At Home with Books : How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries

Rating:
Summary: Wish There Had Been More to It
Review: This is a stunning coffee table book for book lovers, particularly people who keep their books. I gave it to myself as I began a huge project that includes rearranging, cleaning and inventorying my books, as well as painting the room and shelves. It was a needed punch in the arm, but be warned that as practical information goes, it is hit and miss. Good advice on deciding what to keep, what to move on; no information on how those people with all those books keep them clean (I don't count the person who had everything slip-jacketed). I would have liked more detailed advice on organizing systems. I wish, too, there had been more variety to the libraries shown, though it was a pleasant surprise to find Keith Richards and writer Roger Rosenblatt in here, the latter perhaps more of a touchstone to us of middle-class abodes than some of the palace-owners profiled. The rooms stacked to ceilings with unshelved books were not an inspiration. That's what I'm trying to run from.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous !
Review: This is a totally fabulous book. When you absorb it (just reading it would be bad service) you want to step through the page and spend a good number of hours in the libraries displayed. It opens up a whole new world for you.
Great book. Worth every dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book!
Review: This is one of those books for which you regret reaching the last page!. I devoured it from beginning to end in a few hours. Beautifuly written, beautiful pictures, nicely organized. Very enjoyable. Definitely a 5 stars purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Bibliophiles Rejoice!
Review: We who love books are lucky to have access to this book. It is a gorgeous pictorial and is informative as well. The various libraries and book collections are diverse. The book even inludes photos of some art incorporating books and displayed in libraries. I enjoyed reading about the origin of the collections and the profiles of the people who ammassed them. Worth the money, you'll look at this book more than once.

Rating:
Summary: A Room Without Books Is Like A Body Without A Soul
Review: What we got here is one of my favorite of about 6000 books.This is a fantastic "BOOK ABOUT BOOKS"in every way, and I would find it hard to believe that any booklover would not be thrilled to have it.While all the pictures are stunning;the ones with their owners are my favorites.There,s something magical about these pictures that show how people and books complement,and yes,compliment each other.Not being as well heeled as these pictures suggest,doesn't mean one can't have a wonderful ,personalized book room and maybe another book showing how the common folk do it would be fun.Something along the lines of "Weird Homes"--but "Weird Libraries"

Rating:
Summary: A Room Without Books Is Like A Body Without A Soul
Review: What we got here is one of my favorite of about 6000 books.This is a fantastic "BOOK ABOUT BOOKS"in every way, and I would find it hard to believe that any booklover would not be thrilled to have it.While all the pictures are stunning;the ones with their owners are my favorites.There,s something magical about these pictures that show how people and books complement,and yes,compliment each other.Not being as well heeled as these pictures suggest,doesn't mean one can't have a wonderful ,personalized book room and maybe another book showing how the common folk do it would be fun.Something along the lines of "Weird Homes"--but "Weird Libraries"

Rating:
Summary: A Bibliophile's Delight
Review: Where do you put hundreds, a thousand, even several thousand books? Here are some examples from book collectors, writers, and even a Rolling Stone.

"At Home with Books" highlights, with photos and text, more than two dozen offices, libraries, and studies in the U.S. and Great Britain, covering every kind of room where you might want to put a book. From large and impressive home libraries, where the books are more on display than they are for reading, to small offices, where ease-of-use is of key importance, to places where most people wouldn't even think of putting a lot of books, such as kitchens and hallways - nearly every kind of place where you might imagine a book is here.

Magnificent, stately rooms are included as well as the cramped quarters of a poet; the most post-modern designs imaginable to the most traditional. One of the more interesting parts in the book is the home library of Keith Richards, the guitarist for The Rolling Stones and, apparently, an inveterate reader. My personal favorite, though, was the author Frances Fitzgerald's library in her Manhattan apartment that she shares with her journalist husband. It was a room I could imagine putting my own books.

"At Home with Books" also includes useful information on how to care for your books, how to plan a layout for that future library you might build someday, and how to light your library. It has sections on bookplates and binding books, a resource directory on rare book dealers and the great libraries of the world. If you have any interest in books and the rooms they are found in, then look no further.

Rating:
Summary: A Bibliophile's Delight
Review: Where do you put hundreds, a thousand, even several thousand books? Here are some examples from book collectors, writers, and even a Rolling Stone.

"At Home with Books" highlights, with photos and text, more than two dozen offices, libraries, and studies in the U.S. and Great Britain, covering every kind of room where you might want to put a book. From large and impressive home libraries, where the books are more on display than they are for reading, to small offices, where ease-of-use is of key importance, to places where most people wouldn't even think of putting a lot of books, such as kitchens and hallways - nearly every kind of place where you might imagine a book is here.

Magnificent, stately rooms are included as well as the cramped quarters of a poet; the most post-modern designs imaginable to the most traditional. One of the more interesting parts in the book is the home library of Keith Richards, the guitarist for The Rolling Stones and, apparently, an inveterate reader. My personal favorite, though, was the author Frances Fitzgerald's library in her Manhattan apartment that she shares with her journalist husband. It was a room I could imagine putting my own books.

"At Home with Books" also includes useful information on how to care for your books, how to plan a layout for that future library you might build someday, and how to light your library. It has sections on bookplates and binding books, a resource directory on rare book dealers and the great libraries of the world. If you have any interest in books and the rooms they are found in, then look no further.