“THIS IS A HOME WHERE LEARNING HAPPENS.”

These were the words of the lovely woman who purchased my Orlando condo for herself and her daughter, which I sold when given the opportunity to return home to Ocala. She had focused on the wealth of books that filled my home. That phrase, and what it meant, has remained with me all these years later as affirmation of the power of having books in one’s home.

Yes, I confess, I am an avowed “bibliophile” — the “crazy library lady.” I cannot imagine my home without my books: a totally eclectic collection of fiction and non-fiction — art, science, music, and the theology books acquired for my Master’s classes. As the Pulitzer Prize–winning author Colson Whitehead — The Underground Railroad (2017) and The Nickel Boys (2020) — notes:

“A home library is a life in layers.” — from Library Enthusiast

The idea of books in the home is ancient. A quote attributed to the Roman statesman, philosopher, and writer Cicero states:

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

And:

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

So what does your book collection say about you? Is it quality or quantity — or both? How many is too many? Or can there ever be too many? Serious questions to ponder, especially in this era of eBooks and audiobooks. (From this writer’s perspective, it all counts! Reading is reading!) The author Louise Erdrich — another Pulitzer Prize winner for The Night Watchman and owner of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, who writes brilliantly about our Native American population — has said:

“I can’t imagine a home without an overflow of books. The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough.”

And yet the guru of decluttering, Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, was quoted during an interview as saying that the optimum number of books one should keep is thirty (30). Thirty! I probably have that many in my TBR (to be read) stack at any given time! Apparently, the backlash was so great she later clarified that 30 was her ideal number, but that each individual’s number could vary. What’s your magic number to “spark joy”?

There is a new philosophy emerging, credited to the late Umberto Eco — Italian author and philosopher of The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum — called the “antilibrary” concept. He, whose famous library contained over 30,000 books, argued that read books are far less valuable than unread ones. So rather than feeling guilty about those stacks of unread books or bemoaning the fact that you will never get to them all in this lifetime, celebrate them, embrace them, cherish them as sources of joy, comfort, and future knowledge. Echo the now-famous 19th-century Japanese concept of tsundoku — the act of continually buying books and letting them pile up unread. Umberto would be proud!

Now what do you do with your infamous collection? There is a wonderful meme that says it all:

“Too many books? I think you mean not enough bookshelves!”

Books and the shelves that house them are now considered a vital part of home décor, whether as a separate library (ah, the joy!) or through creative use of existing spaces throughout our homes. Admittedly, there are books and bookshelves in nearly every room in my home — sans the bathrooms! But alas, space is at a premium. So mine are double-stacked, stored in baskets, and stacked next to reading chairs, in closets, etc. And I just ordered yet another bookcase! The Friends of the Library look forward to my donations, and yet I am one of their best customers!

And perhaps the most recognized location for our current reads is the bedside table or nightstand. Pundits, bloggers, publishers, Instagram, and Facebook query us all the time. So rather than break the trend — what books are on your nightstand? That current bestseller by your favorite author? (I’ve yet to get to Dan Brown’s newest, The Secret of Secrets.) The latest selection of your book club? (Chelsea Book Club is reading Bruce Holsinger’s Culpability.) That special inspirational title or devotional? (Mine is Diana Butler Bass’s A Beautiful Year.) Or the one recommended by everyone? (Allen Levi’s Theo of Golden or perhaps Thomas Schlesser’s Mona’s Eyes, both library loans among the dozen or so I have on reserve!)

So, I will end this reflection on the “shelf life” of our books with this thought and image, courtesy of Elegant Simplicity Interiors and my living room… and as the reading pun says:

“Stay true to your shelf!”