“Christian, where did you find this amazing book?” I heard this question time and again when friends visited my place and discovered my constantly expanding library. As I’ve always been interested in outstanding non-fiction books spanning all disciplines, the obstacle for my friends wasn’t usually the money that had to be invested – it was often about the knowledge that such special titles even exist. Most of them are produced and published by independent publishers from all over the world in small print-runs … and yes, they are hard to find, and you probably won’t ever see them in a regular bookstore.
Therefore, I wanted to make these books more visible – and above all more accessible. With the help of my close friend and business partner, Jone Szmania, I was able to found 8 BOOKS A YEAR, a curated international and interdisciplinary subscription for rare and great non-fiction books. When we started in April 2015, most of our subscribers were friends, but over a short period of time we soon had 100 subscribers from 7 different countries. I really learnt that it’s the greatest pleasure to send something you love to people who share the same passion as you.
Right now, our library is moving from my home to the new office of Jone’s and my company, Schwarm Szmania, which is into strategy development. Books play an important role in both our private and work lives. We really thought a lot about how to set up a modern library which actually connects the analogue world of books with the diversity of digital content. We can reveal one thing already: the usual order of principle will no longer play any role in our new library space. We promise to publish more info and some photos soon! If you’d like to stay informed, make sure that you’re subscribed for our updates.
Besides that, you should really think about making 8 BOOKS A YEAR a present for somebody who loves books as much as we do – you might consider treating yourself as well. You never know what you’ll get … but we’ll make sure that it will be 8 carefully chosen, rare and great non-fiction books which accompany you into a world you haven’t heard of or seen before.
Best wishes,
Christian and Jone