Bookshelf [Hardcover]

Alex Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2012 | ISBN-10: 0500516146 | ISBN-13: 978-0500516140 | Edition: 1

Celebrating innovation and inspiration in one of the most basic of all home designs: the bookshelf.

Bookcases are so much more than just a place to store one’s books. They've become experiments in engineering and explorations into modern art, covetable in their own right. Financial analysts at Bloomberg have even used the IKEA Billy bookcase as an index of economic growth.

In these pages you will find plenty of inspiration and diversity, from “Juxtaposed,” a shelf capitalizing on limited space to display seven books containing the world’s most influential religions, to Sakura Adachi’s “Trick,” a bookcase that constantly mutates into a table and two chairs. Shelves can even be re-imagined: the way laundry is dried in China informed Dutch designers Studio Ditte as they created their Kwan bookcase.

So while we appreciate the efficient book storage of e-readers, let us marvel at physical bookshelves that are shaped like trees, or hold books upside down, or can even walk. This beautifully crafted book will bring joy to book lovers everywhere.

300+ color illustrations

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1 edition (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500516146
• ISBN-13: 978-0500516140
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1.1 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Alex] Johnson’s book will remind our descendants of the whimsy and glory of making theater out of book storage.” (The Wall Street Journal )

“Stacked cinder blocks and boards work just as well–or as optimistic in this e-book world—as the swirling, angled, wacky shelves in Alex Johnson’s new book.” (The Los Angeles Times )

“…a very cool compilation of creatively designed bookshelves…” (The Chicago Tribune )

“Johnson’s delight in the inventiveness of contemporary bookshelf design is infectious, and the care for and love of books imbued in these creations may enthuse even the most devoted e-book reader.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Especially and particularly recommended to anyone whose ideas of interior decoration and design include rooms of bookshelves brimming over with their life-time collections.” (The Midwest Book Review )

About the Author

Alex Johnson is a freelance journalist and the author of Shedworking:The Alternative Workplace Revolution. In 2007, he started Bookshelf, a blog that highlights interesting bookcases. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1 edition (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500516146
• ISBN-13: 978-0500516140
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1.1 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Like an upmarket catalogue of the world's nicest bookshelves April 16, 2012

By Julia Flyte TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As the title suggests, this is a book about...bookshelves. No more, no less. It presents photographs of many bookshelves, both bespoke and commercially available (with manufacturer details). If you are interested in interior design and looking for bookshelf inspiration, you will find it here. It's a bit like a very upmarket, gorgeous hardback catalogue. Many of the bookshelves are not terribly functional if you are looking for suggestions to store large numbers of books, but they invariably make up for this by being real talking points in your home. My favourite was a circular hub that had a padded seat inside where children could sit, with shelving on the outside for the books. I want an adult sized version.

This is an interesting book to look through, but I didn't like it as much as Books Make a Home, another book that focuses on book storage. The reason for me is that the latter shows bookshelves in situ, surrounded by furniture, in real homes. Whereas in Bookshelf, everything is shown in isolation on a stark white background. It's very specific. Nice for a browse, but less inspiring (at least to me).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice collection of bookshelf ideas January 2, 2013

By Suzanne M. Gundlach

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this as a gift for my sister, a book lover who lives in an old house that needs every nook and cranny accessed for storage. A lovely book to look at, especially appreciated the "normal" size of it - not an oversized coffee table book. It has some interesting ideas in it, but no instruction on how to source the design, materials or patterns though.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Picture book for book (shelf) lovers. April 11, 2013

By Amber Polo

Format:Hardcover

Gorgeous photographs of artful book shelves for storing books not on your kindle.
My favorite was "Set 26" (an entire alphabet of letter-shaped furniture.
Lots of ultra modern engineered whimsy. Most too asymmetrical and angular for my taste.
Other fun photos feature book wallpaper and a bookshelf print dress.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea book October 7, 2012

By DC

Format:Hardcover

If you're looking for ideas for out of the ordinary bookshelves, this is the book for you. Most of them look pretty easy to construct too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Tease a Siamese. September 25, 2012

By Marion F. Miller

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a pretty good book. It held my attention and had just enough twists and turns to keep it exciting.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Design Porn for Booklovers July 23, 2012

By A. Ross HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This book is pure, unadulterated design porn for book lovers and modern furniture freaks. Born from the "Bookshelf" blog, it's basically hundreds of pages of beautifully photographed bookshelves by designers from around the world. Each has a little snippet about it, as well as the designer's website for those with the pockets deep enough to actually afford some of this stuff. As with so much modern design, the emphasis falls more on the aesthetic side of the aesthetic/functional spectrum. Which is to say, there's a lot of amazing design work here, but these are mostly shelves for people who like to use their books as carefully calibrated signals about themselves. There are some notable exceptions, such as the amazing closet "Staircase" shelves custom made by an architectural firm to maximize storage and access in a tiny apartment. The other thing I noticed is that quite a lot of the designs rely extensively on stacking books flat, which I had always been led to believe was bad in the long-term condition of the binding. But these are just side notes -- it's a lovely book, sure to raise the pulse of anyone who loves to show off their books.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Home for my books January 2, 2013

By Susan

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love this book. It fuels my imagination as to how I could contain and show all my books. The creative book shelves are wonderful.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what was expected May 17, 2012

By Cynthia D. Calamia

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We bought this for ideas on how to make new bookshelves for our home. What we received was just a book of photos of unusual bookshelves already built and where they can be found. While several of the ideas are interesting, it would have been nice to actually have directions for building them.