/Nowbrary

1. Starting Your Nowbrary
2. Understanding Your Nowbrary's Architecture
3. Notes on What a Nowbrary Isn't
4. Sharing your Nowbrary

I've noticed some natural tendencies that can pull a nowbrary away from its purpose:

Treating it as a best-of collection. Your nowbrary isn't about showing off your taste or knowledge. Some of your favorite books might not belong there right now - they're not currently in conversation with your thinking.

Making it aspirational. Those important books you should read, plan to read, or wish you had read? That's a different list. Your nowbrary is about what's alive in your mind right now, not what you hope will be.

Forcing balance. Sometimes your nowbrary might lean heavily toward one subject or era. That's fine. It reflects your current intellectual season. Let it be honest rather than artificially diverse.

Keeping books that have gone quiet. Some books that were vital to your thinking months ago might not be active participants now. Let them rest. They can always return in a future season.

Getting precious about categories. A book might be a foundation stone for you but a horizon marker for someone else. The categories are tools for thinking, not fixed labels.

Remember: your nowbrary should feel alive, a bit unstable, maybe even slightly uncomfortable. If it looks too polished, you might be curating for the wrong audience.

A nowbrary is a living thing. Let it breathe.