Frequently asked questions about my bookcase
One of the first things that most people notice when they see me on a video call, livestream, or visit to my house is my BILLY bookcase. Not because it’s big or anything. In fact, it’s quite small. It is however organised by colour, which seems to trigger a lot of people.
Frequently asked questions
I often get questions about my bookcase. This page tries to answer most of them.
Why on earth would you do this?
My books spend more than 99.9% of their time in the bookcase. Since I rarely need to retrieve a book from the bookcase once I’ve read it, it makes little sense to optimise my bookcase so that books are easy to find.
Instead, I prefer to maximise the aesthetic qualities of my bookcase, since it’s there 100% of the time.
How do you not spend hours searching for a book?
Unlike some people, I actually read the books that I buy, so I know and remember what the cover looks like. It also helps that most books are non-fiction, so by the time they get a place on a bookshelf they’ve often been read more than once.
Why don’t you read fiction?
I have .
Where do you buy your books?
I would love to support my local bookshops, but I usually buy my books online. Not only is it cheaper, it is also more convenient and the books do not come with annoying stickers that I have remove.
Which books do you own/recommend?
The table below shows (some of) the books in my bookcase and how much I appreciate them.
| 📍 | Title | Year | Pages | 🌐 | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 324, 89%, 39% | : undefined | 2010 | 260 | en | |
| 251, 51%, 34% | : undefined | 2004 | 629 | en | |
| 235, 43%, 41% | : undefined | 2009 | 786 | en | |
| 230, 45%, 41% | : undefined | 2010 | 624 | en | |
| 226, 36%, 36% | : Design in spectacular simplicity | 2013 | 320 | en | |
| 223, 31%, 19% | : undefined | 2003 | 603 | en | |
| 220, 92%, 22% | : undefined | 2002 | 720 | en | |
| 220, 41%, 39% | : The CommonKADS methdology | 2000 | 439 | en | |
| 211, 40%, 52% | : Modeling, practice and behavior | 2016 | 702 | en | |
| 207, 24%, 38% | : undefined | 2017 | 182 | zh | |
| 203, 22%, 44% | : A process of ongoing improvement | 1984 | 362 | en | |
| 201, 68%, 40% | : Praktische toolkit | 2020 | 83 | nl | |
| 200, 41%, 22% | : undefined | 2004 | 440 | en | |
| 200, 31%, 42% | : Concepts, languages, architectures | 2007 | 355 | en | |
| 197, 29%, 64% | : undefined | 2015 | 407 | nl | |
| 190, 100%, 37% | : undefined | 2003 | 352 | nl | |
| 189, 100%, 36% | : undefined | 2004 | 514 | en | |
| 187, 100%, 39% | : undefined | 2007 | 240 | en | |
| 187, 40%, 40% | : undefined | 1975 | 292 | en | |
| 184, 100%, 29% | : Beyond human-computer interaction | 2007 | 722 | en | |
| 166, 100%, 20% | : undefined | 2009 | 1048 | en | |
| 177, 34%, 27% | : undefined | 1999 | 295 | en | |
| 76, 45%, 50% | : undefined | 2008 | 176 | en | |
| 65, 61%, 59% | : People, activities, contexts, technologies | 2005 | 759 | en | |
| 60, 100%, 50% | : Een nieuw Utrecht Centraal | 2016 | 174 | nl | |
| 55, 90%, 50% | : Handboek voor effectief communiceren in de OR | 2020 | 99 | nl | |
| 52, 100%, 62% | : undefined | 2012 | 144 | en | |
| 46, 63%, 36% | : undefined | 2004 | 291 | zh | |
| 44, 81%, 69% | : undefined | 2010 | 96 | en | |
| 43, 94%, 59% | : On the how and why of signage at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | 2008 | 53 | en | |
| 19, 78%, 57% | : undefined | 2014 | 498 | en | |
| 17, 61%, 51% | : Meer dan 250 Gouden tips voor de ondernemingsraad | 2018 | 229 | nl | |
| 5, 99%, 64% | : undefined | 2016 | 231 | nl | |
| 5, 89%, 58% | : A journey of discovery through the hidden world of Chinese customs and culture | 2012 | 267 | en | |
| 5, 81%, 50% | : A history of communism told through communist jokes | 2008 | 312 | en | |
| 1, 98%, 32% | : Rules, tools, and insights for managing software people and teams | 2013 | 402 | en | |
| 1, 44%, 27% | : Productive projects and teams | 1987 | 237 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 100% | : undefined | 2012 | 137 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 100% | : undefined | 2007 | 394 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 100% | : undefined | 2006 | 543 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 99% | : undefined | 2007 | 518 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 98% | : De biografie | 2011 | 678 | nl | |
| 0, 0%, 98% | : (and sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll) | 2000 | 808 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 98% | : Zo vorm je vrijmoedige teams | 2020 | 157 | nl | |
| 0, 0%, 98% | : undefined | 1984 | 137 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 93% | : How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives | 2012 | 236 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 60% | : undefined | 2009 | 255 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 1% | : undefined | 2010 | 651 | en | |
| 0, 0%, 1% | : Dualisme van zelfsturing en aansturing | 2014 | 103 | nl | |
| 0, 0%, 0% | : undefined | 2002 | 615 | en |