If you’re a bookworm like myself, then books pose two major problems: time and space.
Firstly, finding the time to read all those books that are just waiting for you to immerse yourself in them. And secondly, having the physical space in which to store, display and care for all the books.
There is one obvious solution to this problem, and that’s this…
A library that’s bigger on the inside than the out, and as much time to read as I wanted through the wonders of time travel? Yes please.
Of course, if I had a TARDIS then I’d be able to have visit different times and places and travel to other worlds for real. Reading is the discount ticket for everywhere; but a TARDIS would be like a Kindle for reality, a portal to practically unlimited stories and experiences.
When it comes to the problem of space, a Kindle or other e-reader goes some way to solving the problem. For me, impulse buying cheap ebooks has basically taken the place that browsing second-hand bookshops used to in my personal reading economy. I still like browsing second-hand books, but I’m now much stricter in demanding that books justify the physical space they will take up in my home.
But still the books pile up, and especially when it comes to lovely new books, I’d much rather have a physical edition than just an ebook. Ebooks tend to be a very samey experience – same default fonts, same basic design, no difference between a novella and an epic. There’s a tactile pleasure to sitting down with a physical book, a weight and a distinct character. So I can’t help but acquire an ever-increasing supply of books. Working in publishing means that I’m often able to get free or cheap books, which feeds my habit any more.
So short of a TARDIS, there’s another more practical solution to the problem of space: new bookshelves!
With an excitement bordering on the unhealthy, my wife and I bought a new set of bookcases this weekend. There’s something very soothing about the process of putting together shelves, especially after a busy week with lots to think about. Even the Ikea instructions are pictureless. It’s funny how something connected to the business of reading should be so different from it.
Once the shelves are up comes the task of deciding what goes where. Since these bookshelves are in the living room, we want them to contain our favourite books, ones we are likely to want to pick up off the shelf. It’s also something of a showcase for when people come round – here are our interests, here are some books you might like to borrow. And it’s not just books, either, but a chance to get some of our board games out on display. It’s been fun going through our books, picking up old favourites, and working out the best way to organise them.
So what did we end up with? At the top, board games including Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Monopoly and Lord of the Rings Risk. Below that, fiction, especially children’s books, fantasy and science fiction. Then Christian books on various topics from work to relationships to art to postmodernism, as well as Bibles and theology proper. And on the bottom shelves, Bev’s sewing machine and related books, and my Sandman graphic novels and our Calvin and Hobbes set.
The job isn’t done – we now have to rearrange the rest of our bookshelves as a result! We’ve got a couple more boxes of books to unpack, and some sections of double-layering to tidy up.
But if we’re very lucky, maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some space free for more books…