“The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore, professore dottore Eco, what a library you have ! How many of these books have you read?” and the others - a very small minority - who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you don’t know as your financial means, mortgage rates and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menancingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.”
― The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
― The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Our Shared Shelf
— 223087 members
— last activity 6 hours, 48 min ago
OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
The Rory Gilmore Book Club
— 23416 members
— last activity Jan 25, 2026 06:29AM
Reading is sexy! This group is for fans of literature and the Gilmore Girls. Join us for some witty banter, numerous pop culture references, and enlig ...more
Olena’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Olena’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Olena
Lists liked by Olena


































