Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion

I don't know about you, but I love looking at other people's libraries. What is your reading environment like?

I am in the process of converting a room in my basement to my personal Sanctum Sanctorum. I like to be away from the distractions and surrounded by my books:



I also built this bookcase to house my heirloom and inherited books:

I have a couple of questions...are you married? Or would you consider adopting? I LOVE LOVE LOVE your sanctorium my lord. :-) My library is over 2,000 books strong, but spread all over my house. I have a few pictures, but not not html-postable. I'll work on that.

The living room, right side of fireplace.


The livingroom, left of fireplace.
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Part of the shelves in the family room.


Part of the shelves in the office.

@Pete - you are so incredibly lucky! That looks like a beautiful room to read in, very peaceful. Cute cat, too! And a lovely bookcase.

@Angelic - I love how you've used Scrabble letters to label your bookshelves, I'm going to have to think of something like that, lol.

The top of our stairs - marriage is all about compromise right? So model planes and books :-)


These are from the downstairs library:






Aaand I've conquered a little space in the living room

Very impressive Louise! I can’t say that it screams organization but it does radiate a charm any book lover would embrace. Like a giant tree it seems to be spreading its roots (which is absolutely essential for its growth and survival).

Pete wrote: "I don't know about you, but I love looking at other people's libraries. What is your reading environment like?

I am in the process of converting a room in my basement to my personal Sanctum Sanct..."

That's a beautiful bookcase you built! Love all the details.

Pete, I'm jealous, your room looks beautiful and you are SO talented. You give a whole new meaning to the term "man-cave"...and I don't see a light-up beer sign anywhere!
I don't have the luxury of having space for lots of books, I've given away a lot of my books. But I'll share some of my storage areas.

This is a small revolving book case. It holds more than you would think.


This is actually a china cabinet that belonged to my grandparents, it's at least 80 years old. I keep quilts and books in here.



And, since I live in a small house with limited space, I had to come up with innovative ideas about where to put my books. So I went upward. Along two walls, about 12" down from the ceiling, I installed shelves.



But the smartest thing I ever did was buy myself a Kindle. Here it is in all it's glory, with about 450 books in this small space:

I imagine many people have your problem of the lack of space and your innovative solutions should inspire many. The Kindle or another E-reader is the future and can’t be underestimated or overlooked but traditions die hard (especially for me) and I plan to expand, fill and enjoy my library for, many years to come.

My godparents also put shelves along their ceiling, it's a great idea :-)

Thom wrote: "Very impressive Louise! I can’t say that it screams organization but it does radiate a charm any book lover would embrace. Like a giant tree it seems to be spreading its roots (which is absolutely ..."

What a lovely idea:-) (although I think my husband will be trying to limit the growth a little, and he doesn't yet know about the shelves I've conquered in the guest room closet!)

Wowwwwww! Love looking at what ppl have done with their book collection/rooms :)

I have a TBR shelves and I have my artbooks out...But usually things are boxed away because of space.

As soon as I can figure out how to post my photos, I'll be happy to show off my bookcases, too! You all have such wonderful collections!

Okay I will show mine! They are very messy and stacked two and three deep!! Total addict here.....oh yeah and all UNREAD!!!!!

It looks like the perfect visual example of chaos. How on earth do you find any particular book or are all your reading meals pot luck?

Hi, Susan! I always enjoy seeing your bookshelves. . .even though I have over 500 books on my own shelves, I'd love to come browse through your "library"!

Chaos is my middle name Thom!! LOL-I have a pretty good idea where books are on the shelves but I have spent an hour or more searching for one I know I have!!

Beth you can come on up and browse any time you like! :) I'm sure you would find a "few" books to sneak out with!! LOL

Susan, I've spent hours searching for books in my house too. One of these days I'll have everything organized. Then I'll wake up from that dream and see stacks of books all over the place.

Recently I've had two books go missing. I haven't read them but I can't find them! Gremlins??!! LOL

Karen, you are probably looking too hard...walk away and then look again! I always find them that way!! :)

Pete great dream, I have those all the time too.

I'm a member of your group. Would like to post picture of part of my library. How?
take care,
Barry

wow, i'm in love with ALL of these photos! i'll post mine in a lil while!


BEAUTIFUL, booklovers!

Barry wrote: "I'm a member of your group. Would like to post picture of part of my library. How?
take care,
Barry"

Barry, you have to have your photo online somewhere like flickr or photobucket. then you get the URL and post here with:

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Put quotation marks around the url in that formula.

I used to have pictures on the walls....now they are lined with book shelves and recently I started book shelves in the garage.

The only piles are cookbooks which are slowly getting shelved. I joined http://www.eatyourbooks.com/home and once shelved will access the recipes via eat your books.

Susan wrote: "Karen, you are probably looking too hard...walk away and then look again! I always find them that way!! :)

Pete great dream, I have those all the time too."

No it's definitely Gremlins! LOL

Wow, there are some great reading places shown in this thread. Its like you all have your own Library, minus the read time limit.

....I will not envy others....I will not envy...sigh , sometimes that mantra works. This is about books though, still a wee bit green here :)

I love looking at everyone's book shelves! It's almost like spying you know? I wish more people would post theirs!! :)

I'll have to post mine over to photobucket, and then I'll post mine, Susan. I have my bookcases in my bedroom, and I love waking up and seeing all those beautiful colors on the shelves=)

Thats where I post my photos too Beth! :) Can't wait to see your shelves!! :)

Great to see books, books, books everywhere!

how do you even post pix to thread? since i am a complete loser, just look at my pix on my profile. I only have 2 shelves in the living room (no, we dont use the fireplace, we live in NC). 1 shelf in each of kids rooms, double stacked. One shelf in kitchen nook and random books laying around. ..:O

Here's the bookcase in my bedroom that I see every morning when I wake up. . .

Wow that is huge!!! I love it!! So nice and neat Beth and even some empty space.....LOL. Something I never seem to see on mine!! :)

Ummmm. . .well, that photo was taken a couple months ago, so I've had to pack away a few books and set a bunch on top of the bookcases to be able to fit in my newest books! lol

I noticed the extra space too! :-)

Me and my boyfriend live in an one bedroom apartment! My bookcase is only 1,5 meter x 1,5 meter! :( The bookcase can hardly hold the weight of all the books on it! But as soon as we find a bigger place, my boyfriend is going to build a homemade bookcase!

Yay Renee, and then you get to get all new books to fill it up!! Good for you!! :)

My reading room is wherever I am. I have three kids and a MIL to take care of, so I do a lot of reading in waiting rooms and in my car.

Beth wrote: "Here's the bookcase in my bedroom that I see every morning when I wake up. . .
"

Beth, are those Billy bookcases from Ikea? They look just like mine.

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Although I have reorganized my home due to the addition of a roommate, this is my original library. It is an 11 by 13 foot second bedroom in my apartment.

The bookcases are by Ikea (Billy) and the chaise is from The Purple Store.

I love the chaise!!!!

Thank you!

I had been thinking about those Ikea bookcases; they also have another variety with the rail for a ladder.

Rashid. . .my bookcases were actually just $25 at Target. They do look the same though, don't they? I'm sure yours is a better quality!

Um.... I am sure they are probably exactly the same and I was robbed. LOL

hahaha 25.00 at Target...I'm going to have to check that out! Mine are about ready to fall apart!! We do not have an IKEA anywhere near us and I just remember when I lived in Jersey I went there to buy a wall unit. It had a million screws and took me two days to put together!! It was soooo heavy too!! LOL

Once they revamped the Target here, the price went up to $30!! lol They really aren't the best quality, but they serve their purpose:)

Ohemgee, Rashid, that chaise is so pretty...

I love seeing everyone's bookshelves. I should really put up a picture of mine, but I feel that they'd look rather sad compaered to everyone elses, lol. =D

I love the them. All of them and am green with envy. Someday I will be able to have a library. I currently have a couple of bookshelves, but nothing too impressive...My reading spot is my bed or any corner in the house that I can find. Someday...

After looking at everyone's pics, I think I'm going to go organize my books now...

Pete wrote: "I don't know about you, but I love looking at other people's libraries. What is your reading environment like?

I am in the process of converting a room in my basement to my personal Sanctum Sanct..."

Coming late to this post, but WOW (!) that cabinet is gorgeous. And you built it?! Impressive!