Books

Cicero said, "A room without books is like a body without a soul." It's a quote I've always responded to, as I don't feel comfortable in rooms without books. Reading as many design blogs and shelter mags as I do, I've noticed that there aren't as many rooms out there with books. They're not a large part of current design trends.

In fact, paper books aren't a current trend at all, as Amazon recently reported that Kindle book sales have surpassed hardcover and paperback books combined. Logically, I know that what matters is the creation itself, but emotionally, even spiritually, I need real books. I love the smell, the way they feel, my eye resting upon shelves of them as I hang out in my home.

I respond to the tactile realness of paper books. One of my first retail jobs was as a clerk in a bookstore. We used to get the stripped books that didn't sell. I gloried in the idea of all of that knowledge and creativity at my fingertips for free, but I never read them. The lack of the front cover threw off my enjoyment of the story itself. I love to run my fingers up and down the spine as I read, curling the cover of a paperback slightly or resting a hardcover on my knee. The story doesn't speak to me unless I hold a complete book, and like Cicero, I feel a room is a flat, dead thing without the souls of multiple books within it.

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