The truth is this, when I moved to my current place in January 2009 I pretty much spent a year before, selling out my Textbooks and books that I don’t want to keep. By then I was quite chuffed that I have kept book hoarding to a minimum, and my books were half of that tall tower you see on the first photo and there was one and only stack.
I wasn’t bother if I own a bookshelf or not, so I kind of pile my books one on top on the other, hoping that the pile won’t grow too high. Until one day I put a photo up on my post about my sons and my friend saw the book stack at the background of the photograph.
“I know the photo is about your sons, but OMG I can’t help but to mention how many books you have stacked up in your lounge!”
oh, is it really that obvious?
“You haven’t seen the one in my bedroom yet!” I said.
Very quickly I re-arranged the stack in my bedroom and this is what I have got (The 2nd picture).
Stacks in the living room
"Small" stacks in my bedroom
This is a result of living in a street with 5 charity / used-book stores. I started with the intention that if I buy my books cheap, then I’ll be happy to give away my books back to the stores if I ever move again, but look at what I have accumulated??!!
The above two photographs were taken a month ago and what big change a month can do! I came home from work on 12 November 2010 and my living room was transformed. My husband had kindly brought home a white bookshelf, cleaned out all my books and arranged them onto the new bookshelf. This is how it looks like now:
My black corner
My Sunny corner
My "Travel" corner
Daphne Du Maurier and Library Loan corner (including many more that are double stacked at the back of the shelf)
The bookshelf must have weighed 50kg and my husband is 80kg, how he got this shelf up two flight of stairs on a very narrow staircase, with steps half of his shoe size, alone, boggles me. He said he took 35 minutes to get it up the stairs……. I was moved to tears. Of all the things that really matters in my life, books is one of them and I thank my husband for making them look so pretty. 🙂
I only read 20% (30 / 152) of the books you saw on shelf, if I don’t go to the library for the whole of next year, I would still have enough at home to keep me going.
I still dream of a day when I don’t have to live a nomadic existence and wish to have home libraries like these:
Have a book stair
I like a little taste of of Prunksaal in my humble abode. 🙂
JoV's Book Pyramid 
I love the book shelf pictures! I love the stacks too, although I’d be afraid that pulling one out from the middle would make the whole thing topple! (And I love the word chuffed – we don’t use it in the U.S.!)
Posted by rhapsodyinbooks | November 24, 2010, 1:16 pmJill, I love it too! When you have book towers it makes it harder to take a book out from the bottom rung. Ha ha and chuffed is a very British word, although I saw my blogger friend Bernadette in Australia uses the same word one day. 😉
Posted by JoV | November 24, 2010, 2:17 pmthese were some really fun pictures!
Posted by Mel u | November 24, 2010, 2:13 pmOh Jo !! I love this post with all its book loaded pictures ! Love the colour coordinated bookshelf you’ve got there and it’s so sweet of your husband to get the shelf and set it all up for you 🙂 And those pictures of home libraries are to die for !
Posted by Joanna | November 24, 2010, 2:46 pmHi Joanna!!! Where have you been???! Thank you, my hero is definitely a sweetie. I hope you get one of those home libraries too! 😀
Posted by JoV | November 24, 2010, 3:45 pmWe have quite a few stacks in our apartment, though none quite as Pisa-esque as the ones you’ve posted! We simply don’t have the space for more bookshelves at the moment, so towering book stacks we must live with.
I love the bookshelves that are embedded into the stairs… In a one story apartment we’ve got no chance at those, but maybe one day!
Posted by Steph | November 24, 2010, 3:54 pmSteph.. oh… take some pictures and let me have a look of your book stacks!! The bookshelf embedded between the stairs are a good one aren’t they? It saves space. 😀
Posted by JoV | November 25, 2010, 9:12 amWhat a lovely hubby he is to do that for you. I love the look of book stacks but having once had similar stacks come to a sticky end when a friend brought her 2 year-old to visit me I think bookshelves are the way to go 🙂
Posted by bernadetteinoz | November 24, 2010, 9:26 pmOh dear Bernadette, Can’t bear to think about what happen when the 2-year-old pull something from under the stack! 😀
Posted by JoV | November 25, 2010, 9:09 amThat’s a nice book shelf, and quite a big one too. 🙂
Home libraries that are huge enough to be a book store itself, can in fact just be a bookstore.
Maybe that could be the reason why your neighbourhood has so many used-book stores too?
Have you check the owners’ home? Haha..
Posted by Marvin | November 25, 2010, 3:45 amMarvin, a big home library is not only a bookstore, It gives a sense of anchor and haven for book lovers in their homes, even children who grew up with a house full of books will tend to be a book lover themselves. At least, my parents are like that. 🙂
In England, we are blessed with many charitable book owners. They don’t have to own a big home “bookstores” to give away books, even if their houses have a small bookshelf, books are cheap (can always buy somemore) as cheap as chocolates, there isn’t a need to keep books. They also practice the ritual of culling the amount of their books every so often. Bearing in mind, the average Londoners or Brits lives in smaller houses than say, North Americans or Malaysians.
Posted by JoV | November 25, 2010, 9:08 amWow, don’t you fall in love all over again whenever your spouse does something like this? Please thank your husband from my side for getting that shelf all the way up _and_ arranging the books. My husband is not much of a reader (he reads technical, but very little fiction) and is very supportive of my passion – he too bought a shelf for me (4 years back) and every time we move, it’s him who arranges the books neatly.
I love those home library photos. One can dream, huh?
Posted by Anamika | November 25, 2010, 3:46 amAna, I will convery the message. Yeah we all need to fall in love all over again and again to keep our marriages work, don’t we! Awww… Your husband is a sweetie too! 🙂
Posted by JoV | November 25, 2010, 9:00 amI hope to get a room for my books soon wife said when we move I can have the smallest room as a study for my desk and books but can’t see it till late next year or year after but can’t wait ,all the best stu
Posted by winstonsdad | November 25, 2010, 1:18 pmOh Stu!!! I can’t to see your study room all ready and stock with bookshelves… do take some pictures and share it with us when it’s ready!! 😉
Posted by JoV | November 26, 2010, 9:24 pmWow … that is a lot of books!
I really wish I have a bookshelf like one of yours, or like one of those in the pictures. So nice …
I chuck all my books into the wardrobe. 😦 So lack of space here in Singapore.
Posted by Wilfrid | November 25, 2010, 3:12 pmAhh… Wilfrid, I’m not any better here. We are lack of space here too in England. I think I may have annoyed my family too much with all my books around every nook and corners of the house that the shelf is the solution! I sometimes chuck all my books into my wardrobe too! 😉
Posted by JoV | November 26, 2010, 9:26 pmWhat a lovely (and lovingly!) arranged bookcase!
Posted by Biblibio | November 26, 2010, 12:47 pmThank you Bibliobio! thanks for dropping by! how are you? 🙂
Posted by JoV | November 26, 2010, 9:26 pmI love the one with the staircase. If I had a library that included a wee staircase (preferably a spiral one), I would have attained perfect library happiness.
Posted by Jenny | November 27, 2010, 3:52 pmAww Jenny, I wish you get one of these libraries too! 😉 Thanks for dropping by.
Posted by JoV | November 28, 2010, 9:46 pmI think I have a few towers like yours spread about the rubble of my dwelling ! VERY nice bookshelves by the way. Perhaps it is time for me to purchase a few more shelves…
Posted by maphead | November 29, 2010, 1:20 amMaphead, ha ha 😀 When you finally do please show us your bookshelf pictures!! It does look less of a book rubble when you finally put the books on the shelf…
Posted by JoV | November 29, 2010, 10:46 am