It is clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying, and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down.
Agatha Christie, The Clocks
This sounds like my house! Or used to… I’m slowly culling my collection.
I put my books on birth control a couple of years ago, but some of them still manage to breed.
There are a couple of bookstores in Eugene, Oregon like this except the stacks have to stay within the lines… of tape defining the limits set by the fire marshall. Which means all doorways and stairs are clear and no piles within several feet.
I’ve lived there …