Books are a mirror of ones interests, personality and knowledge. You are what you read, and your bookshelf is perhaps a mini summary and reflection of your persona and being. On World Book Day, celebrities and bibliophiles posted photographs of their bookshelves, and shared quotes and their favourite reads. Authors tell us how a book is a reflection or measure of a person.

Robert Pattinson

“You are what you read, and your bookshelf reflects that. I have some crime fiction on my shelves, along with a little bit of everything else: thrillers, history, literary novels, etc. The book I’m reading at the moment is a history of the Indian Railways,” says author Ankush Saikia.

Emma Watson

Books not only divert a person’s mind for a while, it is actually therapeutic to read your favourites. “The books we choose, are a direct mirror of us searching for something as there is a curiosity involved. We choose books to look for answers and seek something almost all the time. They are truly a reflection of ourselves and our constant quest,” says author Anita Kumar. On the other hand, author Ravinder Singh says “It’s not always the case. What I believe is that if a person has a certain set of books on his shelves and reads them, his or her thought process is affected. Books reflect the ideology and logical thinking of the person.”

From thrillers to spiritual knowledge, “Every book you read, colours your consciousness. Many a times, thoughts that arise in your mind field are nourished by ideas and experiences that your favourite authors have shared through their works. Our personas are often coloured by what we read and individualised by our interpretations,” says Suzy Singh, Author of 7 Karma Codes: Heal the Storm Within.

Rashida Jonas

Author Narendra Kohli also believes a bookshelf is a reflection of one’s persona. “My bookshelf reflects my varied interests from poetry, autobiographies, psychology and interior design to self-help.

I pick and choose from my gorgeous antique rosewood revolving bookshelf what resonates with me at a particular moment and I settle down with that and my cuppa as I travel different lands and live different lives from the comfort of my chair,” says Shalini Virmani, author of Words...Kuch Alfaaz — a bilingual book of poetry in Hindi and English. On a conclusive note, “A person reads the same thing that another might identify with differently. People save the books they love. My personality and my studies would be no different from each other! Through my books you can identify my soul,” he says. Stressing the importance of books, Anand Neelakantan says, “Books shape a man. What we read defines what we are and what we will be. Choosing what books we should keep in our bookshelf needs as much care as choosing a life artner, perhaps more so.”