Llama Bookshelf

Plywood CNC milled Llama with three cut outs for books or plants and one shelf.

Measures 4’ 3” × 2’ × 4’ 9” 
Ashley Fuchs

Save 50% off Edward Lear and the Pussycat: Famous Writers and Their Pets

The British Library is giving its online shop a new look and as part of the reorganisation my latest book Edward Lear and the Pussycat: Famous Writers and Their Pets is now available for a limited time only for a mere £5, a whopping 50% off. Click here to avail yourself of the offer.

Rotating bookshelf for children

Children can get books from suitable position easily by rotating bookshelf. The inside of the bookshelf is made of recycled waste bicycle rubber tyres to fix books of different sizes and to ensure the books do not fall out when rotated.
Xue Feng

Hand-shaped bookshelf

Usman Ahmed

BookTrust Christmas Appeal

BookTrust is appealing to the public to dig deep this Christmas and help send special book gifts to children who are vulnerable or in care. The UK’s largest children’s reading charity needs to raise enough money to send over 12,000 children in the UK a special Christmas gift.
Christmas can be a hard time of year for these children, but a surprise book gift can bring them joy and show them that there’s someone’s out there thinking of them. Just £10 will send a vulnerable child a surprise Christmas present to unwrap and treasure this December.

BookTrust has carefully chosen six beautiful hardback books for children aged three-13 in the Letterbox Club, BookTrust’s programme for children who are vulnerable and looked after.

Each parcel contains one specially chosen hardback book, a letter from award winning author and current Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, a poster and bookmark created by Neal Layton, and a postcard.

Cressida Cowell, best-selling children’s author and current Children’s Laureate said: “I am so happy and proud to be included in the Christmas gift parcel this year, and thrilled children are being sent a book in this parcel as a present! Books make the BEST presents, because they help you dream big, and make your own magic. I hope this Christmas parcel puts a smile on every child’s face and makes them feel special and important – as all children should.”

Children who are looked after are more likely to experience home or school moves, and these parcels, which are delivered directly to them wherever they’re living, provide a sense of continuity and stability, which is very important throughout the year but even more special at Christmas time.

Diana Gerald, CEO, BookTrust says: “This time of year can be extremely tough for vulnerable children and at BookTrust we want to make this time a little easier for them if we can. A £10 donation can send a book gift to one child, and go some way to brighten their Christmas and help them feel special.”

Money raised from the appeal will also support sending book gifts during 2020 and BookTrust’s work with vulnerable children throughout the year.

For more information or to donate to BookTrust’s Christmas appeal visit booktrust.org.uk/xmas

The Telephone Box Library

The Telephone Box Library is an uplifting story about fresh starts and new beginnings, set in a picturesque Cotswold village, by bestselling author Rachael Lucas. Burnt out after ten years at the chalkface, Lucy’s taken a sabbatical from her job as a history teacher to focus on some research. She moves to a tiny Cotswolds cottage that comes with a reduced rent in exchange for keeping a daily eye on Bunty, an extremely feisty ninety-something.
Pan Macmillan, published January 9, 2020

Elton John's bookshelves

How do you organize your books?

Very well! I’m very meticulous about things like that. I have a huge library of books on art and photography, kept in the gallery at my home in Windsor, all cataloged and detailed so I can have what I want at my fingertips. They’re very well arranged. I hate seeing things lying on the floor in a horrible state. I’m a very organized bloke.

More at New York Times  

Photo of Elton's shelves at his Windsor home by Simon Brown)

Virginia Woolf Stand Up Desk and Bookshelf

A reproduction of Virginia Woolf's writing desk with bookshelf. Cherry wood with Washington cherry stain and a navy blue leather top.
Standupdesks.com

2S Chair bookcase

The 2S Chair is designed to be used, lived and decomposed day by day in a different way, creating the union between aesthetics and function.

Gennaro Attanasio

Menus That Made History

My third book of the year (no more now until 2020) is out today. I'm really pleased with this, co-written with my friend the actor Vince Franklin (Bodyguard, Thick of It, Cucumber, etc). It's available everywhere people sell good books plus via the usual suspects online. Here's what some famous folk very kindly said about it:

An absolutely riveting book - reading it makes you intelligent, full of brilliant anecdotes - and very hungry indeed.' - Richard Curtis

'This brilliantly conceived and well-researched book is a source of real delight.' - Dr Annie Gray, BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet

'Superbly written, a complete joy to read, and just about the perfect present for anyone even vaguely interested in food.' - Mark Diacono

'A gastronomic delight. You can savour it a course at a time, or you may consume the whole banquet in one sitting. It's delicious either way - utterly scrumptious, in fact!' - Mike Leigh

And here's the lowdown on what it's all about...

This fascinating miscellany of menus from around the world will educate as well as entertain, delighting both avid foodies and the general reader.

Each menu provides an insight into its particular historical moment - from the typical food on offer in a nineteenth-century workhouse to the opulence of George IV's gargantuan coronation dinner. Some menus are linked with a specific and unforgettable event such as The Hindenburg's last flight menu or the variety of meals on offer for First, Second and Third Class passengers on board RMS Titanic, while others give an insight into sport, such as the 1963 FA Cup Final Dinner or transport and travel with the luxury lunch on board the Orient Express. Also included are literary occasions like Charles' Dickens 1868 dinner at Delmonicos in New York as well as the purely fictional and fantastical fare of Ratty's picnic in The Wind in the Willows.

Edward Lear and the Pussycat: Famous Writers and their Pets

My latest book, Edward Lear and the Pussycat: Famous Writers and their Pets, published by The British Library is out now. Here's some info about it:

Behind every great writer there is a beloved pet, providing inspiration in life and in death, and companionship in what is often a lonely working existence. They also offer practical services, such as personal protection, although they may sometimes eat first drafts, or bite visitors.

This book salutes all of the cats and dogs, ravens and budgerigars, monkeys and guinea pigs, wombats, turtles, and two laughing jackasses, who enriched the lives of their masters and mistresses, sat on their keyboards, slept in their beds, and occasionally provided the creative spark for their stories and poems. Gathered here are the tales of Beatrix Potter’s rabbit, Benjamin Bouncer; Lord Byron’s bear; the six cats of T S Eliot; Camus’ cat, Cigarette; Arthur C Clarke’s dog, Sputnik; and George Orwell’s goat, Muriel. Enid Blyton’s fox terrier, Bobs, ‘wrote’ her columns in Teacher’s World magazine, while John Steinbeck’s poodle accompanied him on his 1960 US road trip, their exploits published as Travels with Charley. Agatha Christie dedicated her 1937 novel Dumb Witness to her favourite dog, Peter – the ultimate tribute.

You can buy copies everywhere good books are sold, online direct from The British Library, and at all other online outlets. Please consider getting it from your local independent bookshop if possible.

The Slightly Foxed Revolving Bookcase

A delicately proportioned revolving bookcase made from solid quartersawn oak or ash with space for books up to 18cm high. The bookcase spins on a sturdy solid wood base using a high quality Lazy Susan bearing set.

Designed by Dominic and Arabella Parish at Wardour Workshops for Slightly Foxed.

LoculaMENTUM bookcase

Designed to meld traditional bookcase appearance with a modern interpretation and a twist. This twist allows for books or other collectible items to be artfully arranged, categorized, presented. Diagonal compartments are the spine of the bookcase, so there is a progression of shapes: from the bottom to the top, creating an uplifting feel that has maximum storage capabilities. This is true to the Bauhaus principle, which denotes “form follows function”.

Designed by Michael Schlütter

Loculamentum

Abacus bookcase

Inspired by the ancient calculation tool and brought an element of play to storing books.
Materials: Oak & steel
Co-MADE

Twist shelf

Laminated bent plywood, walnut veneers.
Total dimension: 17" H x 45" W x 13" D

Kino Guérin

Shed library

This isn't what you'd usually expect to find in a shed... pic.twitter.com/6wKBYlHMGu

— BBC Cumbria (@BBC_Cumbria) June 3, 2019

The rise of private libraries

Shhh! Private libraries are making a quiet comeback... As public libraries suffer from budget cuts, more people are turning to fee-paying alternatives.
More at the FT
(pictured above, Leeds Library) 

The British Library installation

The British Library is a site-specific installation with a digital platform for visitors to join in the discussion. Open to the public for free as part of Tate Modern’s collection displays.
By Yinka Shonibare
Tate and The British Library Installation

Shared Lady Beetle: A Micro Movable Library for Kids

"The interior spaces for displaying items are flexibly partitioned into several smaller storage areas by plates which can be freely adjusted according to users' needs. Besides, all the partitions can also be removed, through which a complete big space will be formed. The installation can be customized based on different needs, making it versatile and "universal"... The Shared Lady Beetle, is like a "beneficial insect" walking on the "urban leaf ", which can be used as a mobile library , a stall, or a maker classroom for kids, etc."
LUO studio

Modular bookcase

Victor Martiniuc