‘Bookshelf wealth’ is a TikTok trend, Dua Lipa’s reading Helen Garner. But books have signified taste for centuries
- Written by David Carter, Professor Emeritus, Australian Literature, The University of Queensland

Books and bookshelves as interior decoration are a new trend, according to recent reports. An expert at Etsy, where some sell books by the metre in order to fill shelves, reports a 19,616% increase in searches for “book-lover decor” over the past three months, compared with the same time last year. Another “m...