“The bookcases were lined with titles, hundreds of books shelved by subject in alphabetical order.-Everything from aberrant behavior to the mysteries of zen.”

“Mrs Weaver nosed among the books, too dim-witted to grasp that they were in alphabetical order.”

“Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God’s creatures, ordered alphabetically or by numbers or by the language in which the text is written, every library translates the chaos of discovery and creation into a structured system of hierarchies or a rampage of free associations.”

“My brother and I were able to fantasize far more extravagantly about our parents' tastes and desires, their aspirations and their vices, by scanning their bookcases than by snooping in their closest. Their selves were on their shelves.”

“Aside from the posters, wherever there was room, there were books. Stacks and stacks of books. Books crammed into mismatched shelves and towers of books up to the ceiling. I liked my books.”

“The office itself was windowless and lined with shelves stuffed to the brim with books each sporting titles more Hellish than the last. Chicken Soup for the Damned Mephistopheles Money and You: Finances in Hell One Born Every Minute: A Novice Demon's Guide to Tempting Humans ...The Complete Works of Jane Austen.”