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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
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Paul Daley

The minimalism trend has waged a war on bookshelves – but I’m not ready to Marie Kondo my home library

Marie Kondo Paul Daley
A man reading on a ladder in a home library
‘I am a big-time “dipper’’ into our home library,' writes Paul Daley. Photograph: Halfdark/Getty Images/fStop

When moving house and cities some years ago there was a conspicuous absence in so many of the potential homes we inspected – bookshelves.

And where there are no bookshelves it usually means there are few books. It was as if, when styling homes for potential sale, the real estate agents had issued strict instructions: whatever you do, make sure there are no damn books about.

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