other old Vertigo comics (ENIGMA and SHADE THE CHANGING MAN), a few rock tell-alls like Bobbie Brown’s DIRTY ROCKER BOYS, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, a couple of SHARPE books, Mary Stuart’s Arthurian THE CRYSTAL CAVE, a guide to local folklore and occult happenings, and a purloined school library copy of PETALS ON THE WIND that I stole and never returned. Shamefully, I even have a copy of one of the GOSSIP GIRL light novels, the tenth one where Chuck & Dan fight over the affections of a man (it’s honestly hilarious).

In the darkest corner are a biography of Empress Sisi (my favorite monarch), and the MOOMIN series of light novels by Jannsen, which I read when depressed. Finally there’s my beloved Penguin GORMENGHAST trilogy, falling to pieces from use.

Honestly, I sold or donated a lot of my former shelves (things like Stendhal, Stein, some Hazlitt essays etc.) a few years ago, to make space and give me psychological peace. Plus, I don’t read half as much as I did in my youth (I’m barely managing a basic healthy number of pages, these days). Still, what there is left of my small collection today I really enjoy. I have an enormous list in my Notes with books and comics I want to get and read, but I rarely find the mental energy—maybe I should carve out a set time every day to read.

And I agree with R29, that insincere poseurs arching their brow who use books as decorative brags and talking points are worse than those who only read occasionally or only read trash. R13’s collection does sound cool and highly browsable, though.

R31, you would see several of your friends in my library. Love the Moomin Trolls (man up, they are children's books, not "light novels"). I have several books of Sissi.

Omg I love the gossip girl books. Nice taste

I hope they introduce him as "the President of the United States" and try to keep up the farce he still is. At this point it would just make him look like the idiot he is.

Anyone would be hard pressed to understand me through my book collection. I have War & Peace, Ulysses, In Search of Lost Time, The Tale of Genji, Berlin Alexanderplatz , the Riverside complete Shakespeare etc. all read (and re-read) and not just for display. I have the Moomin books , the Alice books , The Wind in the Willows. Also lots of books on art history and archaeology. Yet you'll also discover The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer and A Feast Unknown (fantasy porn).

just sold my copy of Filth by Rev. Boyd McDonald.....so looking a little bare

“Ronald Reagan's library just burned down. Both books were destroyed. But the real horror: he had not finished coloring the second one."

I used to have a large library when I was younger because I’ve always been an avid reader, but books are a pain when moving.

I pretty much gave away all of my books and only kept very few. Then I repurchased most of my collection on Kindle and IBooks.

I love actual books, the smell, the way the paper feels, and flipping pages, but they’re really impractical when moving or traveling.

If you’re looking for a bookcase in my house you’ll be disappointed, and if you think that I’m “alliterate” because of that, then I don’t want to be around your pretentious persona.

YOU TELL 'EM, GIRLFRIEND AT r38!

I thought we talked about that, R36....

just knick-knacks on bookshelves: rental or house on market/staging for sale

I have a rather big (800 and counting) collection of history books. But it's mostly (95%) about European history (pre 1914): Empires, Kings, Queens, Royalty, etc. I do count in my history books coffee table books about palaces, castles, fashion history.

Lately I' ve started collecting books about the Chinese Dynasties and the Japanese Empire (pre- Meiji Restoration).

I'm a sucker for court intrigues, epic battles, art and fashion (historical). TBH, Im really proud of my collection.

I've read books all my life, and gave away a thousand or more before a big move 20 years ago. I haven't really added many new ones to my bookshelves, as I moved to a city with a great library at that time, and then was given a Kindle about ten years ago, to which I have taken for almost all my reading. I find the text embiggening function a necessity as my vision has changed in my dotage.

I started out making the excuses one makes: I love [italic]real[/italic] books, I love putting a book on a shelf when I finish it, then moving on to the next, I love the smell of books (actually, that ceased to be true as books started to smell more of printing chemicals than of anything booklike)...and then I discovered that the kindle could make the text larger, after which there was no going back.

I'll still buy the occasional coffee table book, or cookbook, but 99% of my reading now takes place on Kindle.

I have a mix of non fiction, musical history and old Hollywood biographies

Books as decor scream elderly hoarder. No thanks!

I’m like r43–I have a great collection of books but haven’t touched or added to it in years thanks to the Kindle and my fading eyesight. I wish I could get someone to take 90 percent of them away.

My books - B&W photography, movie history, music history, sports and pro-tennis history, biographies, diet, a few cook books and a load of political books such as The Power Broker, Game Change, Nixonland and Everything Trump Touches Dies. I gave away a hundred books in 2019 to charity, still have a hundred + left, some I've had since high school (1970s).

NO ONE had books anymore, few people understand why anyone has bookshelves let along books on them. They don't seem to understand why someone would keep a book they've "read," even if it's a book of vintage portraits by Philippe Halsman. As far as my declining vision, I get bigger glasses at the drug store when needed.

[quote] I always get compliments on it and told my shelf is "classy."

no, they don't

Hundreds of books on my Kindle, but not a single one to be found in my home.

Since I was a kid, I've loved books and loved owning them. That's never changed. Over the last year I've ordered dozens and dozens—my way of coping instead of drinking and overeating. Will I read them all before death arrives? No, but who cares? They make me happy.

I have a friend who owns HUNDREDS of books and hundreds of DVD's. I would dread being the person who needs to clean after they die.

DVD ripper software for your computer costs about $30. You put the dvd in (if your computer has a dvd drive) and you tell the software where to save the file. Then you have a digital copy of your dvd and no need anymore for physical junk. You can even back them all up to an external hard drive somewhere so you have them. Books are a different story but I encourage everyone to look into selling them or buying the ones you really love on Kindle. It's worth the extra space and the freedom that comes with decluttering your house/apartment.

I don’t consider owning books and DVDs to be hoarding or cluttering, as long as they’re displayed neatly, and cleaning them up after someone dies is the easiest part of that job. There are many Friends of the Library groups or nonprofit thrift stores that would be happy to accept them.

I agree, R10.

For the last ten years I have been digitising books and manuscripts (they collect dust)and making use of the taxpayer-funded libraries.

I am still working though the last two shelves. The last volumes to be disposed of are—

R52 transporting hundreds of books isn’t easy for most people.

Some advice for collectors and hoarders: leave cash in your will to whoever you leave your “treasures” to so they can pay to have them removed.

One of the reasons that I have I library is that I have learned not to trust others. Even at the best libraries, people are clueless. They scan the engraving, but not the description. The most egregious example was doing research at the Library of Congress and returning to find that the materials I was using had been de-acquisitioned (destroyed).

Everyone should leave instructions for the disposal of his/her estate. It is just common sense.

[quote] de-acquisitioned

My city art gallery "de-acquisitioned" hundreds of decorative Victorian and Edwardian pieces in the awful 1950s/60s 'fascist' phase in Modern Art.

I shudder to think how much is being removed in our current Woke SJW Phase. I am donating my assets to a number of institutions and archives because I can see trend-chasers in all of them.

[quote] I always get compliments on it and told my shelf is "classy."

Seriously? I’ve never complimented or otherwise commented on anyone’s bookshelves unless they owned something that really surprised me or some obscure title that I particularly loved (and these things have happened maybe twice). I rarely receive any comments on my books, either. I find it rather hard to believe that people regularly examine your shelf (do you really have just the one?) and compliment it.

I used to have jam-packed bookshelves in every room of my apartment, but I got sick of that and now my rule is that I donate or sell any book I am unlikely to reread or at least revisit to look something up. Though I do enjoy the physical experience of reading a book, I’m okay with reading and storing a lot of stuff on Kindle, too. I am, after all, reading for my own edification and not to impress others with my groovy “library.”

My eight bookshelves say I like to read and look at pictures.

Cooking and gardening books, a few architecture books and my parents ashes. Keeping it simple now.. have chucked heaps out over the years...bloody dust gatherers

[quote] Books are a different story but I encourage everyone to look into selling them or buying the ones you really love on Kindle. It's worth the extra space and the freedom that comes with decluttering your house/apartment.

Why would you "encourage everyone" to do so? Many people like books. What possible concern could it be to you what other people keep in their homes?

You sound like a control freak.

Kindle would never do. I like knowing that all I need to read my books is sunlight.