A while ago, I started looking for a small desktop book stand or rack for some of my “paperbacks.” I had two such racks back in high school that held about 18 or so paperbacks each. They sat on my desk at home, the books angled at 45 degrees, and each rack could break down into four individual wooden pieces for easy moving and reassembly. 

But then, looking at all the books in my current office bookcases, I realized I don’t own too many books of the classic “paperback” size, which is 4.25 × 6.87 inches. Today, books seem to come in a variety of sizes. [See the chart below.] A couple of my books are palm-size. Some are textbook-size (because they’re textbooks). Quite a few are tomes because they’re histories or biographies. And a few are classic paperback/pocketbook sizes from the 1970s.

People often arrange their books by subject matter, which makes a certain librarian-like sense. Or alphabetically. Or by genre. Some “bookees”arrange books by their color, which can be cool looking if you have enough books with wildly different cover colors. I wonder how many people arrange books by size? How would that work? Picture books, then textbooks, then non-fiction, and then fiction sloping down toward the end of the row? How about by favorite books? Best books ever read leading down to those few you’ll never read again—and may never have finished the first time around—and which you’ll gladly use to start a fire in fireplace when there’s no old newspaper around.

Now I’m sorry I started thinking about those old book racks in the first place.

Now I’m wondering how many people carry their entire libraries around on a Kindle or iPad? Is there any satisfaction in having one’s entire library in the palm of your hand?