Cozy Factor: The warm wood and the well-worn look of the books certainly give it some cozy, but it is hard to tell without seeing the rest of the room. I have hunch it may be a loft space so it may not have the coziness of a library but I bet the shelves add to the overall cozy of the room. I think the wood floors could use a rug.
The Shelves: I think they are beautifully made and are a nice warm color. They look like they adjustable which is kind attractive to me. Stacking books horizontally (as I do in some cases) might be difficult given the fact that the vertical members only up half way.
The Books: Lots of philosophy, lit crit, and poetry on the shelves. Very few discernible novels. The books stacked on the floor look like stuff that she picked up while aimlessly browsing the tables at her local Barnes and Noble. Three by Anthony Bourdain, an picture book of ironically bad hair cuts, the book Rats which I have read and has some fascinating information among the filler.
Is this person a reader? Well she appears to be reading right now…assuming this is her library, I would say that she is a reader, but her reading has changed. My guess is she was philosophy major and perhaps even got a Master’s degree before going to law school. Now that she is safely on the partner tract at work she is only now starting to read again after a decade’s hiatus. All the new books arranged in the foreground suggest that her current reading tastes are not as lofty as they once were.
The book I would read if I had to pick one: Mongo: Adventures in Trash in which author Ted Botha explores the world of trash in NYC and those who collect and reuse objects discarded by others.
hogglestock 
She has two copies of Jonathan Norell and Dr. Strange? Maybe both gifts? That doesn't seem like the kind of book one would buy twice by accident.
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Funny how the book she's reading doesn't really seem to fit with the rest of what's in her library (although I didn't look close at the titles myself, just going by what you've said about them).
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and that book weighs about 10 lbs…a book you need a chair with full support to read, not a yoga stance.
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I noticed the two copies of Jonathan Strange also . . . this photo looks staged to me.
Oddly enough, I just put the book on rats on a display at my library yesterday. It's a whole shelf full of microhistories. A lot of books on various types of food like salt and olive oil, and about diseases — plague, pox, ect. I wonder if my choices were subliminal?
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I don't even have to collect it. Because I'm an avid re-user, people tend to drop things off at my house.
Ann
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I sure couldn't read in that position very long. :<)
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I'd pretty much kill for this one:
http://fuckyeahrooms.tumblr.com/page/15#13295458792
there are some really nice ones on this site if you're looking for inspiration.
Em.
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My eye was drawn to Mongo, too.
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Unfortunately the picture isn't clear enough for even my bookstore-worker's eye to recognize many of the books on the shelf. My gut is they are a bunch of books picked up cheaply at, say, a library sale which were bought only to stage this shoot.Is there any discernible pattern in how the books are organized?
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Ruthiella: Maybe she wanted both color covers?
Jeane: None of the stuff on the floor has much relation to what is behind her.
Daniel: Maybe she uses it for strengh training.
Karen: You should skim the Rats book, not really worth a close a reading.
Ann: Thanks for the comment. Was it meant for me?
Nan: Nor could I.
Em: I love that site.
Bybee: Mongo seems like a good name for a dog.
Steve: I agree that the books on the floor are staged, but I think the books on the shelves are legit. Most of the philosophy is on the right above the drawers, poetry is kind of grouped on the bottom left. And I think the two boxes of file folders on the floor behind her suggest that this library is the real thing–although it may not be hers. Maybe there is an older man in her life.
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Here's something somewhat related to your Shelf Esteem series:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/02/08/shelf-conscious/
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