If you’ve been around here a while, you’ll know how much I love books, especially beautiful books. I’ve always thought a well-curated library is necessary for every home, and I feel sad when I see one with hardly any books. Books make a home. They don’t just provide information, encourage imagination, and enrich our minds, they also add colour and a true sense of personality to our homes.
Every nook and cranny in your house can be brought to life with the addition of books. Bookshelves are optional (although ideal), and only if space allows.
Personally, I buy books for two reasons: to read, and to collect. I have paperbound versions that are bruised and battered, read and reread and dog-eared without remorse. My favourites have special hardbound copies which I have collected over the years and lovingly displayed in special bookcases. They’ve been read once, and tucked away, to be opened every once in a while to admire the covers or sniff the pages (my favourite scent is the scent of the printed page!).
Two of my favourite books from childhood are Little Women and Heidi. Heidi was the very first full-length novel I ever read (at age 9 I think). I never had a copy of my own, so I was absolutely thrilled to see the Puffin Books released a gorgeous version with a cover designed by Rifle Paper Co.
I’m still considering whether I should complete the set and order Anne of Green Gables and Little Princess as well, but those two don’t really mean as much to me as these ones. The collector in me is saying yes, of course!
Do you also collect books? Let me know in the comments!
I am a completist esp when it comes to beautiful book collections, so yes, go for it! ๐ You might also want to check out the Jane Austen collection in pink(!!!!) leather and Coralie Bickford-Smith clothbound classics. ๐
Hi Aggie! You and me both! I’ve started collecting the Coralie Bickford Smith classics too. ๐ I just haven’t found a space for them in my bookshelves yet. haha! The eternal problem of not having enough space for new books! What do you collect?
Already completed the 4 Puffin in Bloom books. ๐ Currently building the Jim Kay illustrated Harry Potter collection. ๐ Re Coralie Bickford-Smithโs books, I havenโt started. Itโs a slippery slope you see; I just might not be able to stop. ๐
Oh, I have all 4 Jim Kay versions; waiting for Book 5 to come out. ๐ I only have about 7 of the Coralie Bickford-Smith ones, and they’re still waiting for a permanent home on my shelves. Maybe when I have 12 or more so it looks good lined up? ๐
For collections with an indefinite number of items, having them in multiples of 4, ie 4, 8, 12 seems like โjust enough.โ ๐
For me it depends on my goals for collecting it. If I’m doing favourites, for example, then there is a finite number involved, and I don’t stop until I reach it.