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A haphazard collection of quotations and bookish digital knick-knacks.

"I can’t believe there will ever be a time when the book is truly obsolete. It is the perfect technology and feeds the soul."

— Katherine Paterson (via bookshelvesofdoom)

(Source: Washington Post, via bookshelvesofdoom)

If I had extra closets, I would totally do this. (via @sarahshum) tobeshelved: library closet

If I had extra closets, I would totally do this. (via @sarahshum)

tobeshelved:

library closet

(via bookshelfporn)

The United Books of America!

The United Books of America!

(Source: bookshelves)

This is what opening a book feels like to me.

This is what opening a book feels like to me.

(Source: skies-of-honey, via kdhart)

"In short, Manhattan appears to be an extension of the internet, or vice versa."

— How novels came to terms with the internet | Books | The Guardian (via housingworksbookstore)

(via housingworksbookstore)

"We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today."

— Cory Doctorow (via shereadeverything)

(via wordbrooklyn)

Susan Orlean is Exactly, Perfectly, Right:

housingworksbookstore:

“The other day, a friend of mine said she thought it was “sad” that the most popular Christmas e-book gift was something written by Stieg Larsson regarding a girl, a hornet, and a tattoo. I wonder: why, exactly, is this sad? I assume my friend meant that proved that the only book people want to read is a book everyone else is already reading (as if that meant it came with an Enjoyment Guarantee) and that it was sad that readers have so little imagination. I, on the other hand, don’t find it sad at all. I like that people read; in fact, I love that people read, and I almost don’t mind what they read as long as they’re reading. If there is a battle being waged, it’s not one between popular books and obscure books (and certainly not between e-books and physical books); I think the only real battle is between the challenge of getting people to read and the fact that many other pastimes are easier, quicker, and more passive than reading. Whenever I’m on a plane or a subway or train and I see someone nose-deep in a book—whether it’s the new translation of “The Odyssey” or some schlocky thriller or self-help nonsense—my heart skitters and jumps. A human, reading! Not listening to an iPod, not playing Fruit Ninja, not watching Hulu, but reading. Such a quiet, individual endeavor; so demanding in its way; so wonderful—as a writer (and a reader), I’m happy, and if takes billions of copies of Swedish sex-thrillers to get people in the habit, that’s fine with me. Their next book might be more adventurous. And even if it isn’t, I don’t care. Books that make tons of money (i.e., the girls with their tattoos) make publishers more profitable, and helps bookstores make money, and that has to be good for everyone. According to another friend, people who work in bookstores have a new name for Larsson’s book, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” They call it “The Girl Who Pays Our Salaries.”

This pretty much looks like complete and utter happiness in life to me.

This pretty much looks like complete and utter happiness in life to me.

(Source: bookshelves)

"There is always going to be a book that saves you. There is also a new lesson: You do not know how it will get to you."

—

—-I, Reader by Alexander Chee (what’s that you say? You haven’t read his book Edinburgh yet? Boy, that is a sad, sad story. It’s one of those books that you don’t realize that most people are trying to make their books that good, until you read that book, you know?), which is fantastic from soup to nuts. Also notable for the beautiful deployment of the word chthonic. (via bookavore)

Obviously, this goes on the to-read list.

A person is never as quiet or unrestrained as they seem, or as bad or good, as vulnerable or as strong, as sweet or as feisty; we are thickly layered, page lying upon page, behind simple covers. And love—it is not the book itself, but the binding. It can rip us apart or hold us together. My mother has always said that a book is worthy of a strong embrace, but, too, you must be gentle with one. Careful in whose hands you put it. Layers, by their nature, are fragile things.

—Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart