Take Me to El Ateneo–ahora mismo!

No, not the one in Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

This one is probably more interesting (no offense meant to my Ateneo friends, you guys know I would have bled blue if it were my choice some nine years ago–but of course, bleeding maroon eventually proved to be one of the best things to happen to me), and it is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Take a look for yourselves:

Photo credits: book lovers never go to bed alone

Isn’t this a glimpse of heaven or what?

The original structure was completed in 1919 and launched as Teatro Gran Splendid. In 2000, the structure was leased, renovated, and converted into a bookshop, now known as El Ateneo Gran Splendid. The bookstore obviously still retained much of the ornate designs from the glory days of the theater, and the box seats are being used as reading rooms.

The store has made it to the Top 10 list of the world’s best bookshops, and it’s not hard to see why. What I would give to be able to go to this place! That’s it, time to plan a South American sojourn.

Shelves and stuff.

I apologize for running a week without an entry. Having a book blog still hasn’t pressured me to finishing books quickly–I will still read at my own pace and time. Some books are worth savoring. (That or I’m just justifying myself, but there certainly are times when I crash straight into bed, a pile of books on my feet left ignored for the night.)

So I’m making it up by writing about shelves. For someone who just has two measly cabinets and a set of drawers to stash books in her room, I dream about the shelves I’ll be getting when I have my own space. If I had my way, I’d have an entire room with floor-to-ceiling shelves for a library. It doesn’t have to be a big room. It just has to have walls lined will all these books, and one wall with a huge window for the sunlight to stream in the room. There will be a recliner by the window, where I can read a book next to a bowl of ice cream. (Hey, I can always dream, right?)

I was surfing on weheartit.com when I stumbled upon a few images I’d consider if I could build my own library in my own space. (If anyone knows the credits to these photos, please do let me know. I just keep getting URLs for Tumblr accounts, and I’m almost sure they’re not the original sources of these photos.) Here are some nifty ideas:

And here’s something even niftier:

In the meantime, I’ll settle for DIY shelves once I figure out how to optimize the tiny rectangular box of a room that I have. Do share photos of your favorite book shelves. I just might pick up more ideas that I’ll ask my dad to make in a few years’ time.