The Great Bookshelf Debate of 2018: Spine In or Out

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Interior designer Natasha Meininger shared what she thought was an innocuous Instagram picture of her bookshelf. How little did she know. Why might anyone wonder? Maybe because Ms. Meininger, 33, who lives in Hannibal, Mo., had arranged her books backward, with the spines facing the wall. The minimalist look has caught on in certain design circles. By turning books around, the taupe and white page edges are shown on a shelf instead of book spines that often don’t match the rest of the décor.

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There’s just one catch. Hiding a book’s spine also obscures useful information, like the title of the book or its author—and that has some people feeling snubbed. “The spine of a book is like a hand reaching out,” says Peter Pearson, an author of children’s books such as “How to Eat an Airplane.” “You are trading the generosity of a book for eggshell white

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“Why do you even have books if you’re not interested in finding them?” says Lauryn Soorani, a graphic designer specializing in book design who goes by the name Lauryn Ipsum. “Donate them!”

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