The Book on the Bookshelf

by Henry Petroski

Knopf, 1999. Trade sized paperback, 290 pages. Petroski is an author of engineering books. This book isn't so much about the books themselves, as it is about the ever-present problem that every collector faces: What do you DO with them? It is the study of the bookshelf, ways to display books, and ways to protect books. From the bookshelf, we move to the book stack, the room the books are in, and finally to the construction of the entire library. A fascinating study in the bibliophile's search for space.