Economically disastrous as Covid-19 has been for most, some industries have thrived. Sure, supermarkets have had to employ more packers and home-delivery drivers, but has anyone thought about the publishing industry? Self-imposed isolation was just what I needed to deal with the two years’ worth of books precariously stacked beside the bed and, when they were read, I began a fairly frequent tour of Booktopia and Book Depository websites. The Australia Post lady struggled to keep up with deliveries as I maintained a steady three hefty books a week.
Now the restrictions are less stringent my activities have expanded into other areas, but I still have a problem with teetering towers of books. Not being one to pay a great deal of money for yet another bookshelf – and having no more space to house one – my research turned up a cleverly designed herringbone bookshelf with a teeny-tiny footprint. As tall as me, its base actually measures a mere 12 x 10 (that’s inches) and holds a considerable number of books. The beast came with the usual flat-pack problems, as expected, none of which were insurmountable.
Unusual shape, but very practical.
Unfortunately the instructions were incredibly small, so a magnifying glass was required. I kid you not, the diagrams were minuscule. Almost no words of instruction (or even encouragement)were offered, so several sections of the project had to be deconstructed, reversed and reconstructed. As with any chipboard project, you really only get one go at screwing it together; at the second attempt the screws tend to get fed up and just go round and round with nothing left to grip.
Never mind, eventually the bookshelf was completed and, though shaky, is doing the job. Undaunted, my thoughts on the efficacy of flat-pack furniture remain fairly optimistic and I suspect this is one industry that will not only survive Covid-19 but will thrive along with the book publishing industry.