Few things are inhabited by as much charm as a well-loved bookcase. I thought it would be fun to feature some photos of especially dear ones here. Given that the best place to find a brook trout is in a brook, it seemed clear to me that the best place to find charming bookcases would be in the homes of people who make their living creating, producing and selling books. Putting theory into practice I put out a call two weeks ago to ShelfTalker readers asking that they send in a photo of a favorite bookcase along with a description of why it is a personal favorite. The delightful results are below. I added a fun book to spot in each bookcase. Thanks to everyone who sent in photos!

S.E. Grove, Author (Mapmaker’s Trilogy): “This bookshelf is my favorite for a few reasons. First, because it was built by my husband, Alton, and it reflects all the mathematical wizardry and beauty of his sculpture (some in this photo!). Second, because it joins together our intellectual pasts. Some of my most beloved books are elsewhere in the house, but this shelf has things I read all the way back in college. The left side is mostly mine and the right side is mostly Alton’s, but there’s a pleasant intermingling in the middle. Third, because the bookshelf is being slowly colonized by three-year-old Rowan, who has his own corner, bottom left, but who also likes to pick up the odd Hegel or history of Cuba and pore through it.” (Fun to spot: Exeley)
Joan Trygg, Red Balloon Bookshop: “My husband built me this for my birthday two years ago. It is a 3/4-sized facsimile, based on the “real” thing, plans found online. The color is as close to the actual Pantone color as I could find. Since it is always said, on entering the TARDIS for the first time, “It’s bigger on the inside!” (or a variation on that,) I find it a particularly fitting metaphor for a bookcase.
And it does transport me through time and space…”
Erin Teagan, Author (The Friendship Experiment): “When we moved last year, we had to leave behind my bookshelves and my husband said he’d make it up to me by building a wall sized built-in bookshelf with mood lighting and a fancy library ladder. And, he was not kidding! The counter top is from an old Virginia barn. Everything else was built by my husband. Obviously we’ll have to live in this house forever since I’m never leaving this bookshelf behind! ” (Fun to spot: Ramona Forever)
Leslie Hawkins, Spellbound Bookshop: “This little bookcase is part of a pair custom made for me by a former flame. This one in particular sits under a pair of windows just inside my front door, and it’s one of my favorites because I love seeing books as soon as I walk in (even when I’m walking in from a long day surrounded by books at work) and because it’s like my warehouse and distribution center. This is where stacks of galleys and F&Gs usually get deposited before being sorted into the TBR stacks of varying urgency that are peppered around the rest of my apartment. (Please excuse my dog, Hugo, whose back half is in the way. When I actually want him in a photo, he’s nowhere to be found, of course!)” (Fun to spot: Twilight)
April Tucholke, Author (Wink Poppy Midnight): “I bought this bookcase from my town’s indie bookstore–it closed a few years ago, sadly. Note the Fiction sign – that’s original. It used to be overflowing, books jammed together and piled on top… and then I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and made donations to the library. (Fun to spot: McMurtry’s Telegraph Days)
Lara Starr, Chronicle Books Senior Publicist: “I’m sharing my favorite bookshelf. The shelf itself is nothing special (I think it came from Target) but it means the world to me. My husband and son got it for me for Mother’s Day in 2015 – it was a huge surprise! When I got out of the shower that morning, the bookshelf was set up and filled with the books from the overflowing and precarious stack on my nightstand. It now holds a mish-mash of books to be read, books recently read, gifts and signed copies, and other flotsam and jetsam. It functions as sort of a more organized and tidy nightstand – which you can see actually IS now organized and tidy. It makes me think of how clever, sweet and thoughtful they were to have done it every time I walk in the room.” (Fun to spot: They All Saw a Cat.)
Kersten Hamilton, Author (Goblin Wars Trilogy): “This is one of my ‘old book’ shelves. Bumble Cow, Teddy Bear Buccaneers, Flash Gordon, several fairies and my house toad keep them company. I love these old books so much that I invited them all to my daughters wedding. Only those who were too frail to travel did not attend. They sat on the reception tables along with candles and bouquets of wild flowers.” (Fun to spot: Flash Gordon)
(And we close with a cautionary tale!)
Hannah Moushebeck, Chronicle Books Associate Marketing Manager: “I just moved to California and tragically had to leave all my bookcases behind…. I have had to learn to stack. Blasphemy! I know. I just thought I would share! ” (Fun to spot: A Torch Against the Night)