Books as interior design

[Robin Davies]

Now where did I put that Ligotti collectable...?
Shelf effacement: how not to organise your bookshelves | Books | The Guardian

[waffles]

I'd offer the author of the article a fluffernutter but she'd probably denounce me for making a lewd preposition.

[In A Dark Light]

I would imagine those following this 'trend' are people who don't actually bother reading the books on their shelves; books which are little better than decoration in any case. The kind of person who rushes out to buy the latest banality of a bestseller, so that it might gather dust on their bookshelf and they can continue to kid themselves that they're in any way 'literary'.

I would find it exceptionally annoying to find books that way, especially on a shelf primarily comprised of similar physical objects, such as Tartarus hardcovers. I don't think it even looks better.

[Zaharoff]

Ha ha ha ha.
Back in my single days, I could tell a lot about dates by looking at their record collections or books.
Gauge their taste, see if they were organized.
A stack of Cosmos held more promise than a bookmarked Bible, for example.
Of course ... if a prospect shelved their library spines in, I would form an opinion about that, too.

[ToALonelyPeace]

It's a good idea if you want to read books randomly or give someone's an anxiety attack. Maybe put the ones you already read spine-out and the ones you haven't spine-in. I can't try it since I put my books in a cabinet.