Bookcases are so much more than just a place to store one's books. They've become experiments in engineering and explorations into modern art, covetable in their own right. Financial analysts at Bloomberg have even used the IKEA Billy bookcase as an index of economic growth.

In these pages you will find plenty of inspiration and diversity, from "Juxtaposed," a shelf capitalizing on limited space to display seven books containing the world's most influential religions, to Sakura Adachi's "Trick," a bookcase that constantly mutates into a table and two chairs. Shelves can even be...

How do you create an active reader? Why is reading good for creativity? Why is it vital for teaching the next generation resilience and positive mental health? In the digital age of never-ending screen time you could argue that the power of books has diminished. But while screens have changed the act of reading, Alex Johnson believes reading is even more important, and that people value books more than ever. This is visible in the sales of printed special editions, the revival in reading aloud, the increased interest in poetry anthologies and the rescuing of 'lost words' from...