6 ms·

And let's be honest, a good book collection is a great addition to a room, aesthetically. People tend not to talk about that aspect, I think they worry about be

And let's be honest, a good book collection is a great addition to a room, aesthetically. People tend not to talk about that aspect, I think they worry about being seen as pretentious showing off their books. But I think a book collection can be a great decoration, just as flowers or a painting can be. And if you have family or friends over and one of them sees something they like, you can lend it to them there and then (if you are so inclined). Some of my earliest reading-related memories are being in an uncle's or neighbour's house and being fascinated by a book on a shelf that they kindly let me take home to read.

djhn 2y ago
And they improve room acoustics a decent amount, making the space that much more pleasant.
- Obscurity4340 2y ago
  Are books like a natural version of those fancy futuristic sound panels in recording studios?
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    Yeah, diffusers. Smears first reflection time. Probably some low end absorbtion too.
    - freehorse 2y ago
      That would require quite a lot of books.
      - bongodongobob 2y ago
        What would? A bookshelf is literally a diffuser and bass traps are all about mass.
knighthack 2y ago
While I agree with the sentiment, I have hesitation in letting people see what I read. In a way, you're letting people see the nature of things that you read - from which they might glean the nature of your thoughts, and privacy is something we all value. For that reason (and since I don't have any particular sentimental value for books, only their contents) I've long since preferred a digital library. As a minimalist, having a single Kindle on the table is aesthetics enough for me, which is complementary of the minimalist viewpoint as well. However, I completely agree with the fact that having a physical library is a very conducive environment for kids to grow up with. I remember fun memories of my childhood reading from the home library, and thinking how pretty and colourful the shelves were too. But I think there should be a distinction between cultivating a library for your kids, versus that for the observation and assessment of strangers.
- tolerance 2y ago
  How do you get along with communicating to others?
- Loughla 2y ago
  Do you not have human conversations with your friends and family? That's also a way for them to learn about you. I like your view in this because it's just so different than anything I've thought before. Having books in common areas sparks conversation, real, substantive conversation with family, friends, and acquaintances. It's one of my favorite things to talk about at get togethers.
- Clubber 2y ago
  >from which they might glean the nature of your thoughts, and privacy is something we all value. I mean you let them into your house, privacy kinda goes out the window when you do that. You can always put books you don't want people to know you read in your bedroom or something.
- dbtc 2y ago
  That, to me, is closer to a policy of isolation than privacy, which sounds unhealthy to me, unless maybe you're some kind professional spy or military strategist. Privacy is good; so are water and salt. We also value connection. Minimalism is secretly about maximizing something, perhaps empty space and silence, or perhaps something else that you love. Finally, life is layered on as we live it - that kid is still in there somewhere ;) I'm not trying to prescribe necessarily, just giving a different point of view.
eleveriven 2y ago
It’s a window into your interests, personality
- itishappy 2y ago
  Sure, but so is every interaction with me. Surely the friends you've just invited into your home are already privy to much of this info?
illiac786 2y ago
I actually made the opposite experience. Books nowadays have so many different format and colors, it’s really hard to make it esthetically pleasing, I have multiple walls full of books and they look like a mess, I dislike it. Even if I could make it look nice, it would then be an intellectual mess, it wouldn’t be organised properly, I would struggle to find anything. Actually, good question, how do you people organise your books? (Full disclosure, I’m messy)
- iamacyborg 2y ago
  Learn French and then you can have a wall of books with white spines.
- duckmysick 2y ago
  I organize them by the color, either rainbow-style or from darker to brighter. > it wouldn’t be organised properly, I would struggle to find anything. Libraries solve this with the Dewey Decimal Classification. Most people don't have enough books for it make sense though. For me, I don't have that many paper books and the ones I own I know by the side and the color. I keep the books that I reference often in a separate place. I noticed I don't need to find all of the books, all of the time. So organize most of your books to look pretty. You can also group similar books together on a single shelf and then order them by color. For example I have a dozen of cookbooks and those go on a separate shelf, arranged in a rainbow. I also have a book series that goes neatly together, so I keep them it grouped too. I also organize my clothes like that too. By general category first (t-shirts, pants, socks, jackets), and then by color. I used to be extremely messy too (piles of clothes and documents, cardboard boxes, you know the deal). I turned it around after I read the Marie Kondo book "The life-changing Magic of Tidying up". Then after I got the mess under control I look at the pictures for inspiration how to make it aesthetically pleasing. I got a lot of ideas from Pinterest (I know, I know), but you can do an image search or check the organization subreddits too.
  - sateesh 2y ago
    Organizing books by colour, couldn't resist the link to Two Ronnies :) https://youtu.be/AYxmPHLU9oA?si=n8OACTqPyZ12oWeA https://youtu.be/AYxmPHLU9oA?si=n8OACTqPyZ12oWeA

djhn 2y ago

And they improve room acoustics a decent amount, making the space that much more pleasant.

Obscurity4340 2y ago
Are books like a natural version of those fancy futuristic sound panels in recording studios?
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  Yeah, diffusers. Smears first reflection time. Probably some low end absorbtion too.
  - freehorse 2y ago
    That would require quite a lot of books.
    - bongodongobob 2y ago
      What would? A bookshelf is literally a diffuser and bass traps are all about mass.

knighthack 2y ago

While I agree with the sentiment, I have hesitation in letting people see what I read. In a way, you're letting people see the nature of things that you read - from which they might glean the nature of your thoughts, and privacy is something we all value. For that reason (and since I don't have any particular sentimental value for books, only their contents) I've long since preferred a digital library. As a minimalist, having a single Kindle on the table is aesthetics enough for me, which is complementary of the minimalist viewpoint as well. However, I completely agree with the fact that having a physical library is a very conducive environment for kids to grow up with. I remember fun memories of my childhood reading from the home library, and thinking how pretty and colourful the shelves were too. But I think there should be a distinction between cultivating a library for your kids, versus that for the observation and assessment of strangers.

tolerance 2y ago
How do you get along with communicating to others?
Loughla 2y ago
Do you not have human conversations with your friends and family? That's also a way for them to learn about you. I like your view in this because it's just so different than anything I've thought before. Having books in common areas sparks conversation, real, substantive conversation with family, friends, and acquaintances. It's one of my favorite things to talk about at get togethers.
Clubber 2y ago
>from which they might glean the nature of your thoughts, and privacy is something we all value. I mean you let them into your house, privacy kinda goes out the window when you do that. You can always put books you don't want people to know you read in your bedroom or something.
dbtc 2y ago
That, to me, is closer to a policy of isolation than privacy, which sounds unhealthy to me, unless maybe you're some kind professional spy or military strategist. Privacy is good; so are water and salt. We also value connection. Minimalism is secretly about maximizing something, perhaps empty space and silence, or perhaps something else that you love. Finally, life is layered on as we live it - that kid is still in there somewhere ;) I'm not trying to prescribe necessarily, just giving a different point of view.

eleveriven 2y ago

It’s a window into your interests, personality

itishappy 2y ago
Sure, but so is every interaction with me. Surely the friends you've just invited into your home are already privy to much of this info?

illiac786 2y ago

I actually made the opposite experience. Books nowadays have so many different format and colors, it’s really hard to make it esthetically pleasing, I have multiple walls full of books and they look like a mess, I dislike it. Even if I could make it look nice, it would then be an intellectual mess, it wouldn’t be organised properly, I would struggle to find anything. Actually, good question, how do you people organise your books? (Full disclosure, I’m messy)

iamacyborg 2y ago
Learn French and then you can have a wall of books with white spines.
duckmysick 2y ago
I organize them by the color, either rainbow-style or from darker to brighter. > it wouldn’t be organised properly, I would struggle to find anything. Libraries solve this with the Dewey Decimal Classification. Most people don't have enough books for it make sense though. For me, I don't have that many paper books and the ones I own I know by the side and the color. I keep the books that I reference often in a separate place. I noticed I don't need to find all of the books, all of the time. So organize most of your books to look pretty. You can also group similar books together on a single shelf and then order them by color. For example I have a dozen of cookbooks and those go on a separate shelf, arranged in a rainbow. I also have a book series that goes neatly together, so I keep them it grouped too. I also organize my clothes like that too. By general category first (t-shirts, pants, socks, jackets), and then by color. I used to be extremely messy too (piles of clothes and documents, cardboard boxes, you know the deal). I turned it around after I read the Marie Kondo book "The life-changing Magic of Tidying up". Then after I got the mess under control I look at the pictures for inspiration how to make it aesthetically pleasing. I got a lot of ideas from Pinterest (I know, I know), but you can do an image search or check the organization subreddits too.
- sateesh 2y ago
  Organizing books by colour, couldn't resist the link to Two Ronnies :) https://youtu.be/AYxmPHLU9oA?si=n8OACTqPyZ12oWeA https://youtu.be/AYxmPHLU9oA?si=n8OACTqPyZ12oWeA