apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is one of those thing's I'd just spend the $10 on. Worth it to have both invisibility and keep my book intact.

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?PRODID=10016053&CATID=13394

Why not just save a book by tying a ribbon around the bottom cover to keep it up tight against the book on the bottom, instead of gluing? Even a rubber band would work! Cheap, easy, no books ruined, and the original instructions are still great!

i don't think i'd keep my books so close to a window, IMHO.

definitely just do it without destroying the book. did you see the cover of the most recent readymade magazine? it looks great and they just used the bracket alone.

Of course, it's great to see AT (the book) in the stack!

If people are so concerned about protecting their books, storing them on the side is a bad idea altogether. If however, their main concern is with showing off how many books they own, or how 'au courant' they are, then it really doesn't matter if a book or two are sacrificed in the process as it really isn't about the books to begin with.

I just don't get the invisible bookshelf phenomenon. Is the goal to get people to say,"whoa"?

I really like it and will be using this idea over the weekend. Thanks.

Most books published today do not warrant "protection." Neither the binding nor the paper is manufactured with the expectation that it will last very long at all.

It's just paper after all...take a good browse thru that late 1960s astronomy tome and marvel at how we have come so far in capturing images...then use it for a bracket! If you consider it sacrilege, then don't, of course. If, on the other hand, it's a much-loved storybook from your childhood, or whatever...don't use it for a bracket!

I have a boat load of completely obsolete hardback computer books from school. (Photoshop 7, Director 3) Computer books are useful when you needed them, but then become seven pounds worth of worthless paper in a few years. (Makes me want to rethink a Kindle.) I would use these for the hanging shelves, it would make them useful and still show off and appropriate amount of my geek-a-tude. And is way cheaper than buying real bookshelves which I don't have much room for anyway.

GREAT idea with the computer books.. We just purged & donated about 50 of them from college because in about a year they go from being $200 books to 50cent dust collectors... I am not much for the invisible bookshelf idea (just a personal opinion), but the computer books are definitely an amazing idea for the "bottom sacrificed" book...You can find tons of them at goodwill =)

I agree with sweetchuck - I've used the umbra solution (bought at Chapters, here in Canada!) and found it to be really awesome! It does no damage to the books at all and is perfect for a bedside/book storage solution.

I'm a librarian. Books that you actually love and read (or re-read) or that you use as a resource should be taken care of properly. Books that are emphemera in your life (mystery novels, in mine) should be recycled to other readers until they wear out.

But there are tons (literally) of books that have no collector interest, no currency value, no value of any kind. These are fine for crafting and for paper recycling.

(Be careful: I go through donated books for our library and sometimes discover that something I think is boring and outdated is a hot collectible. We once got a Harley Davidson book that looked a few years too old to be useful and it was worth several hundred dollars! Dick, Jane, and Sally readers, the same. I check them at AddAll.com for current market prices as a guideline.)

I agree Sherry. Recycle your books to those less fortunate. Even more so, if they are a hidden treasure. Imagine the joy that will bring. I feel it is a waste of my time to reread books. I prefer to read new books, hundreds of great books have been published. Many of which you can buy used at thrift stores. Besides, printing and papermaking are two of the most polluting industries. If you want to be green, save a tree, save the air, and save our water. Recycle books too.

HST, I like this solution. Perfect for bedside book storage in a small space.

Generally, collectible editions of books lose just about all their value if they're ex-library books. The edition may be "worth" hundreds of dollars in good condition; I suspect you haven't tried to sell your ex-library edition yet. (Condition is EVERYTHING, when it comes to collectible books.)

As to "invisible" bookshelves: I could see using one at bedside, but I don't get these tiers of the things for dozens of books. Not space efficient, not easy to access the books. A decorating fad.

I think it's space efficient. And for the ruining fo the books just go to the local thrift store for some old books. That would probably cost 4 dollars or something.