apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The Strand offers this service. Not sure on pricing...

I'd like to say that I hope I am never too busy or too boring to build my own book collection.

I'm sorry, but that is possible the most pre·ten·tious request I could imagine.

Please post pictures of the souless apartment in question. Just curious which color Eames lounge and ottoman was chosen.

:D

On the one hand, I say "Oh, for the love of Pete".

On the other hand, all the auction houses have book sales. You might begin by acquiring a few lots there.

You can also buy books by the linear foot (I think The Strand does this too). A service for set designers really ... or people who are really, really lame.

I'd like to create a photo wall in my home but none of my friends and family photograph very well. Any suggestions?

^^^ you win the internet, goofybuddha!

Why not collect all the Yellow Pages in all the lobbies in all the buildings in Manhattan...you know, the new Yellow Pages that sit, bulk-wrapped in the lobby until the super throws them away...then display them with the spines at the back of the bookcase. It would be a lovely shade of yellow, and it would fill the shelves. And it's FREE.

May I suggest using the bookshelves to display other collections? Perhaps ones that the client has an actual interest in?

Failing that, why not take a look at this flickr set of books arranged by color.

National Geographic back issues would also be a nice yellow--and your client can look at all the pretty pictures.

I don't understand. If the client reads books, when why doesn't he already have a bunch of them? Did he normally borrow books from the library instead of buying them? Did he get rid of his collection when he moved? Why would he need someone else to assemble his collection for him? Does he just want a bunch of pretty books that he will never read to fill his shelves? This just seems odd to me. For me, the pleasure of reading a book begins when I enter the bookstore.

This may be the most depressing question I've seen on this site. I know that books can be an important element in design, but first the trend of organizing books by color rather than content and now this question makes me wonder if being interested in design and loving books are incompatible.

Goofybuddha, you rock!

I also wonder, is he going to be able to read all these books just as quickly? I mean, if he has people over and they say, "What did you think of Godel, Escher, Bach?", there goes the illusion.

I knew someone who bought a home with a lot of built-in book shelves. He wanted to fill the shelves up quickly; so, he bought a bunch of books, among which included a ton of leather bound copies of literary classics, to give his space a classier feel/look.

Personally, I thought the whole thing looked manufactured and cheesy. Then he threw a party, and a guest started asking him, in the presence of other guests, a lot of questions regarding the book collection. The homeowner just had this blank look of panic on his face, because he didn't want to admit that, despite the collection, he hadn't read any of the books, and quite honestly, would rather play video games than engage in anything even remotely intellectual. Oh, the scene was painful to witness.

No books? Who doesn't own any books?
Granted, there are such beautiful books out there that are worth owning as objects alone, but come on. A book's primary purpose is for reading. Anyone who picks up a book that has never been read will hear that crackng of the spine and turn those slippery pages void of any finger grease or coffee drips and they will know it has never been read, and then the poor owner of this luxe apartment will be outed as the rube who only collects pretty things, but knows nothing about them.

Sounds like the perfect use for those fake painted books.

http://www.fauxbooks.co.uk/

This is absolutely hilarious! I needed that.

A while back Penguin was selling their entire collection of classics as a set. I'm having some trouble tracking it down now, but it might still be available.

I remember there was an article about one of the few people who bought one of these sets - a husband bought it for his wife because his wife lost all her books in either a fire or flood or something. I can't remember the specifics. Hopefully this situation is similar. Or perhaps the client just couldn't take his books with him from wherever he moved from.

Why not just paint book spines on canvas, board, plaster whatever to "match" the colors in the room? If this client isn't interested in collecting books based on what's inside of them, why pretend they are interested in books at all. Fake it for real, if you get my drift, don't fake it by pretending he/she is a reader. Turn them into something only aesthetically pleasing because using books to decorate with, looking for books that are aesthetically pleasing, brings literacy to a new low.

...and then maybe when the place is set up with a comfortable chair, this client can discover the pleasure of reading, not just looking at a good book.

i find this question quite discouraging and depressing.

This is not really a helpful comment, but this reminded me of when an ex-boyfriend and I broke up, and I was moving out of our house. I packed up all my books and looked with surprise (and maybe a little satisfaction) at the almost empty bookcase. There were only 2 books left in it. One of them was a photo album.

I don't trust people who don't own books. Unless there is a good reason, like their old place just burned down or something.

Sasha - Here is a link to the Penguin Classics Collection...the problem with this is that all the books are the same size which is kinda boring if you are in it just for looks...but it is a start.

take down the bookcases and hang a wide-screen plasma TV. Oh, he already has one? Figures...

If his old place burned down, he wouldn't have this question, because he'd presumably just replace the titles that were lost.

ohhh and they are paperbacks!

if you must do it this way instead of having a real collection of books, two words: USED BOOKSTORE!

and i like to space out my books with decorative items in between, using my bookshelves as open display cases.

though i'll give your client the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's just moved from somewhere far away and couldn't bring all his books with him. :)

I guess this client of yours believes in form over function.Why did he get bookshelves if he doesn't read?

I hate posers.

Most public libraries sell off their books periodically. Look for library sales and perhaps you'll find something enlightening. If not, at least a struggling library will get some money out of the deal.

I'm a literary agent (betcha wouldn't guess that by all my rampant typos!) and this makes me want to hurl.

I *almost* wish MrGreen were here for this one.

LMAO regus_filman I totally agree.

goofybuddha – your comment is hilarious

No offense to the poster and I really try not to post unless i have something useful or constructive to say...but this question left me speechless. The point of a collection is to...collect.

After debating if this person can actually read or not, I'm going to answer nicely instead.

Our local library offers buck a bag sales up here. ALso, as mentioned, auction houses often offer large lots of books boxes at a time for just this. I however, think the idea of some nice collection would be better. Maybe the college diploma that enabled these fantastic reading skills?

Maybe there is some good reason for his lack of books--someone mentioned house burned down; or he moved from overseas and couldn't ship them, or something--but in that case, why does he need to buy books just to fill up bookshelves? Get rid of the bookshelves and enjoy the extra space, or buy art to hang there.

I agree bookshelves can be used to display things other than books. But since the poster has a client, presumably he or she already knows that.

Also I don't think i'ts so bad not to have so many books. One move about ten years ago I got rid of all my books that I had been lugging around with me for years. I thought I needed them because they defined me and I liked to be surrounded by them because they made me feel good. Well, I never re read them and they were big and heavy and when i moved out of the country I didnt want to pay to store them and could not bring them with me and it forced me to simplify and I worried and worried and agonized about the upcoming loss and guess what, I never missed them at all. And now although I still read a TON I get my books from the library and bookmooch, and when I buy books when I am finished I give them to a friend or I send them away on bookmooch and on my bookshelves I have some books that I cannot bear to part with or that have other practical use (parenting books or where to go biking) and I don't feel any worse off.

But I disagree with the thread of the other posters that there is something necessarily morally suspect about a client who does not already own a large collection of books. And I think books can be nice and can make a room feel good and so I will finally get around to my answer:

You can find good books that are pretty in the bargain section at any chain bookstore. They have hardbacks there that are $5.99 or less. You could get cool cookbooks, map books, lots of great hardbacks.

I'll take some of that space! My bookshelves are spilling over with extra books!

I agree with Kiwi. What fun is a collection if you didn't collect it? I think a person's book collection says a lot about who they are. It's not something I would want a designer to pick out for me. I can look at my overspilling bookshelves and honestly say that I have read every book. Besides, I think a mish mash of different size, shape and color on a bookcase looks great!

As Aaron said, The Strand sells books by the foot. You can specify what you want the spines look like and how big, and they give you a price per foot. I've used this for theater sets.

Yes, it's gross that someone wants to look learned when they aren't, but people have been doing it for centuries.

Goofybuddha made me laugh the best laugh I've had all day.

There have been a couple of news stories recently about bookstores going out of business - one store in the midwest found they could not find anyone to buy their inventory and said they were going to stage a protest book burning. This was halted due to popular outcry and you might want to see if you could pick up some of the books, I'm sure they are much nicer/more interesting volumes than your clients deserve.

Otherwise, this reminds me of going to the local Bennigan's in the 1980s. (Hey, I was in high school in the suburbs!) The decor included shelves of books, which on closer examination were almost all Reader's Digest condensed collections (where three similar books are watered down and shoved together into one volume).

95864, nice and thoughtful post, but I don't think the other posters are being high-minded.

They are not criticizing the client for his lack of reading or for his lack of a book collection (that, I agree, would be really pretentious) -- they are criticizing him because he wants to accumulate books for the pure sake of vanity.

Books are inherently meant to be read. Whether you read them from the library or whether you read them and then give them to friends does not matter much -- in the end, you have enjoyed them for their ideas, their essence, and their primary function. The client in question, however, is cynical enough to believe use books as accessories for his ego.

I think you all are being too hard on the guy. Maybe he gives away his books after reading them. He could partipate in bookcrossing. Maybe he reads ebooks or listens to books on tape, or he could just be getting everything out of the library.

My grandmother is extremely well read but doesn't have any books in her house because she's very frugal and gets everything from the library. My mother, a librarian, gives most of her books away because she says she sees enough dusty books at her job. There are plenty of valid reasons why he doesn't have books.

Not to mention, a lot of regular books aren't all that attractive. My book collection looks fine on the shelves I have, but if I were filling up an entire wall of shelves with them they'd make the place look messy and cluttered.

Also, this request doesn't seem terribly bizarre to me. There is a certain peacefulness that comes from being surrounded by shelves of aesthetically pleasing books, and I think even a non-reader could appreciate that. People decorate their homes with all sorts of things that are beautiful but never used. Someone might have a lovely Old World map hanging on their wall but you don't see them planning a voyage to discover the Americas.

I don't have any ideas for where to get books aside from yard sales, used book stores, and craigslist. Often a library or church or something will be selling used books for next to nothing, so I'd keep an eye out for those. My local library has a little store for books that people have donated and they charge very little for.

I want to be generous and say perhaps the client USED to live in a smaller space... I for one have very few books by necessity - so I have a library card. When I feel the need to add a new book to my shelf, I like to go to stoop sales to see if I can find an old friend that I've read before, or a new one that sounds interesting. I prefer used books to new ones - they have history.

Rip out the shelves or objects to put on them. Books are for reading, not for looking at, not for matching decor, not for posing. Sorry, this is my second post on this subject. And I'm sorry, I just find this query so pathetic.

A couple of friends of mine actually started a company just for this purpose. They're both librarians. I'm surprised at all the negative comments. I think it's a great idea!

http://www.private-library.com/index.html

having moved across the country 3 yrs ago and then moving into a studio apt 8 months ago, i, like 95864, decided to stop fetishizing my large book collection. i downsized some altho not entirely. in fact, i still have a few bookshelves worth (much less than before), but i do purge periodically (ditto my closets), and i find it deeply satisfying.

that said, i found this question simultaneoulsy sad and hilarious (joke?!)...

I won't judge. I would also suggest the Penguin classics collection if he just wants to read (rather than collect). It could be like a library.

Librarians are really helpful if the client is looking for help building a unique collection. There are also several universities that hold book collection contests and publish the winning book lists - they are totally fascinating.

Oh, sure. I can help. I have a small apartment, loads of beautiful books, and not enough bookshelves. Is the client single, straight, tall-ish, and 30-45 years of age? Could be a match.

But seriously, why a "great collection of classics"? These books will likely go unread. I'd recommend a creating a collection of art books. They're larger and will fill out the space better. And you can choose pretty books that are in keeping with the client's "taste" and nice for guests to leaf through... check out the Strand or the Met's gift shop for bargains.

Here is a link to a list of the 240 Great Books:

http://www.anova.org

If your client needs more than 240 books, scout the used book stores for those that interest the client. Then at least it will have some personal meaning.

I'm surprised at the vitriolic reaction of many people to this post. Stocking a library like this is not the best or most personal method, but it really isn't any more affected than covering or arranging books to coordinate with a color scheme.

eliza2 - Your friends' company sounds really wonderful. I just looked at the website. It sounds like these two love books and what is inside them and want to share their passion with others for books and reading in an intelligent and informed way.

I think the problem with the question raised here, at least for me, is it sounds like this client doesn't have a passion for the content of books; that they are looking only to decorate with them and it comes off being so phoney, like cocktail talk about something you know nothing about. As conveyed, it appears that this client is concerned with immediate acquisition, not sincere curiousity. That's what has more than annoyed me, and evidently others.

oh please oh please be a troll

While I'm not a fan of arranging books by color, this is totally different. The people who've arranged their books by color have (I think) arranged the books in their existing collection, which I presume they chose for some reason other than aesthetics. Imagine walking into a bookstore, the bookseller asks if you're looking for anything in particular, and you say, "Yes, I'd like a hardcover book with an olive green spine, no narrower than 1 1/2 inches, please." Kind of absurd, right?

Awkward question, isn't it? Initially I thought maybe this was a trick to ensure posters' civility, constructiveness in comments, and curtailing of snottiness---but some of you posed a viable scenario: the client may have moved without toting any books. Whatever the reason, it's not our place to judge (regardless of what we may mutter under our breaths).

This is undoubtedly not the first time a designer has been charged with building a collection. Perhaps Moore could send some images of what has been done for the room---because it seems that presenting as much information as possible is key to asking for suggestions. Otherwise, I might as well ask you what I should have for dinner, and if you answered mussels or shrimp, I'd then have to confess my allergy to shellfish.

So tell us, please, Moore, what the room looks like.

I wonder if Moore is still reading at this point.......

Anne in Chicago,

Actually, I think arranging books by color is meritless. Here is why: you need to be able to find them easily if you ever want to retrieve them again. If finding them by color is the best way to retrieve them for somebody, then okay. Otherwise, subject, author, or genre is usually the most practical.

If the client had asked for a reading list of classics - instead of the books themselves - nobody would be offended. So why not think of it as an acquisition list that he/she might start reading?

art books are a great idea... lovely, large, meant to be looked at as much as read. the new museum has a great book store, a bit quirkier than the god of all art bookstores: moma. also check out printed matter for books as art and zines of every kind.

oh, by the by, i'm a big used-book, library-borrowing kinda girl myself, like a few other posters....

Totally off topic, but a photo credit should accompany that image up there - it's an Abe Morell shot....

http://www.abelardomorell.net/

I think it's fine to use photos to illustrate posts, but photographers/artists work *really hard* on their own work, and should have it recognized.

:)

I think this is a not-uncommon request for upscale designers (create a library, make it look good), but it seems kind of strange to be searching on AT for this kind of advice.

As for bookcrossing, it sounded great to me, but is in fact a marketing scheme created by panera bread.

on a sidenote, i hope people here are not assuming that the size of a person's book collection shows how much the person reads? i'm an avid reader, but i take out all of my books from the library. the books i own are all textbooks, reference books, and a few books that people have bought me as gifts b/c they know i like to read.

personally, i never read a book twice, except for a few exceptional ones. they take up a lot of space and are extremely heavy when one is moving. i also don't see the point in spending money on something that i will only read once.

if this was about clothes... say, if i only wore an item ONCE, it would go right out the door, straight to the salvation army. books are no different to me.

Suzy,

"Actually, I think arranging books by color is meritless..." I don't know why this comment was directed at me, as I said I'm not a fan of arranging books by color. (?)

But at least the books themselves, even if arranged in such a way as to be decorative, are books that presumably the owner has read and liked, or wants to read.

And some people actually do remember books by their color. I come across this at work all the time: "There's a book in the library that might help you, I don't remember the author, but it's in the third bookcase, fourth shelf from the bottom, and has a red spine with gold trim."

This is very funny. Did some guy who just finished reading The Great Gatsby for the first time ask this question as a joke? Gatsby had a beautiful (and totally unread) book collection too, you know, in his beautiful mansion.

Eyecandy is onto something: Maybe the shelves should be crammed with hundreds of copies of The Great Gatsby.

Tongue in chic?

I think all of you that mock this request are exactly what you say this person is. Pretentious....What is wrong about asking where one can purchase books in volume? Who gives a s**t what they want to do with them. I can actually appreciate the aesthetic standpoint of having custom bookshelves and UH...using them for books. Probably going to look fantastic. As for acquisition versus curiosity, well that is the great thing about purchasing in bulk. Quite possibly this person can grow into his/her collection. Keep in mind this is a newly renovated apartment. I am sure this individual will have many nights admiring their efforts. How about conversation pieces for guests??For the people that are fortunate enough not to work and spend the entire day reading..Well f off. Not our problem that mom and dad supported you into your 30's which is a rampant problem here in Manhattan. Only those types of people would make soulless comments. I think the first few know what I am talking about! Myself personally I work like a Toyota that has 200,000 miles on me. Lucky if I pick up 1 book a month. I rarely post but I just know who wrote those first few comments..

Okay, now THAT would be hilarious.

it seems fair enough if this person has recently moved from a smaller place with no built-in shelving. i limit my book collection for this reason.

empty shelves *are* weird to look at - i can see, if you suddenly had some, wanting to just fill them up, and figure you'll get to it bit by bit. that seems totally reasonable to me.

my suggestion would be to stock it with a variety of collections from publishers: penguin, tachen, etc. - plus some big beautiful art and design books for fun and inspiration for the future. be sure to leave plenty of room for future additions, though. you only need to stock it partway, i think, to take care of the shelving-void issue.

Oh, dear, with posts like these, I'm never going back to Oh No They Didn't!

Beyond the disdain and hatred
it occurs to me that the book industry is in trouble and I'd just LOVE for this decorator to do his/her part to prop it up by buying gazillions of yardage.

So shouldn't we all suggest our favorite authors?
There's a brand new prestigious history of the CIA out:
"Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Weiner
He won a pulitzer prize, and is worthy of new hardcover purchase. Respectable Navy Blue dustcover . . .
and it really is a good serious read!

p.s.
I kinda like those multiples of the same book that IKEA throws around in their displays.
Anyone know who picks those titles?

i would get this book, 1001 Books To Read Before You Die
http://www.amazon.com/1001-Books-Must-Read-Before/dp/0789313707/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5880594-4578551?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184883477&sr=1-1

The Strand Bookstore sells books by the foot http://www.strandbooks.com/app/www/p/bbtfoot/

Or you could call that used bookstore that burning all their books because they had no value - it was in the news a few weeks ago.

I HATE it when I see phrases like "his decorator is helping him build a collection of [African masks] [contemporary paintings] [something that passes for an intellectual life]...

"We'd like it to be based on his taste, BUT also be a great collection of classics and aesthetically as pleasing.."

Not "and"? You rate this client then?


Count me in with those who enjoyed goofybuddha's comment so much it almost cured the depression brought on by reading the topic.

Hey! I know interesting people who travel light; maybe the client is a gypsy-like free spirit who's been having adventures and traveling to intersting places and wants to settle in for the first time.

Anywho, if you are in New York you have to go see Stu and Naomi at Argosy Books! They're the most wonderful couple and their bookstore is amazing, magical even! In my opinion, Argosy is better than the Strand, although I really like the Strand.

http://www.argosybooks.com/

The husband of a friend of mine (who is an avid book collector) told me once of watching a man buy hundreds of rare books by the yard based soley on the appearance of the binding. The man doing the buying was a set decorator for a movie.

One of the core messages on AT has been to stop cluttering your life with things that have no meaning to you. How this question got by Maxwell with no comment and a simple "anyone?" has me really scratching my head.

I am surprised at the amount of negative comments about a man and the want of books for his home. Who cares if he reads them or not and who cares if he doesn't have books? At least he wants his home to look great and wants SOMETHING on his shelves. My advice to Moore is to ask the man his passion and fill the shelves with books that relate to that. Life is too short to read classics if you aren't interested in them anyway.

95864, Thank you so much for your comment. In my moving from overseas there was no way I was going to ship my books and it cost me an extra $200 for them to cross the pond. Books may seem holy and sacred to some but in the end they are going to burn anyway.

Guido has a good point. I'm sure there's a local independent bookstore somewhere that would love the support (um...there are still some of those left, right?)

I too am trying to build a library of classics. Growing up, I borrowed them from my parents and now need to own the copies myself. I've found that Barnes and Noble has a bunch of classics and they all come with nice plain paper covers and they are cloth bound underneath in beige or cranberry. The prices are fairly reasonable. Recently though because they don't match my decor I've covered them all in a matching heavy wrapping paper and used my label maker to put the names on the bindings. They look pretty cool. However, it took forever and ever to get them all covered and make all of the little tiny labels.

I have to agree with the sentiment of michaelc- I have noticed that many of these comments are off-the-charts elitist. Maybe he will buy the books for friends to read when they come over for the weekend. I’m not a drinker, but I have a stash of alcohol at my place in case a friend comes over and wants a beer or a glass of wine.

Let’s all tone down the judgment a couple thousand notches.

hmmm. just a thought: nina katchadourian.

The penguin collections are stellar collections of work, and if your client reads even one, it will be worth it :)

I highly recommend going that route.

I think this is a hoot, considering that IIRC, this site suggests people get rid of books.

I would suggest the following:

1. Sale table at Rizzoli - wait - is there still a Rizzoli? Argosy, Strand, etc. dump covers immediately, natch.
2. Pick up a few staples at the Moma store, Met store and Cooper Hewitt, Getty online store, hennesseyingalls
3. the "great books" link is useful, but not really that helpful. Call the bookstores at U of Chicago or St. john's college - they carry a lot of editions of these and can tell you which are the best looking (aesthetes, too!) you can get most of these in a nice simple clothbound hardcover.
4. There are a lot of "book club" editions of the great books that look better than the good translations.
5. There are some stunning "picture" books by european publishing houses that look terrific on the shelves. They have great pictures and the best thing is, they're not in english - so your client has a built in excuse for reading them only for the pictures. Look for travel books.
6. foreign museums - little ones - have great books for this purposes. you can find a lot of historical books about old cities, etc. you can see them online
7. there are some really cool looking versions of "great books" that were done by britannica and readers digest in the 60s and 70s. they are not easy to find and the best place to find them is in a used bookstore or my mothers basement. If you are in NYC hit the bookstores near columbia the good titles are part of the core curriculum reading list
8. religious books often look really good for this sort of thing and they are frequently the right size (some art books will not look right).
9. Private history books look really good for this - like a history of xxx college, etc. I don't know where you find these things, but i bet you can find some on ebay.
10. you probably know this, but do not buy "Great Books of the Western World" - unless you can get a very early set, it looks like a set of encyclopedias.
11. Library book sales. they tend to get rid of "sets", which makes this much easier.

or try the brits

http://www.goldenbooksgroup.co.uk/index.php?target=categories&category_id=1891

Also: forgot -
If you want a bunch of books that look alike, find a prolific writer and look for sets - for dickens or mark twain, a person could justifiably say that they've read so much of it they don't have a favorite. Also, will and ariel durant (the story of civilization), proust (rem. things past), gibbons (decline and fall), the dorothy sayers hardcovers of the lord peter wimsey stories are done in the same exterior as her divine comedy translations (so that should give you 8 or 10 or something), certainly there must be a nice euclid in hardcover, and you can use loeb editions in a ton of titles to fill in space and add dimension because they are so small.

Yikes people!!! Can anybody tell me how is it bad to bring a bunch of books into a home/apt???

Books are books. They aren't furniture. They exist to be read. If you aren't reading them, don't buy them. We'd all laugh at someone who bought an apartment in Paris that they never visited, simply so they could say they had an apartment in Paris. Or a Lamborghini that they couldn't drive. Or a $300,000 kitchen when they need to look at the manual to use a microwave.

It's the fakeness of this that's making so many people so offended.

(And to everyone who's positing maybe-he's-a-reader-but scenarios, there's one obvious flaw in your logic: if this client was a reader, his interior decorator wouldn't be buying his books. He would.)

How about a house warming party where friends bring their favorite books? That would make a special collection and it would be fun.

Well, I think Jay Gantz made a library like this in his home. (see "The Great Gatsby"). It impressed Nick Carraway. Jay had lovely shirts too. These impressed Daisy. Books and shirts. A good way to go.

I wanted so much to post a comment on this from work, but have discovered that when I try to post from my office computer (which I used to be able to do), I now get some sort of message along the lines of "Error 500: Internal Server," or something like that. Anyone have any idea? I thought it might be that we're prohibited from posting comments ... but I can still do it on other sites (at least, I think I can ... I haven't checked lately). Oh gosh ... I'm not banned, am I?

Anyway, there isn't much that I was thinking that other folks haven't already said (that's one of the things I LOVE about AT ... I find my very words coming out of other people's mouths here, and so eloquently!). BUT ... rereading the original question, another possibility strikes me: the client may indeed want to acquire his own books in random, natural fashion according to his tastes and interests, but it could be the designer/decorator who's insisting that they be "a great collection of classics" and "aesthetically pleasing." Let's not fault the guy for the tyranny of his decorator (if that's the case)!

Instead of buying books, which the client obviously doesn't use/read/love, why not fill the bookshelves with other items? A collection of some sort, seashells, photos, etc.

I do like Yuzu's idea, that would be a great party idea! Maybe even use them as a Yankee Swap type thing. Think of all the different books that people would bring, after all someone's books reflects their personality.

Oh, good ... it worked from home, so I can't be banned! My sister has been making me more than a little paranoid!

:)

Geraldine:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/032206/at-book/the-eight-step-home-cure-excerpt-v-007318

I also like Yuzu's idea very much. I think that a book collection based around gifts would be very meaningful.

I would suggest that the collection contain a number of recent topical books; maybe 10 or so recent entries in the NY Times non-fiction bestseller list. I've been reading "The Weathermakers" by Tim Flannery, "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" by Elizabeth Colbert and Science Magazine's "State of the Planet", and found all of them quite enlightening.

I might also suggest buying some catalogues from the art museums in NYC, as these are often beautifully bound, and are great fun to look at with guests. They are however quite expensive.

I might also recommend a discount technical book store, such as Quantum Books in Boston, if your client works in a technical field.

Good luck!

Original A,

good point, but I don't think there is anything to worry about as far as this client is concerned.

I just don't see him/her caring soooo much about books that he/she keeps acquiring them.

While I agree, I think the "one box" rule basically sets out the AT view on books in apartments. One box is not going to fill the shelves described in the original post.

I'm not surprised at this request at all. As someone who helps decorate people's homes, this comes up all the time!

Eliza2, I also thing the link you sent was really helpful. I'll definitely look into that. Looks wonderful.

The first comment was the most germane and useful--the Strand bookstore seems to offer exactly what this interior designer is looking for. What a great service! Ninety-seven percent of the rest appears to be people passing judgement. Not on the merits of the look --cluttered, cozy, traditional-- but what kind of person this might be because they've asked someone to help them build an instant library.

Suddenly I want this questionable job of filling these shelves with books unlikely to be read by their owner . . . is that perverse?

It depends on the facade you're interested in projecting -- order all the back issues of Granta for a colorful au courant literary smart look . . . raid Forbidden Planet for graphic novels, "World War Three" and maybe that outsider art mag that's been publishing for years if you want a deep underground vibe that's not too fickle . . . the big art, design, and photo books are pretty expensive for unopened wallpaper, so I'd skip those . . . and for pete's sake, leave the rare books to the people who actually treasure them.

Moore, I'm serious -- ready to freelance this gig for you!
guidooo at mac dot com
: )

I like Yuzu's idea the best, but it might be prudent to give potential guests some guidelines ("mysteries good; Harlequin romances bad; no paperbacks; I already have all the Harry Potters"). NY Magazine had a great article a few weeks back called "The Best Novels You’ve Never Read" - http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32390/
Some really good suggestions here. If Moore buys any of these for the client, I want to visit!

If I were Moore's client, I would display some nice objets' on my shelves for now, and then have a fabulous time in the months and years ahead buying signed copies of new books at all the great bookstores in town. Check NY Mag and the New Yorker for lists of free readings.

Any Jonathan Schwartz fans out there? If so, and if you're like me, you're probably humming that great song "The Books" from "Brownstone the Musical".

"I'll never move out of my apartment
I'll never move out of my apartment
It's not the noise at night that keeps me here;
it's not the neighborhood I love
It's not the fear of someplace new,
at least I don't think so.....

It is

the

books

It's the books....

it's the rows and rows and rows and rows of books....

Gosh I hope when I am finally rich enough to pay someone to fill my home with objects that mean nothing to me, I still have the sense not to.

But if he must - taschen make great coffee table books, and have books on every subject imaginable - find the ones he is interested in.

If he is genuinely interested in filling his house with books he's been meaning read in the time he's been out making his money then the penguin classics is a good start as well as printining out a list like the NYT top 100 sellers every year for the past 5 years and asking him to highlight any book he might like, cross out the definite no interests and take it from there.

We used to have encyclopedias on our walls when i was little - thats a good thing to put there. Nice binding, no-one will expect you to have read the whole thing.

HOUSING WORKS Bookstore Cafe (Crosby street, bet. Houston and Prince) is the only place you should go!
Not only can you buy used books by the foot for a fraction of the price compared to Strand, but every penny you spend goes to helping people living with HIV/ AIDS. Check them out at:
www.housingworksbookstore.com
212-334-3324

some years ago I worked in a bookshop and had to deal with requests like this. If it were the designer, he got books by the yard -- basically stuff no real book buyer would bother with. (Though in my mind worse were the designers who just wanted old leather bindings never mind the topic or the language.) If it were an actual person who lived in the space, I tried to work with him or her, finding out what they liked -- to read, watch on TV, etc. -- and find books that more or less matched. One such person came back several times. Finally I asked her why. She said I sold her such interesting books. Harold Robbins, jackie Collins, jilly Cooper....

No, guido, I want it too. Because I don't have anywhere to keep most of my books except my mothers basement.

Modern Library Classics - that is the name of the series of good reads that are done in nice simple covers.

The thing about the Strand: you have to pay a lot to pick the titles and colors.

Moore-
What are your client's interests? I can help you with titles or point you in the right direction. Many people have suggested places to get the books, and I second those. You can always buy hardcovers and take off the jacket.

I would suggest the entire Barbara Cartland oeuvre, the OED, all the Loebs - Greek and Latin, 400 copies of Walter the Farting Dog, as many Chicken Soup for the Souls as you can find.

Send your client to a used bookstore, and have them look for 5 books they want to read. Have them do this about once every month or two, as they finish the books they've acquired. You'll want to save around 1 bookshelf's worth of space for your client's personal picks (possibly more). Make sure your client knows they can resell books back to the used bookstore for credit and get new ones if the book is not one they want to keep for forever.

Get a list of any professional references the client feels they should have at home. You also want a list of their favorite books. If that is not sufficient to fill most of the shelving, fill in with useful references (Great Books collections, complete works of Shakespeare, used encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases...). Consult the client on what reference works to fill with.

I think the client should get a complete set of the Loeb Classical library (500 volumes). Martha Stewart and Ophra Winfrey both have one and I don't think any less of them for that (wouldn't mind one myself).

If there is still room I would suggest, in addition, a set of the works of Voltaire in 43 volumes, the works of Scott (49 volumes), Ruskin, Dickens, Jane Austen, Gibbon, and Bayle's Dictionary (in facsimile).

Add to this the Compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (5 huge volumes), Littre's French Dictionary (to help you read the Voltaire), and the eleventh edition of the Encylopaedia Brittanica, which no home should be without, and the New Grove Dictionary of Music.

That would be the beginning of a really good library! If the clients don't wamt to read the books, perhaps their heirs might. Or they could bequeath them to a small university.

Sheez.

Did it ever occur to you bibliophiles to perhaps, oh, I don't know, just suggest your favorite book?

Harsh reaction, much? Yikes.

Well, from most... love yuzu's idea.

"How to start a book collection"?

Well, you are born and you are very small and your mother reads to you before bedtime, and then you color in coloring books and then you start reading stories by yourself, and maybe even read them to your little sister, and then you love the stories, and you keep reading bigger and bigger books and then you insist that your parent drive you to the public library, and then you grow up and you go to school and study books and learn from them and eventually you learn to really love them and they become a part of you, and as the books you read accumulate whether physically or not, they make up a large part of what you would consider your soul and when you look at them you feel a part of yourself is in them and they are a part of you, and you run your hands over the spines and it's like running your hands over the various parts of your life.

We can get you what you need. Leather bound or hardback or just rare titles...if your client has no ideas we can complete the titles for a literary lifetime. We're glad to assist, rare or otherwise undefined... Existentialism, Greek or Latin classics, Loeb, business, the Frankfurt School, deconstructionism, history-american, hard science, technology, continental philosophy, psychology, phenomenology, hypnotism, medical, european, japanese art, food, poetry, erotica, extending to the absurd deconstruction of the twinkie, grocerystore notes. We understand your need to fill the shelves with something interesting. Very truly yours, Mukidasu

I think the question is fake...just trying to stir up a response. If it's real, I wish you had been around a year ago when I was moving from 1,000 to 450 sq feet. You could have 20 boxes cheap, and your client could truthfully say, if asked, that almost all his books have been read.

If somebody said, "What book titles would you put in your very own fantasy library?" would you have been less judgemental and beee-atchy?

Hope y'all have some self-help books on those packed shelves!!

sr- great link. I'm going to see if I can pull something of the kind with the books I own. I should be able to have a few laughs since my collection tends to sf, mistery, and horror books.

(that "y'all" doesn't include *all* y'all... I like Monardo's answer very much, and guido's, among a few others.)

Half Price Books sells books by the foot too:
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/

To all y'all who think owning books is elitist, my grandparents had full bookshelves in their house. Both dropped out of grade school for financial reasons. My mother grew up in the country eating possum and raccoon AND reading books. There is nothing all that high-tone about reading. It just means you are not illiterate.

Wow, reading this thread has been great fun! Goofybudda, eyecandy, BB, Anne in Chicago, and annalyssa - well said!

I guess this isn't that much different than clients who have designers pick out collections of art. I'm one of those sentimentalists that believe in having a personal connection to my art and books - why else would I want them in my home? But that may be because my funds and space for such expenditures are limited so I really have to love them. Anyhow, even though it make take more time and patience, please support your public libraries and independent/used book stores if your client's aethetic so allows. Such institutions could use your patronage!

What I find weird is that the designer talked this client into yards and yards of bookshelves (which ain't cheap) with nary a book in sight. So, at some point, there must have been (I hope) a conversation about at least the desire to bring more books into this life.

If not, BAD designer! Bad!

(But how are "trophy books" any worse than a trophy six-burner stove?)

I suggest your client rent out the shelf space to poor souls who have far more books than they can manage, of which there are many in this city. As an added benefit, they can coach him on what the books are about so that he will be able to discuss them at cocktail parties.

Goofybuddha made me laugh, but it is frankly much easier to find more attractive friends than it is to choose a library of books that speaks to someone else's soul.

However, if this question is really asking about where to find nice editions of the classics, I second the rec of Modern Library and also recommend Everyman's--both series are handsome, uniform, reasonably priced hardcover editions of a wide range of authors (Everyman's has a "contemporary classics" series, too). And yes, the Strand has yards of them.

PS. I adore Yuzu's idea. I want to have a housewarming like that even though I already have too many books.

Goofybuddha....will you marry me?

How ridiculous is it for someone, even in this day and age, to hire someone to gather their book collection.

I need to go admire my books now.

i think this question is so flabbergasting because, among other things, it seems to go against the mandates of AT, which is not to design great movie sets for people to act out their lives in, but to help people create homes that are an extension of who they are and reflect the things they love.

Call the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA. They'll be happy to sell your client as many books as s/he can handle. They have an amazing selection, and a huge used-book section in their basement. They'll hook you up.

I think RichardinLA makes an excellent point - why did AT think this was a good question?

I hear the comments about picking your own books - like buying your own art, or even your own underwear. But I can also be sympathetic to the fact that this client simply is out of time. The look - from an aesthetic view - is not new books. It takes a lot of time to sort through old books and pick titles. This person doesn't seem to have that time to spare - which is not the same as not wanting to make the time. Outsourcing the task to Moore. Seems to me a perfectly acceptable thing to do. The task is for Moore to fill the shelves with aesthetically pleasing volumes with content. That's why I think the great books list is a good place to start for content and for aesthetics a few minutes on the phone will help greatly. If you have some of these books on the shelf, nothing will be more embarassing than the client being unable to explain why he selected the inferior translation, unless he gives the only acceptable reason: because it looks better, and I didn't need the other one (this is another reason to get loeb classics - you can always say, but I have the original if I need to look anything up).

Moore - make sure you add a Liddell/Scott to this shelf.

The Library of America is committed to keeping classic books in print. They make high quality attractive books that would look great on shelves and are worth reading and rereading. The LoA has the American Poetry Project series as well which is worth investing in. Get the Oxford Anthology of American Poetry; it's beautiful. If the client can recall favorite books, find them at the Strand or through Alibris.com or Powells.com. It would be fun to interview the client to learn about his or her taste and interests to match them with the right books that the client would enjoy reading.

OK, it's a little silly that he needs books for decor, but why be so critical? What a bunch of snobs.

"Books Do Furnish a Room"--Title of volume from the series, A Dance to the Music of Time, by Anthony Powell (12 volumes) - a mind -- a civilization. Read or die -- as they say.

Library of America another great suggestion -- and don't forget The Human Comedy (50 volumes)

and Liddell/Scott, absolutely, Original A

Put your client in touch with my boyfriend--He can hold onto a few hundred of the overflow of books in our condo for a while, until he manages to build up his own collection.

It would be a win/win proposition. Your client could fill his shelves with an impressive collection of books on race, gender, sexuality, politics and history, and we could go back to having books stacked only one volume deep on the shelves.

Does your client like Foucault?

My contribution to an actual answer: Hit used book stores, look for book-club editions and such. There are plenty of attractily-bound classics (they're royalty free...).
Choose some good ones in case there is the intention of reading them -- the 1001 list mentioned earlier is good. Mix in history, philosophy, art, etc. with the novels.
My personal suggestion, a contemporary writer often overlooked or dismissed by elitists: Kurt Vonnegut. Also, check out "A Confederacy of Dunces." Even those who don't read much will get a laugh and a mind-jolt from those.
I hope the original poster has made it through the abuse to get all the way down here.
I know I am not the first to say this, but here it is anyway. Just answer the question or leave it alone, please.
Lining shelves with unread pretty books is not really that different than displaying your collection of thimbles or creamers or barbie dolls or or antique toys or whatever -- you probably never used them.
And for me, the idea of hiring a designer to buy your stuff in the first place seems bizarre, but I'd never begrudge anyone the choice to do so.

Book Collecting - John Chidley. Leave all the shelves empty save for this one book. Your client can claim not to have got around to reading it yet when people ask why he has only one book and so many emptry shelves. It can be like a statement of post modern irony and will make it look like your client actually has some personality and wit.

I agree with many of the posters above - this is probably the most pretentious and depressing question ever asked on AT

Why on earth would you install something in an apartment that you have no use for? - why build storage for something you don't have? - so you can fill it with intellectual books you've never read and have visitors think you're someone you're not??

I wonder who he is employing to furnish him with a personality??

The Bloomsbury Classics line has a good assortment of classics in bloomsbury-print dust jackets; definitely worth a look. The copy of Pride & Prejudice that I read at the age of 12 is a paperback and falling apart after so many years; I wish I had read a good quality hardcover instead. So, I can see the point in replacing classics in good editions (which is why I wouldn't get the Penguin Classics Library, as it too is paperback, and will not age gracefully). Although I too have done a recent purge of books -- giving some to friends, to hospitals and such -- books are old friends, and there are certain books I couldn't bear to live without. I may not reread them in their entirity, but I will probably re-read favourite passages many times.

Here they are:
http://www.bloomsbury.com/catalogue/fiction.asp

Another good edition is the Everyman Library
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/classics/

At a recent book fair here in Geneva, there were the most extraordinary hand-bound poetry books; works of art on more than one level. They all had original limited-edition photographs, silkscreens and/or etchings, or even drawings and watercolours. The paper was usually hand-made too. They were an extraordinary fusion of art and craft, and are meant to be displayed open and propped-up on a shelf. Of course, I didn't buy them because my mastery of French does not allow me to sufficiently appreciate the poetry. I hope there are English versions of the same to make an honest man of your client Moore.

The idea of filling the shelves with many-volumed works such as Proust when there is no intention of every cracking the spine really makes me cringe. And lets be honest -- it would take something in the order of 50 pages a day every day for a year to conquer Remembrance of Things Past (not bloody likely from the sounds of it). It looks silly and pretentious. Just imagine what visitor's to this guy's home are going to think! Exactly the same thoughts as the people who have posted on this board. If he doesn't have enough books to fill all the shelves, use artworks or collections. Buy Murano glass, or Fornasetti plates or urns (like the ones in slide 5 of the Vessel post yesterday), daguerrotypes... anything that honestly appeals to him or strikes a chord.

re: "Why on earth would you install something in an apartment that you have no use for?"

Are we giving such a hard time to those installing unused 4-star kitchens in Manhattan?

I still can't believe how snobby people are being because the topic is books. Apparently being "well read" does not increase anyone's tolerance or patience.

Also think Yuzu's idea is lovely! And Guido - I would totally love this job too. And re: Ikea display books - last time I went I was so tempted to swipe a display copy of The Female Eunuch in Swedish! (They're not on sale so its not really stealing, I told myself! I didn't dare tho!). Maybe the guy lost all his books somehow and wants to start all over again and wants to make comprehensive library to pass on to his kids or something?And he's just not sure where to start? I love Patrick's idea of a "what would be in your fantasy library" post! That was what I assumed the post would be about when I first looked. I also hate the idea of trophy books (or trophy anything really) and the whole books-as-filler-material thing. But that wasn't the point of the post, as far as I can see.

My list of things I would HAVE to have straight away:
Tolstoy,Anna Karenina
Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess (!)
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
Complete Keats
Complete Shakespeare (including the sonnets of course!)
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath, Ariel
Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway
Truman Capote, Breakfats at Tiffany's
Antoine St. Exupery, The Little Prince

When I move house I pack a box with these in, along my grandmother's school-prize copy of Little Women, and my ancient Miffy Goes to the Seaside (childhood favourite!), and my kettle, tea and teacups. This is unpacked before everything else cos it doesn't feel like home otherwise!
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Oh, Jane Eyre should have been on the list. Don't know why it ended up there!

You know, my entire wall-sized bookshelf is filled only with books I have actually read. I never really look at them anymore.

On the other hand, the room full of bookshelves at my parents' house is filled with books I have never read. Every time I go in there, I discover something I had overlooked for the past 40 years and now find intriguing. Every visit in there is an adventure, and I end up poring over the shelves for long stretches.

Perhaps this person will get delight in the seduction of a room full of books that he can consider, try, taste, indulge in for decades to come.

Why be discouraging? At least he wants the shelves for *books*. That's a good sign.

http://www.booksalefinder.com/ If you go to the last day of most library book sales, they sell the books that are left super cheap, by the bag. As mentioned, check out Housing Works Book Store on Crosby--you might want to speak to a manager. They have so many books in storage that they might work out a deal for large quantities. Also, try the other Housing Works locations (17th, in particular) a few days before one of their preview sales. They try to empty out the store for those, so the books are often 50 cents each or less. I will not make fun of this person if their purchase results in helping out a charity--believe me (I volunteer) unwanted books pile up like crazy and often get tossed if no one buys them.

Oh, piffle! There is nothing wrong in getting advice on how to start a good library.

I myself don't think there is anything wrong with being passionate about books -- and when passions are high - sparks (of indignation and/or intolerance) can fly. Ever heard a bunch of fans at a baseball game? No politeness police on patrol there.

I also don't think there is anything wrong with having unread books -- for reference -- to read later -- to have a good copies of. To rescue for posterity.

I used to look down on sets of books in my younger days, but since my sig other collects them I have learned to think differently. We actually have Scott's works ourselves (and though I have only read some of Scott's novels, I would like to go through the rest someday.The only drawback is I don't feel I can take these works on the subway.) My late father in law, an English prof., had the ambition of reading all of Scott once a year. I know that some years, he did so. Why not? Different strokes for different folks. There are other things in life besides decorating one's home, believe it or not.

It should only take about an hour to read 50 pages. 50 pages a day is absurdly slow. People watch about 5 hours of TV a night, I hear. Why not read for 5 hours, instead?

I haven't read through all the responses yet, so apologies if this type of comment has already been made:

so that maybe this silliness can be turned to good somehow, just hire someone from this site -- or a library or bookstore or a starving author or poet or student -- to purchase a lovely selection of new books, which will then at least support the authors.

You can obtain scads of good books - while also doing good - at the Used Book Cafe in Soho. The staff (mostly volunteers) will be happy to help you find precisely the type of books you are seeking.

They have a wonderful, extensive, ever-changing selection, great prices, and all the profits go to support Housing Works, which provides shelter, health care and other services for homeless New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.

Oh, and they bake fresh cookies all day long, too.

126 Crosby St
New York, NY
10012-3326
Phone: (212) 334-3324
bookstore@housingworks.org
http://www.housingworks.org/usedbookcafe/

Everyone stop posting book sources and ideas and get this person to actually pay for this knowledge from someone who's got it because they know books!

Ironic that you did not take the time to read the other comments.

Why Pixie? People come here for-- and regularly get-- free interior design services.

Seriously, the snobbish comments have angered me far more than the question did. Perhaps if you dig deep enough into your own enormous, spilling of the shelves, six volume deep collections, you'll find that book on civility and give it a glance-through this weekend.

always lovely to see you P2.

Do I detect saaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrcasm?? ;)

At the start of every semester, I go to my alma mater's campus bookstore. I review the course listings, pick out a couple classes that sound interesting and then buy the required books for those classes. English, history, computer science, philosophy, math, engineering, psychology... all at your fingertips.

Sorry, I haven't had time to read all 137 comments on this thread yet (although I intend to), but I wanted to post before it became a dead thread. Did I detect detect saaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrcasm in your comment?

My opinion is this: I don't think buying and installing an entire collection of books is the same as other "design" problems we see here (I know that some will differ, and they are also entitled to their opinions) and I don't think my proposal to pay for this advice is unreasonable, just as designers are paid for their work. The question was submitted by someone who states that they are working with a client, so I would reasonably assume that means they are being paid, not by an individual who is putting their own place together. I'm glad that many if not most people who come to this site don't see books as just a design object.

Read.

There is *usually* sarcasm in my posts. :)
I just found it funny that on a thread about readingm you opened with "Haven't read anything yet..." Just struck me funny, not being mean.

And true, not a design problem, but one you felt of merit, and worth paying for a solution from an expert.

I still maintain that this site *regulary* gives away free advice... advice of merit, and worth paying for a solution from an expert. Same diff. (imho)

And I was reacting primarily to the overall tone (as Donald and others have pointed out, too) of many comments before, which I found flabbergasting.

In addition to Everyman's mentioned above, my favorite publisher is Taschen. Wonderful quality, great value, art books. They look really handsome, and will be well worth perusing when you have a free moment. Penguin Classics has also been issuing some really good quality prints in their 'Deluxe Editions', as has Vintage.

Oh, and I guess it's just me, but I would definitely include the many-volume classics, like Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities, and Anthony Powell's lovely 12-volume novel (my boyfriend is working his way through that for the second time). These not only look great, and have a satisfying heft and size, but will provide surprisingly enchanting/compelling/enticing reads if ever the owner decides to dip into them.

I see your point. I flipped through the comments and found your viewpoint well-stated by yourself quite a few times. ;D

But actually, once I have time to read through all these comments, I will probably cull some good reading to add to my booklist and I will actually "read" some of these. Oh, darn, I should have stopped reading my current book last night and read through all these comments before I so brazenly posted my own!

Wow, what a bunch of mean spirits we have this week.

It finally occurred to me that something might simply have been lost in translation from the client to Moore to AT. Maybe the client, for example, mentioned to Moore that he wanted to fill his shelves with all the favorites from his childhood, but wanted to find nice editions of those titles. And that was translated here as "We'd like it to be based on his taste, but also be a great collection of classics and aesthetically ... pleasing."

What I do know is that this thread has a lot of comments directly answering Moore's question, and even the derision is indirectly helpful; if what the client is trying to do is build up a library to impress people, this thread would suggest that it won't work.

bobbin, I was responding to P2's saaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrcasm.

Self-defense.

Pixie, I did not think Bobbin was referring to you, but many of the previous posters.

thank you P2.

I think the real issue that everyone has is the shallowness of the book collection. Personnally I abhor the idea of using books as decoration- if the books are not going to be read they should be given to someone who will read them.

If someone wants to fill their bookshelves, they should take the time to shop, browse, and look for books themselves. The idea of paying someone to stock my library is like buying puppies, and neglecting them for as long as I have them, just because I want the instant gratification.

this post. is re-freaking-diculous.
as in..i can't stop laughing.

listen if homeslice needs books..i got 8 boxes in storage waiting to be put to good use since my lil studio can't handle all that..hahahha

hmm no wait...im too attached to them even though i havent seen them in years. i tell you what.. i will shoot all my books in a bookcase..then blow up the image to mural size..and then he can hang it up?
no..eh i gave it a shot.

I love bellaknollie's idea.

Surely some of the hostility is because usually this site emphasizes only owning what you absolutely need (with book collections among the first items to be questioned), and here we have someone wanting to acquire a large amount of items purely for show.

P2 - I love to read and I normally keep it to myself (i.e. I have a book journal that I keep), or just talk to my good friends about it because ALMOST EVERY PERSON said to be "well read" is an arrogant @$$hole who thinks he is so much more intelligent because he's read something by aldous huxley.

if he wants to decorate with books - let him - maybe by having all those glorious pieces of work (that are soon to be extinct, mind you) will inspire him to pick one up, devour it, and encourage him to read more and eventually all of his decorative items.

Gosh, I'd love to have some extra bookcases! I have an idea..maybe he could rent the space as storage for people who have too many books...or just offer it free as storage for people who have too many books.

wow, the moon must be full.


Moore, go to the Strand on Broadway. I used to work there when I was still in school about 8 years ago. They have a cart with used discounted books. Theres also a street vendor on Broadway and 76th by Fairway who has an extensive collection of books. He would be more than happy to sell off a good chunk of his inventory.


Regardless of whether he/she reads or not, what if this collection compels the person to read more? We all do things for the sake of vanity at one point or another. I for one love to travel and tend to spend more money on travel and head to my local library for my literary quenching. Would I be considered a "poser" if I wanted to fill my walls with books at this point in my life?


I'm all for constructive criticism but most of the replies here are commentaries rather than an answer to a question asked. Now the designer has to sift through all the negative mail to search for his answer. Moore, as a designer and reader, I apologize in behalf of all the negative energy in here. Good luck in finding a solution. Go to the Strand. You will make them happy.

I wanted to thank the person who credited the photo to Abelardo Morell. I wasn't familiar with him and it would have otherwise gone unnoticed. I just checked out the work and like it a lot.

How is "too attached to them even though i havent seen them in years" any *more* reflective of the spirit of this site, exactly?

Lastly, fighting on the internet is like the special olympics: Even if you win, you're still retarded.

re: "emphasizes only owning what you absolutely need".

Hmm, do I *need* my collection of photography?

It's kind of sad to see how ugly people can be. This thread has become a theater of who can beat their chest the loudest. you all win. Lets move on and answer the guys question.

Yeah, using "retarded" as the punchline of a joke is *totally* not mean spirited.

so, what y'all reading?
; )

me ---> new Ondaatje novel, and above mentioned history of the CIA "Legacy of Ashes"
also, back issues of the New Yorker

p(2) i havent seen them in years cause i have no room for them were i currently live. and im attached to them cause they were books my dad would buy me ( he is no longer here) when he would see me.... so yeah..

eh anyways..

i dont think ppl are fighting are here.. well thats not the vibe im getting.

i think that this particular situation is one that hasnt really come across that often..

i mean to buy books purely for show..until this post i have never heard of that. so if some of the friendly banter comes across as " big ole meanies" its not.

its just that this request is an odd one.

i know me personally ..when i go into someones house and i see their book collection..it is a lil peak into who that person is..now if those books where just for show..then what does that tell me..
im not knocking the designer or the client...in no way..

but you have to admit..this is not a normal designer situation

Guido - hee hee! A.S. Byatt's Possession (again!), John McGahern's Memoir ("elegiac" doesn't even come close) and a Wilfrid Mellors essay on Beethoven (complete with Kant puns!). Also, lots of potato recipes (vegetable plot surplus!).

so, what y'all reading?

Well, I should be reading Kolb's Futures, Options, & Swaps, but it seems a lot to tackle on a hot, humid Friday morning.

maybe client is dumb like a fox...

"The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?” and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market will allow you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary."

-Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I think the real issue lies with bibliophiles thinking that a book collection needs to be "earned" like a college degree. Having a fake collection of books is like displaying a fake degree from Harvard that you ordered from the internet. It's a false representation of credentials (as being well-read definitely carries with it a set of credentials).

I personally don't care if a person has read the books in his/her collection or not. As long as the person is forthcoming about the collection being purely aesthetic, I have no problem. Live and let live.

Ok, if anyone is still reading- this is slightly off topic, but remember those ugly brown simple biographies in elementary school libraries? I LOVED reading those- so did my husband when we were kids. I always keep my eyes open for them at used bookstores, but so far haven't found them. Does anyone know what they are called, or have any idea how to find them.

I don't think people are fighting either, but people are being harsh (and judgemental) in their reactions (imho).

When you walk into a home full of books, how do you know who read what? And why does it matter?

More importantly, what do you decide about a person who has *no* books on display?

I just keep weighing in because I find this whole topic, and the strong reaction to the subject of books whenever it comes up, pretty fascinating.

Had the topic been music/CDs or movies/DVDs, would people have freaked so much?

Based on a post I saw the other day, I'm wondering just how many of these folks are going to get the APT THERAPY BOOT for their negative judgemental self righteous comments.

Thank you wende for saying exactly what I was thinking. It seems extremely wasteful in many way to use books as just decoration when you think of where those books came from and what may become of them.

While I agree it seems like some are being just rude and not helpful I think it's ok to criticize someone's choice. I abhor people buying space they don't need, and filling it with things they either don't need or only care for on a superficial level. One of the greatest things this very site teaches is that we should not be filling up our lives with things you either don't really, really love or need, and if you can hit both on the mark then you've done well.

Also, that good decor is not just about filling up a space with beautiful things. A space should have your personality. If you are not a reader, you should probably not have a collection of books in your home.

Shelves can be filled with many things, it's best he put something he does care about on them. If he wants to try his hand at reading, my suggestion is to start small first. It will take longer to fill his collection, but it will be much more satisfying when he is finished.

well, I *do* find the idea of a dvd display collection impossibly ...ha! Who cares? This is a fun fight.

And to your earlier point, PatricioDos, I'd happily lead the diatribe against unused trophy kitchens since that is as personal to me as books. IRKSOME, these Potemkin Villages!

Now, do I get to be The Book Buyer for Moore's client or not?

Had the topic been music/CDs or movies/DVDs, would people have freaked so much?

I doubt it. I'd bet people would be recommending their "50 movies you must own" or whatever.

Same way that there's hardly ever any controversy about having a flat-screen TV as a major living room item with a ton of DVDs stored nearby, but large amounts of books or physical collections (not photos or recognized "art," but objects) always get lots of suggestions to cull or rotate the collection.

Culturally, there's much more acceptance of electronic media here, and I've yet to develop any theory on why, other than that it's an expression of a certain type of upper-middle-class norm.

bellaknollie, you are right. It's not a normal designer situation but fact is he is not hurting anyone and who knows if this person will read or have read the books on the shelf. I'm an architect who works will multiple personalties and it's the most fascinating part of the process. The lasting friendships are the most rewarding regardless of how nice, how shallow, how beautiful how ugly the person is. You will always find something special in the most beautiful and ugly (inside) people. I don't know, if I were the designer, I would start with a small collection, fill the rest of the shelves with plants and sculpture, photos etc...and make sure the books I buy are accessible to the person and encourage him/her to actually read them if they haven't. That way, you leave an open footprint to allow him to fill himself with books he purchases on his own. The job of the architect is to listen to his client and to find solutions. Too often, our egos and personal lifestyle hinder the most important part of the client relationship.

Patrick, I'm far from perfect and he who does not sin cast the first stone. You commented on what could be viewed as negative but failed to comment on the positives and suggestions I offered the designer. Tell me the Strand isn't a good place to go because so and so offers a better selection instead of being completely ineffectual. If what you are doing isn't considered trolling, then I don't know what is. This is a design forum.

aye carajo....

i didnt say it matters whether or not they have books..if they dont have books i dont care..but if they do ..im interested in the books..WHY? because i am an avid reader..and its interesting to me..so im curious..

i dont judge the person on the type of books they have. "ohh you only have war books you must be boring" ..no thats not the case. but it does tell me about the person or people in the household.

and if a person has no books in their house i dont think anything of it. i dont think of that person in a negative light.

some ppl just dont like having books around.

geez...

p(too) - I think, generally, you find out who has read what by talking to the people. If your new acquaintance has a collection of art books but can't carry on a conversation about art, well...

On the flip side, I don't draw negative inferences about a person's reading habits from an absence of books. If someone doesn't have books on display, if I had to think about it I'd assume the person got books from a library or friends, or keeps them somewhere else, or just doesn't read much, all of which are fine by me. I don't think books are sacred, I don't think they're "windows to the soul," but I think if you're going to have them, you should have them because they interest you, and not because you think you should have them.

Try www.arslibri.com . They sell entire libraries as well individual books, and they ship.

cafeen75-

i know he means well. maybe if the designer asked the client what his hobbies are the books can relate to things the client likes ...so when he has company and someone says " OMG you read this.. i love this blah blah blah" he can be like " oh yeah i love...boats and that book is great.." ( i dont know why i said boats..random)

In the nineteen forties my father-in-law (not a great reader) bought a book case over a desk and he bought the books for it by the foot from the antique dealer! Your client should go to the Salvation Army, or similar, and spend as much as he can on something worthwhile.

bellaknollie, I was simply asking the questions because I was curious. It was not an attack.

caffeine-- Correct, I did not comment on your positive post. Because it was exactly that: positive, in the spirit of the request, and helpful. What's to comment on?

I *did* comment on the "retarded" joke just cuz I found it ironic that it followed your own comment about how ugly people can be, then that. I found it worth comment.

Anne in Chicago, Wende, guido... thanks for addressing my questions without getting all riled up.

I *really* am just interested in the discussion. Perhaps because I have nary a book in sight (well, a small stack of photography books) and want to make sure my guests are not thinking me an unread heathen due to the lack of stacks. :)

bellaknollie, Exactly my point. You hit it right on the head. This is the beauty of problem solving instead of crucifixion. I think Bellaknollie found your answer (to Moore.)

p(2)

yes?

♥

opps my commment didnt go through

p(2)-
its all good..i didnt take it in a " wahhh stop attacking me" hahahha

i know you mean well too. :)


if i went to your house and only saw 5 books i wouldnt think you were less than me or anything like that. i would be interested in the titles..OH p(2) has photo bokos..ah im a photographer too..good now when we have a conversation i can say " hey where did you get that Salgado boook, i really like his work" yada yada yada..
you get my drift.

you know what i say..
i say we all donate 2 books each. then he will have an impressive collection

DAMM keyboard and its type-os!

i meant to write books..

ugh..i hate you keyboard.

YAY it's Friday! TGIF everyone!

Whew, not being judged by it! Yay!

All my shelves formerly dedicated to books are full of porn now anyway.

i wish i leave work then fly out to boston to shoot a wedding..

the fun never ends in my world..

furniture, photography , furniture, photography...and on and on

Anne I think the point is he is kinda hurting all of us, by the environmental effect of building this book collection, not because he is pretending to be scholarly (he is only hurting himself there). In many ways books can be extremely wasteful, if you are buying them for a personal collection. Someone in this years "Small is Cool" contest in reference to libraries, asked "why would you pay twice for something?".

Indeed. This comment really had me thinking, about my personal cost, and my cost to the environment. I do and will continue to purchase books from my favorite authors, ones that I love and cherish long after they are read. However, now most my reading material comes from the library.

Point that clearly comes up on AT in many threads is how can we justify whatever we are designing, consuming, ect. with it's effects on the environment. You and I and everyone should be constantly weighing how much we love and enjoy something against it's cost to the environment.

Look at our environmental forecast, collecting books purely for decoration is wrong. I am not trying to be overly mean or judgmental, but in this day in age there are some things that you just shouldn't be doing.

bwahahhahahahh porn..nice!

well at least its on display and not hidden under the bed..with socks and lintballs.

i once went into a bathroom that was wallpapered with old porno mags from the 70s...

it was ...interesting i felt like john holmes was going to come out of the bathroom..hahhah

seriously, it makes a lot more sense to me to have a row of pristine Loeb classics that offer future rewards than read copies of Gravity's Rainbow and Middlemarch.

OTOH, your library can be a gift to your children or a "discussion" with your spouse/partner.

What about searching for a set of outdated law books? Actual firms and judges (etc.) need up to date versions. I've seen listings on craigslist to get rid of old sets before. As for a collection, you would probably be able to get a massive quantity of books that way. Additionally, they would visually match.

You could even look into smaller sets from different states or different federal areas? Just a thought.

gravitys rainbow.

if he is buying used , old, somone elses books...how is he hurting the environment? *fixing my glasses*

im all for sustainable design and all that green stuff.
but if he is getting used books..isnt that like..recycling?

hmmmmmmm

oh and widmerpool- my mom didn't read or understand a lick of english when she came here...but long and behold when i was 3 she went and got me an encyclopedia set ( wow i feel old..remember those) and oddly enough, her english got better cause i would make her look at them with me as the years went on.

very good investment on her part, but made me a total nerd in grammar school..double edge sword. hehe

I'm using the following as a point and not a personal attack which I think a lot of people do the same:

"
I *really* am just interested in the discussion. Perhaps because I have nary a book in sight (well, a small stack of photography books) and want to make sure my guests are not thinking me an unread heathen due to the lack of stacks. :)"

This is also considered vanity and there is nothing wrong with it. We all keep books for different reasons and environmental impacts are little if second hand books are purchased. I keep the books I want to pass down to my children. That isn't to say the vanity in me also keeps books so the impression people have about me when stepping into my apt is favorable just as P2 said. Some people keep them as trophies, some keep them to read over, and some want to make sure others know they've covered every literary mile.

I'm eco friendly. I don't buy porno mags, I download them ;)

P (too): "Had the topic been music/CDs or movies/DVDs, would people have freaked so much?"

Definitely not. But you would have gotten a few comments about how bad for the environment it is to produce all those CDs and cases.... ;)

I am always fascinated by the AT comments on books, whether there are too many or not enough, etc. etc..... To me, the whole conversation encapsulates so well the American relationship with intellectualism - such an ambivalent relationship there, even among those who read a lot (but don't want to say they are 'well read' for fear of sounding arrogant). By the way, there's nothing whatever wrong with having no books (less is better!), but I happen to have a LOT of books (though, it's true, most of them are my research books), and I'm not afraid of pretentiousness in others. I don't mind if others want to have books, too - since they might enjoy reading them someday. To me, books are better if they're only partly-, half-, or not- read, ...or worthy of being re-read. That way, you can just wander over to your books in a casual moment, and find something riveting to settle down with. (Probably, this would be more likely to happen if one didn't have a tv.)

I think everyone is being a bit harsh. He may have not had space before and now that he does, could just have more bookshelves than he has books. He might go to the library alot.
Anyway, send your client to the Strand. Its a great place to go when you aren't looking for anything specific. Start him (or her) in the art/architecure/photo books - or just browsing the tables. Just make sure he checks out the rare book room upstairs too. He spends an hour or two there that should get him a good start. And if he enjoys it send him to other used bookstores.

Or - ask him to list a bunch of topics he's interested in and go from there. If he likes cars - go from there. If he likes WW2 or Virginia Plantation homes... there's plenty to start with. I think that if you stick mainly to art and photo books it should be pretty easy. Then make him grab some fiction. I do think the grouping by color is a good idea. And I like National Geographics. I love the way mine look on my shelves and reference them all the time.

Nothing wrong with DVD's mixed in too. Alot of the cases are pretty nicely art designed now.

Just make sure you're putting stuff in there he has some background interest in or else he'll end up the deer in the headlight a previous poster was talking about.

Are coloring books exempt?

Oh - and back issues of the New York Review of Books always look good. :-)

Um, I was kidding about worrying what people thought of me when they come into my home, bookwise, btw.

I'm vain about other things, but not that!! :)

I think if the question had been "I have a client who just built a media room for the first time in his/her life and now wants to build an instant library of films... what would you suggest?" it would have prompted a LOT of movie titles and very few "how dare you's".

All I'm saying.

Oh, good Lord.

The three basic issues here are whether books furnish a mind or a room
and
books as objects or as content
and
whether there is any relationship between the care with which one furnishes one's home and the care with which one furnishes one's mind.

As for P(2)'s suggestion that everyone suggest a favorite book: I daresay tastes vary.

Given P92)'s jocular comment of only owning pornography, I might suggest he read Petronius, Laclos, or Cleland. Or if I were feeling malicious, Elinor Glyn.

Wende might get the suggestion of Albee's Tiny Alice (or perhaps a play by Ibsen).

Proust for those of us who think of their homes as narratives of memory, real and imagined.

And for that long-ago customer of mine, who happily filled her shelves with books she knew she'd like when she got to them: Stephen King, Dan Brown....

i have a few keith harring coloring books...they are pretty cool..
but then again i also have human anatomy coloring books..*scratching my head* how , what...how did those get in there..hmm odd.

Again Bella, he is buying something he doesn't need. Best to leave those old, use books for someone who really wants to read them, so they can get them used instead of having to buy a new one. Besides we all know the how supply and demand works. If both readers and decorators want books, that is only going to equal one thing.... more book making. ;)

I know many people who look for old books before buying new, there is something wonderful is enjoying something that was previously loved by another person. Many times I can't find what I want though and am forced to buy a new copy. Hope it's not because it's sitting unused in someone's collection.

Personally I would feel the same way had someone asked how to start a music or DVD collection. Now if someone asked, what are good books to read, what's some good music to listen too, or what are some must see movies then I could think of many answers, but, unless it's design related books, I think the question could be better fielded elsewhere. I don't come to design therapy to keep myself updated on bands, and likewise I don't go to those blogs for design advise.

moore moore are you there? do you see what you've done here?
we are swamped in the moor, argl.

Last night on Chelsea Lately, they were talking about Britney Spears skinny dipping, and Josh Wolf said "if she wants to shock me, show me a picture of her reading a book." Is Britney Spears the client?

Moving all my books is usually the biggest chafe during a move! I never thought of them as "a collection."

Your AT:LA site had a great post with the National Geographics and the backwards books a few weeks ago (taken from some magazines). I always wondered who would put their books in backwards. Now I know.

P.S. If it's for styling purposes for a magazine spread, go with the ubiquitous:

Cabinet of Natural Curiousities

Ashley HIcks

Tom Ford Gucci Book

Chanel Book

Bill Blass book

Gees Bend: The Women and their Quilts

In the Pink: Dorothy Draper

Noguchi book

Kelly Hoppen Style

Kelly Weastler Modern Glamour

Warhol

The Well Lived Life

Hip Hotels

et.al.

hmmm

my books are all over the place..biographies ( alot of latin american figures...che, fidel, trujillo..) , latin american history, photobook, design ,branding, erotica ( if i had to give this client my favorite book then it would be the "story of O") fiction, non fiction, gang related, dog stuff..coloring books..sewing books...horror books ( i can't finish reading IT by s.king cause i have a major fear of clowns..)more photobooks..too many picasso books...

i prefer old books..i like the smell..i have issues i guess..lol

Let me see....back to Maxwell's thoughtful, considered message from earlier in the week:

To be clear, these are our guidelines:

• AT is dedicated to HELPING people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy, so, too, is our community.
• Commenters are expected to be helpful, maintain the focus of the conversation and add value to the community
• humor, honesty, tough love, intelligence and eloquence are all encouraged
• meanness, ad hominem attacks, continual nonsense and boorish behavior are not

Tempted though I am to read through the new comments every few minutes, I'm satisfied that Moore's question has been answered; that many AT personalities have reminded themselves and others of books that are important to them; and that not everyone agrees on the use of books to define or add to spaces. It's time for me to rethread.

We are guests on this site, as I remember from the agreement prior to receipt of password, and Vanderbilt, Martin, Post, and friends would all agree that guests know when to let go of specific issues in conversation.

right on gravity. We should find out who he is and blacklist him at every literary outlet. His children too, and his childrens children.

sorry p2. us kind do exist though. I'm one of them but only the pass downers. My comprehensive collection can be found at the NYPL :) great converstaion starters too if they have read the book.

National Geographic does have nice binding and sits beautifully on a shelf. So do books of poetry which have a substantially higher cover budget than novels but advances are way way less than novels. go figure... JonathonB, of all the books, Proust has the best looking covers. So beautifully detailed. Nice smell too. Good call.

so for being snappy. we are always quick to judge others but never put ourselves under the microscope. I think this thread scared Moore away.

Right on Krister. We are voted off this island!

Bellaknollie, I think you are my digital avatar.

It seems from the question that money is no object for this client... simply going to Amazon is the easy answer. Begin with the client's interests and follow the suggested threads to other books they might enjoy. Buying new books support the authors that write them - the secondary market does not.

Classic literature is full of people who buy or inherit vast libraries that they never read. Have the client buy a few of those too, just for fun.

*blushing* awwww

thanks
all this talk about books..i realized i left my current book at home..what to read on the flight to boston..hmmm

Maybe the client will end up reading many of them. Better late than never....

I don't think Porsches should be made with automatic transmissions, but why get all worked up about it?

Well, i only read about 10 comments. So, here goes.
1. Books the buyer likes:
Most readers will think that this person should focus on buying books that he/she would read in the future. So, ask him to make a list, or take a stroll in the bookstore, or look online. Even if he just buys a few, that will get him started with some books he may actually read.

2. THe look:
The leather bound legal classics have a particular look. They usually go in fake 1980's men's study/library type rooms with brown wood wals, and green lamps. Maybe a few are ok, but a look around this is probably expensive and artificial.

3. Big bright white coffee table books:
How about some big books of photographs, maps, pictures of different people or different countries, etc... Easy to say you've flipped through the book. easy for people/kids to look at while in apt.

4. arrange other stuff on the shelves too. some frames, vases, whatever.

The brown biographies were called 'Landmark books'. They were pretty good actually. We used to find them in thrift stores when our kids were little. There was even one on the life of Cicero. One on Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox -- I think we still have it. They were sort of in the junk category and you didn't see them so much in used bookstores.

When I myself was young, a cousin of mine became so entranced with them that he ended up becoming a history professor -- all because of Landmark books! My mother, who had a job in a publishing house, used to send them to him. I never read them myself, preferring novels, science fiction, and animal stories, as a child.

Thinking of them, though, it strikes me that the books in our childhood had so much more text than books for kids do now -- today they often seem more like glorified greeting cards.

I confess that my first post here was half in jest -- 500 Loebs is just too much (though 100 doesn't seem so.) I don't believe in "first editions" myself -- but there is some skill and discrimination involved in setting up a serious collection, if one has the inclination and means to do so. Of course being a real book lover may be incompatible with having a fashionably decorated house.

Maybe we can get this thread up to 300 comments and AT will throw a party.

Hey, I've got some books I'm selling...

pixie-
can it be a BYOB party..bring your own book.

im down..im always down for a party who am i kidding...

"We should find out who he is and blacklist him at every literary outlet. His children too, and his childrens children."

when I think about your children, and your children's children, I actually think your children are too young to be having children, and as far as your children's children's children I think, you know, where does it stop? When, when the children are having children, you know, it's just, how small are they gonna get?

Hi widmerpool,
can we dance?

I think people would still be laughing about music or movies, personally - if not as much so.

My boyfriend once worked in a record shop and tells a story of a man who came in to "buy a record collection" for his wife. Not records he cared about or thought she would enjoy, mind you, just things he was told were "classics" everybody should own.

The man spent several hundred dollars, just so they could own these things most people collect because they love and mean something to them and about them - and CDs are not even as pretty as books!

If your client wants to come to France he can have all my books and then I will have loads of empty shelves again. I'll soon fill them up. After all, they are only books. I am a book magnet.

as small as your wee wee pool boy! heehee. jk. I think the sarcasm went over your head. That's ok, I forgive you.

No offence intended Pixie. Can I come to the party now, please.

P(too) right on. I hope your porn is all colour matched and sized correctly,

This is to funny.

The thing that got to me about this questions was not that the client was looking for tips to start a book collection, but rather the implication that filling the shelves quickly and in an aesthetically pleasing manner was more important than the contents of the collection. If I suddenly came into money, you can bet your behind that I'd get a place with a lot of built in bookshelves, and start buying all of the books on my to-read and have read/loved but don't own lists; not because I want people to think I am smart, but because I love books and what they give to me. (When I was a kid I remember sleeping with a favorite book under my pillow just to have it close - weird but I've just always had that kind of attachment to books.) And maybe I would even ask for some tips as to where to acquire good, sturdy and, yes, pretty, sets of certain collections. But the main intent would not be to simply fill the shelves to achieve a certain look. If it took years to fill the shelves with books I loved, so be it. Plently of other things look good on shelves, too.

And I'd feel the same way about someone buying a music or movie collection simply for the sake of filling shelves to create a look, and people who don't cook in their gourmet kitchens.

annalyssa, your description of how to start a book collection is beautiful and true to the way many of us feel about our books. They are maps for us, they indicate where we have traveled and where we wish to go. Even the books I own but haven't read just yet, point in the direction of who I want to be.

Personally I am so envious of this client that he has so many shelves he doesn't know what to fill them with, my wishlist is ridiculously long, but . . .unless he likes Annie Dillard, Barbara Kingsolver, and fairytales I am not much help. Maybe a collection of beautiful reference books would be a good addition to a collection. I think it would be helpful to know what moore's client likes or does, catrobmar mentioned using Amazon's recommendation service which is pretty helpful. Anyway I don't really have more to say that hasn't been already said, just that I think annalyssa's comment got to the crux of why so many got a little persnickety without being mean herself.

ok i thought i was the only one that slept with a book under my pillow when i was little....good to know im not.

I always think particularly well of someone who actually looks at the books on our shelves. It's surprising how unusual it is for someone to do this when they visit us.

And I always look at the books on people's shelves -- not to judge them - but in hopes of finding a soul-mate.

I stopped reading the comments because, well, I'm a little lazy today, but man, I'd love to have someone install a library of books in my house. It would be fantastic to get to spend rainy afternoons poking through your own library, starting books and becoming engrossed in them or deciding that you don't like them/aren't interested in them - and setting lots of them aside to donate when you've decided against them or finished reading them. This may be because I irritate myself because I feel like if I start reading something I have to finish it, even if I hate it. All that pressure taken away! No self imposed requirement since the selection was made by someone else! Things to look at that you might never have known you were interested in! Then, once you had gotten through them all, you could just keep a shelf or two with the ones you truly loved and have someone come in and do it again! Keep changing the focus - history once, "literature" once, sci-fi once, biographies once... my god I just drooled a little on my keyboard.

My local library lets you check out as many books as you'd like at a time. You just have to remember to renew them every month -- a cheap way to get what your client wants, with the possibility of rotating things around if s/he gets tired of the view.

I think it's interesting, in a way. My parents built a library onto their house to fit their books into. He's building a collection (instantaneously, it's true) to fit into his library. I love books, but at the heart of it, isn't it the story or the knowledge that I really love? The book itself is more like a painted icon in a cathedral. Sure, it's aesthetically pleasing, but any hole-in-the-wall church supposedly serves the same purpose as the cathedral. Let him have his pretty books. Maybe someday he'll get curious and read one (assuming he didn't have to in school).

I love that so many people have commented with book suggestions, with favorite used bookstores, and with the desire to appreciate a home full of books. In my opinion, assuming the client of the poster wants to read is absolutely the best possible way to take this post. However, none of that answers my earlier query of how this post was considered a good question.

Patrick Too: You have a photography collection! I bet it awesome. I also bet you a) chose the photographs yourself because anything one collects is probably personally important, and b) use the photographs. With photographs, this means displaying or looking at them frequently. With books this generally means reading them.

Incidentally, my boyfriend and I have over 3500 books in our apartment, and I host an annual bookswap in the fall to keep our selection in circulation.

i wish i was good at returning books to the library...:(

im not. im not good at returning things..

i always wanted one of those bookcases with the sliding ladder...but where i live it might as well be a step stool.

but in anycase whenever i go into a house with one of those ladders...i get all happy and run to it and roll to and from...until some article of clothing gets stuck and i fall.

me= clumsy.

Maybe try this?

http://www.originaltradingcompanyusa.com/index.php?crn=84&rn=644&action=show_detail

Just from the way this question was asked, its what made a lot of people suspect that his client is not a reader. Not everyone is a reader, I understand and really its his prerogative. I won't even say that he is morally corrupt, just that his interests lie elsewhere. For me to say he is morally corrupt, I'd have to meet him in real life and know him for some time.

I read because I've always liked it since I was very little, 'cause what books are supposed to do besides entertain is to help one learn and grow. They're supposed to help you become a better person. And I'm not being elitist, its not like I'm part of the literati. I don't run in those circles. I read for myself.

I bet his client has read books so I'm not assuming that he's never read, just that reading doesn't sound like his main interest and that's okay. I assume that he probably prefers modern novels. Oh and there's no law that says everyone must like reading.

I don't have the biggest collection, I own just about 20 books. I agree with what someone else wrote, what if someone comes and asks him about the collection. He'll be embarrassed if he doesn't read. Anyway, the client should really spend filling the shelves with things he likes. Things that hold his interest.

I mean why fill up the shelves with the classics if it doesn't please him? No one cares more than you do, so might as well do something that makes you happy. One should not live their life for "society" but for themselves.

I'm just plain jealous: I wish I had the room for all the books I bought and I wish I could buy all the books I want.

we should all meet at the Algonquin like Dorothy Parker and her Circle.

i see we all finally agree on something. ask the client what his interest are and get books according to that. and if he is into the classics...then get him classic books that pertain to his likes.

and if that doesnt work...tell him that many ATers will glady take his empty space as their own. myself included.

but i think the first option is the winner.

Sorry, readers, even my porn is all DVD.

And bobbin, to answer your query... it is *indeed* "sized correctly."

:)

And before there are any cries of "Porn is demeaning to women!", TRUST ME when I say mine is *definitely* not.

Sorry, *what* were we talking about again?

Drinks at the Algonquin on Moore's client, I believe. We can all bring a book that looks good on a shelf.

I will bring "This is New York" and "How to Dress" because I believe these are two really good names for books.

I'm a big reader and I don't have tons of books, because I go to the library. If I bought every book I read, I would have to use books for food and shelter as well, because I wouldn't be able to afford rent or groceries. Does that make me less of a book lover?

While I agree that someone looking to build a book collection mainly for aesthetic reasons is a touch ridiculous, judging people based on how many books they own is equally so.

hiring someone to "design" your book collection is on a par with buying art to match the couch or using pottery barn compilation CDs to set a mood.

i can't wait until someone picks up a book off his shelf and asks his opinion about it. "sorry, haven't read it - but it *does* match the drapes."

An artist friend of mine, who I share studio space with, could probably help you out. He recreated the Barnes and Nobles entire self-help section using wood blanks and painting the spines to look like the original spines. It's a pretty amazing piece of art and takes up a lot of space. It would be an awesome art/book installation to have. And guests would love it. He's exhibiting it in Wash. DC in august. Go buy it.

kodiak - that sounds interesting. where is he exhibiting?

You all read the "aesthetically pleasing" part a lot differently than I did. You seem to have read it to mean "the only thing I care about is that the books look good in the room," while I read it as a polite way of saying "please don't suggest that I build a book collection quickly by buying paper bags full of ten-cent paperbacks with the covers torn off."

I understand the response, and it does seem suspect that a designer is in charge of a book collection, but I also think a lot has been read into the question that's not there. It basically says "This guy is starting a book collection, and he's looking for both classics, which are probably easy to find, and books that are specific to his tastes, which might be harder to find. And he'd like books that are nice-looking enough to be in a fairly carefully designed space."

I'm not saying I'd like the client either, but I'm not sure it's quite as bad as all that.

My mother is a librarian in a Caribbean island. Every year they need to discard hundreds of old books because in a tropical climate, fungus feasts on them after some years.
Come winter please visit. You will get a nice book collection that will double as a very exotic tropical flora collection that will indeed impress your friends!

new york times on CEOs and their serious book collections:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/business/21libraries.html?ex=1185768000&en=fc357ae700c8008a&ei=5070

late to this part of discussion, but movies and music are different. they require a different sort of commitment, time at the very least.

if we recommend our 50 tops movies, dude could watch those in a summer and be ready to discuss by his next party. probably not so with books (unless everyone reads a lot faster than i do... of course, one idea could be to buy only books based on movies and just see the movies :)

books are a far more intimate connection to self, in my opinion, than movies... they require so much more of us... our imaginations, our time... they have tactility and require several senses at once. don't get me wrong, i adore movies (even those based on books), but books are, well, books.

like many, my issue with this request was that i read it as a boorish request to just fill shelves with no regard for an human actual connection to the contents. my sincere apologies to moore and his client, if that was the wrong knee-jerk conclusion.

A cinema-phile would SERIOUSLY disagree with MANY things you said.

"I always look at the books on people's shelves - not to judge them - but in the hope of finding a soulmate".
Monarda I do that too! But I wouldn't have put it so beautifully!

Well, I did read through ALL the comments. I think there's a much simpler solution. The designer should draw up a list of, say, 20 books or authors that the client likes; s/he can then go on LibraryThing.com and look for the collections of the members that have the best overlap with the client's preferences. Then simply order a reasonable selection of related books from the relevant collections, by clicking through to Amazon. For this sort of quantity the shipping would be free, and the client would end up with a collection that would be the sort of library s/he might have built up if there had been time. I don't see that this is radically different from my staying in a friend's house, finding books that look interesting that I haven't read, and buying or borrowing them later on. It partly depends, of course, on what's meant by aesthetically pleasing -- if one doesn't like the idea of a bought-by-the-yard collection, or a solid wall of uniform Penguin classics or Everyman editions, this might be one way of achieving a better result.

Okay, I was cruising around the internet and found this post that seems relevant to the conversation here about boorishness and books, so I couldn't resist posting the link, even though this thread is WAY too long....

http://petriproject.com/2007/07/18/vex-libris/
It's about this "tip": "Take photos of the covers of the books and make a memory album. Hmm…" Maybe the guy in the question will change his mind about wanting a library of books, and this will be his exit strategy?

Moore,
Is this the look your client is going for?
http://bp3.blogger.com/_61djkGwfEZo/RqULydpvpyI/AAAAAAAAA_I/WBHrCI7C3ak/s1600-h/Sap3.jpg

Or, if the client doesn't really like to read, why not just put attractive cabinet doors over the shelves and use the space for storage?