That first one is horrible. Actually I don't care for any of them. And I love books. I just think most of these go too far.

I have major and may have to add number 4 to my archives.

whoops. that was suppose to say "have major build in envy".

#5 scares me

they're all so beautiful! we were trying to think of ways to install wall-to-wall shelves in our rental without destroying our deposit, but haven't found a solution yet. more inspiration to keep trying!

#allergynightmare

I love books, but these are too much for my home. They might be fun to visit, though.

I have lake view envy from the first photo.

ICK. Cluttered. Number four -full stop.

2nd photo is wonderful. I love how the books are coordinated and the weight of the shelf. I have been looking for a solution for a good shelf without buying something thin and tippy looking.

I really like No. 1, actually, perhaps because I love the punch of light and outdoorsy-ness. I also really like No. 6, oddly- usually I detest knotty pine but for some reason this comes off as clean and buttery bright to me.

Love them. It reawakens my childhood love of libraries and I've always dreamed of having the space to accommodate all of my books without having to donate every few years as I do now.

I love numbers 1 and 6!

5 and 7 are my favorites. I love the brightness of the windows / skylights. They both look like wonderful places to just sit and read.

3 I think would be much better served with a slightly more ornate shelf to match the architecture of the house. If I'm going to have something as gaudy as that room, I'm going to go 17th-century French nobility, I'm going to go ALL the way.

I really don't like 8 or 9; they seem way too cluttered and messy for my taste, as well as too dark to comfortably read.

Ack...the clutter! I like books too, but c'mon! I check em out at the library, and bring 'em back when I'm done. I OWN, maybe 50 books? Only the ones I read and reread and read again.

Pic 3 is stunning, MINUS the books!
Pic 10 is just scary...

It's one way to insulate house walls.

I'm a mom, #5 is scary... I have a library, which I love, love and I have it because I love books but I don't want this look all around my house... some of these are just messy

#10 says more "hoarder" than it does "book lover". also, is that Karl Lagerfield in #7, or am I imagining things?

Ew, no. And I say this as a book-lover who at one point wanted a full height bookshelf library. Too often, books become accessories or decoration (look what *I* read! I'm sooo enlightened / progressive / hip / edgy!) instead of objects meant to be used. And seriously - organizing by *color* instead of subject/author? I built myself a book scanner and my books get scanned for the Kindle and then donated. No egohiptastic giant bookshelf for me.

I'm surprised that Karl Lagerfeld has such a library. In interviews he doesn't come across as much of a reader.

These are all too cluttered, but nine and ten are particularly disturbing. Way too dark and creepy.

Plus, books smell. That many books would really smell.

I LOVE THE LAGERFELD'S LIBRARY

Love them all! especially #1 & #7. I would love to be that surrounded by books.

Karl Lagerfeld's entire home is gorgeous. I can't imagine he'd find time to read all those books though. Most likely they're for guests.

I LOVE bookcases! Seeing so many books to peruse and maybe find something I've never heard of makes me so very happy.

For more bookcase love, Jamie Meares at I Suwannee does Bookcase of the Day posts every so often:

http://www.isuwannee.com/search?q=bookcase

I like 3 and 4, but the rest belong in slightly scary movies or on unhappy hipster. I'm an academic with lots of books, but these are overkill.

The first room is nice, but could be better photographed. Instead of taking the photo from above floor height at a slight downward angle, do the opposite and shoot the photo from the ground and up to show how nice, open and airy it is. Nice ML speakers too to go with the windows and bookcase.

#3 is easy as the room's architectural details would make a makeshift pile of potatoe bags look swanky.

My favorite is #6 (first one on the left in the second row). The bookcase complements the scale, color and materials of the room.

Thomas

ug I hate when people say organized books are clutter, drives me nuts

For those who think the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves look "cluttered" or "too much"...realize this - those of us who LOVE reading from books are the ones who love bookshelves. It's not necessarily a purely aestectic thing. I love the look, smell, and feel of old books so these bookshelves, which would allow me to access more of what I love, are very very cool.

#9 and 10. I luuuuurrrvvv it. :)

Btw, that ceiling in number 9 blows my mind. Fantastic! I want to move in.

I'm a lit student/soon to be professor and an interior design voyeur/freak (especially when avoiding my own writing and the weather outside is miserable). This post tickled me, gave me butterflies in my stomach, made my heart go pitter-patter, etc. etc. etc. Lovely spaces.

#5 is beautiful but as I progressed through these pictures, one thought flashed louder and louder in my mind - "imagine if you didn't know where you book you wanted was. Imagine having to crane your neck and shuffle about on a ladder, for HOURS, trying to find it. Imagine how exasperating that would be." I completely hate #7.

I like #5 because it accommodates the point of all these books - to read! That lovely space up there would be amazing with a big deep reading chair, and that two-storey wall of books looks great. But mostly I agree with when - these are each an exercise in showing off, not a home for truly loved and oft-read books.

I'm a librarian. I probably have over 3000 books in my small home library, full of floor to ceiling Billys from IKEA. (@zazzu, Books don't smell unless they have been mistreated and allowed to mildew.)

But some of these examples are disturbing.

I think you should keep books you want to have on hand to refer to again -- stories you loved enough to want to re-read, books with inspirational ideas, books that contain facts or instructions you may want to use again, books that have emotional importance (there are some books that include photos of art work friends or I made -- gotta have those!)

When I realize I no longer am interested in the books I have, I donate them to the Library book sale for someone else to enjoy. But meanwhile, the books I keep need to be accessible -- no overly high shelves, no locations requiring ladders or wings to reach, no weird stacks, no knicknacks or paintings in the way...

@SherryBinNH, That makes sense to me. I like releasing books for others to enjoy if they're only killing space here.

As a former bookseller, I love every one of these photographs. Did you notice the Martin Logan electrostatic speakers in the first photo? Nice.