"All my life, I wanted an apartment filled with books. Maybe because in my canon of romance movies, the 1997 classic Love Jones showed a bookish, thoughtful life that seemed attainable. The lead character Darius' space is peppered with Black ephemera, art, records, and, most importantly, books - a mix of romance, poetry, prose, and intellectual curiosity I thought I should have in my life. Or maybe it's because books were a visual linchpin in my childhood home. From what I understand now, looking back on my parents' love story as an adult, to be grown was to read."
"According to her, it's been 30 years - a seed planted while she was in the throes of her dissertation that gave way to our home as a museum of the Sundays she hosted and the titles she's amassed over the years. I remember the steady hum of adult chatter; Sunday brunch not for showmanship, but like a town hall on the latest literary darling. Her books mirror the flow of her proclivities, serving as much more than mere decoration."
"Even in the pesky clutter, the books hold as much visual weight as the ancestors watching over them. "I would change books based upon my feelings, you know, like what I might display, maybe about how I'm feeling that day," she told me. "When I walk through a room, I want to see something that kind of fits my mood or may uplift my mood or may remind me to do something.""
A person longed for an apartment filled with books, inspired by a romanticized depiction of a bookish life and by childhood surroundings where reading signaled adulthood. The lead character Darius' space combined Black ephemera, art, records, and books spanning romance, poetry, prose, and intellectual curiosity. The household featured a longstanding book club begun during a dissertation that turned the home into a museum of Sundays and accumulated titles. Regular Sunday gatherings produced steady adult conversation and communal literary engagement. Books functioned as both décor and emotional cues; selections were displayed to match moods, uplift, or prompt action. Books shared visual prominence with family photographs.
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