Book Gallery

For years my unlimited hunger for books saw me gather hundreds of paperbacks around me, overflowing my shelves and ending up in boxes. Because of my limited budget, however, many of them were tattered, remaindered books from discount online bookstores. There was no end in sight for working my way through all of the books I'd yet to read. I needed a change.

When I moved to Atlanta and built my own book-friendly (i.e. strong and shallow) bookshelves, it was the perfect opportunity for that change. Now I've begun, slowly but steadily, to collect well designed and well crafted hardcover copies of the books I love (or think that I will). I use "collect" cautiously, as I am not at a point where I have any real interest in owning "first editions" or the like. I don't want expensive books. I want books in a nice readable condition, that will last for many years if I take care of them.

I value the aesthetic attractiveness of books, and their history too. I love cracking open an old Modern Library hardcover and seeing the $2.95 price on the dust jacket. But there are modern editions that I enjoy as well. The current Everyman's Library has many attractive volumes, as does the Library of America. The point is to have the books I enjoy, in volumes that I can both read and admire.

And now I've set up a gallery of my books. The first books I've added are the first books I sought out in nice hardcover editions: the novels of Yasunari Kawabata and Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: