Here is a graphic posted over on Squidoo showing the Top 10 Most Read Books in the World, based on the last 50 years of sales. I honestly never thought that Think and Grow Rich (1937) would be on the list and we haven’t had time to add up all of the 50 Shades of Grey numbers. We live on a really interesting planet. . . I’ll leave it at that.
I also think it’s neat that Harry Potter (1997), The Da Vinci Code (2003) and Twilight (2005) all made the list even though all having been released in just the past 15 years. That’s pretty good pick up. And it’s interesting that they’re all fiction. In fact, over half of the books are fiction. I wonder what this list looked like in 1996 prior to Potter taking up his wand. . . was it more non-fiction or has fiction always had the larger slice of the pie?
Here is one that’s a bit exotic, if for no other reason than I can not find a US distributor. So ordering direct may be your only option. I have no idea what shipping from Japan would be, but this $40 porcelain vase would be very cool on most any bookshelf.
After translating the page, you can see that it’s called the Hana Paperback planter. It’s about the size of a trade paperback. What’s really nifty is the slipcase it comes in, so when you have no flower to show you can flip it around so the spine is facing out. This would be a very unique gift for any book lover.
I saw this photo over on Exile Bibliophile (you do follow that site, right? You should) and it I saw so many things in this Parisian library that would improve my home library. Or yours.
First, the lamps. It almost looks like an oops and causes your brain to stutter, but then you realize how many problems these metal half-shades solve. It’s brilliant.
Next up is the curved bookshelf with the counter-height slanted standing desk along the top. While I could not use the curve. I do have the perfect wall downstairs where one of these would do just nicely. That extra top adds some utility and display function to an otherwise boring flat bookshelf top. Very very handy.
Here are two hotels that are built around the bookish crowd, one is very modern while the other is a bit more stately and both are very swank.
The Library Hotel is in NYC and seems to be close to everything fun and book related. Packages do not just include wine, cheese, blah blah blah (the usual) but they also offer deals for NYC Public Library tours and have a staff Librarian who will select books for your room, make runs to the Strand for books. There are so many great reading nooks in the photos, on their site.
Most every room has bookshelves on at least one wall (just like I’d like my house to be).
On the other side of the globe is the newly opened The Library hotel in Thailand. The whole place keeps high design in mind (which fortunately includes high bookshelves). It’s a great contrast to the New York hotel with it’s bright colors and stark white interiors. While I didn’t see any cozy reading nooks, there are plenty of benches and chairs positioned all over to allow the reading of great books and great views.
