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Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.

"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.

"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

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August 5, 1926 Journals of Anais Nin 1923-1927 [volume 3]

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reading in bed. painting by marta astrain.

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Margaret Atwood, from a journal entry featured in Early Essays & Journals

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“To say that she had a book is to say that her solitude did not press upon her; for her love of knowledge had a fertilizing quality and her imagination was strong.”

— The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

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wall to wall book shelf

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Margaret Atwood, from a journal entry featured in Early Essays & Journals

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People with books in 18th-19th century art (details of portraits).

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Nasturtiums and Books  - Kerri Kerley , 2023.

Australian b. ?

Oil on canvas , 54 x 54 cm.