Ever wondered what’s on the bookshelf of some of your favourite creatives? What books they turn to in need of inspiration or reference? Whether they’re a messy Mary or a tidy Tina? Well look no further, because every week we invite someone from the creative industries to share with us not only a rundown of their favourite five books in the whole ruddy world, but also a real-life picture of the shelf on which these esteemed titles live.

"some of these excesses are simply a by-product of that elastic thing that can happen to time when we are in a bookshop, where our sheer good intentions and excitement overrule everything we have previously learned about how many hours there are in a day. Just as I keep on subscribing to the New Yorker magazine in the expectation of a lengthy, debilitating illness that will allow me to catch up on 15 years' worth of issues I have hardly skimmed, I'm keeping The Golden Bough in preparation for the non-fatal heart attack that will ultimately enable me to read it. That's a lot of sickness in my future, but I'm embracing it. I suppose that's the joy of a proper, unexpurgated book reorganising session: it makes you look forward to the good times, and the bad."

Porn for book lovers. A photo blog collection of all the best bookshelf photos from around the world for people who *heart* bookshelves.

Tom Cox, Guardian, 30 March 2012

Tom Cox's bookshelves were less about him than about a stranger he subconsciously imagined would one day visit his house – and so began the great sort

"an experiment in interactive, generative design"

Bookshelves pictures

I've probably bookmarked this before, but this is still the best
reason for me to turn on the internet.

We told our architect at our very first meeting that one of the most important elements was to integrate our books into the heart and soul of our home. He came up with a brilliant solution which we had never seen before, to build the shelves right into staircases (set into the wall) from top to bottom of house. So essentially "book spines" line the spine of our home. Amy Krouse Rosenthal Architectural Interventions

While many need light-filled rooms for inspiration, he wanted to avoid large windows opening onto a residential neighborhood and sought a cave-like atmosphere to disappear into his work. Subtle light was brought in by other means when the architect built a dome above his client’s desk (which Price describes as similar to the rotunda of the oracle’s temple at Delphi) and filled it with the books he uses the most. Davis whimsically calls the space his “Navajo kiva of knowledge.”

Early 17th Century. Of nearly square form, fitting into a slightly larger shaped and carved base and conforming upright frame with a rounded toprail with ox-nose bail handle to enable transportation, and with a pair of foliate-form spandrels where each upright arm meets the base, with two framed rectangular doors opening to the interior fitted with single shelf and a row of two drawers at the bottom, the front rectangular lockplate with square openings to receive the metal members attached to the interior shelf