A Whimsical Way To Discover New Books
On the unexpected side effect of creating beauty in my home. #MayIWrite — Day 24
I’m one for order. I don’t enjoy having too many things around me. Clutter inspires a sense of claustrophobia, though becoming a mother has given me plenty of practice in letting go of some of that stress.
The somewhat chaotic appearance of bookshelves was alleviated for me once the books were stored in chromatological order, and it set me on an unexpected path of discovering books I may never have heard of.
Once I started to pay attention to the spine colour of books, I realised that red, yellow, black, and white take an easy lead in representation. Blue and green seem less common (and more likely to be combined with other colours), and purple and orange have been the least-represented spine colours from my very un-scientific observations.
But, as one for order, the visual asymmetry of my rainbow-ordered living room bookshelf was dissatisfying. I began to peruse my local used book stores with this imbalance in mind and became very interested in purple- and orange-spined books. As beautiful as they are, books are not decorative elements and it very much is what’s inside that counts. I never brought home books based on their spine colour alone, but it certainly encouraged me to pull new titles and authors from the shelf which would likely have passed under my radar if it weren’t for their bonus feature of balancing the aesthetic of my bookshelf.
I have discovered authors whose words move me and inspire deep thought. I have been delighted by laugh-out-loud enjoyment of skillful, sharp wit. I have read provocative academic works and useful pages that press my boundaries outward, and all because their spines were orange, purple (or pink!)
Book clubs, online lists, conversations with friends, discussions in bookstores — there are so many ways to find new and exciting reads — and this one gives me the delight of an art piece in my living room.
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