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Readers put their books online via 'bookshelfies'

In a twist on the selfie trend, bookshelfies post pictures of themselves in front of their bookshelves, sharing their reading selections with the world.

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Staff
The Monitor's own Kendra Nordin poses in front of her bookshelf.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

You’ve probably heard of selfies – photos people take of themselves and post on social media sites such as Twitter or Instagram.

But how about bookshelfies?

The new trend has people posing in front of their bookshelves and posting the photos online. That way, readers are able to share not only their faces but also their reading selections with the digital world.

There’s now a Tumblr titled “Bookshelfies,” which allows users to upload their own photos to be posted. The site shows a wide range of reading tastes from the site’s users. One user named Anthony Ha posed in front of a shelf displaying “World War Z” by Max Brooks and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” while another named Annaverity is seen in front of a shelf featuring such titles as “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster and “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein.

One user posted a photo of a dog named Ruby whose favorite titles apparently include “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith and “The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor.”

As noted by independent bookstore newsletter Shelf Awareness, a slight twist on the theme is currently being presented by the New York Public Library, which has added photobooths to two of their buildings so visitors can post selfies of themselves at the library. The image gets e-mailed to the user and to the library to post on the library website.

“Snap a photo and tell us what brings you to the library,” the NYPL invites on its website.

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