With all the advances in e-readers, carrying a library of your favorite books with you is pretty easy to do.  However, nothing can replace the tactile texture of a fabric hard cover or the sound of the pages turning on a real book. I downloaded Pride and Prejudice onto my Nook and although I love reading each beautifully written sentence, seeing it in a digital font makes me miss the soft pages and bent paperback version from highschool. I also remember checking out books from the library and skimming through to see other notes written anonymously (brazen criminals!) in the margins.  Sharing books passed from one friend to another gives the book another layer of life.  Who took Mr. Darcy to the white sandy beaches of Greece? (Oh I wish it was me) or did he end up in a backpack in Boulder, taken out with coffee at a sidewalk cafe.  This wonderful video shows the mysterious life these books lead after the lights are turned off.  Not only do the colors and sizes of books make for beautiful colorblocking as a design element but the video plays off the personality of each title as they dance and play.   I think it’s the hidden story of the life a book leads that adds to the depth and impact of the story told by the author in the text they hold. Our memories of when we read a book stays with it and maybe explains why we keep the books we keep.  Or share.  Therefore in that sense, books are a great design element. Arrange by color or turn them around to show only white edges of paper.  However, only you will see something more than colors and titles, you’ll see your memories.