How to Build a Bookmas Tree (With Commentary by Fisher)

Thanksgiving has come and gone, which means at Chez Elyse it’s time to decorate for the Christmas holiday. And by decorate I mean put up the Bookmas Tree. This is Fisher’s first holiday season (well, with us) and he was both mystified and fascinated by the Bookmas Tree process (Dewey slept through the whole thing because he’s seen this before and was unimpressed). He and I are here to give some instructions on how to build your own.

First of all, you’re going to need books. Lots and Lots of books. My Bookmas Tree is just under five feet tall and it takes a lot of books to get there. You could build a smaller table top version if you don’t have enough books on hand to build a larger version.

The first thing you want to do is collect and sort your books. It’s important to use books that are the same size for each layer, so  I sorted by books by hardcover, YA hardcover (which tends to be smaller), trade paperback, and mass market paperback. I put any books that were especially thick or thin off to one side. You want the books for each layer to be as uniformly sized as possible.

Also, you need to make sure you don’t use any books you plan to read before taking the tree down. Realizing that the book you want is buried in the tree means you have to choose between disassembly or just staring at it sadly.

Fisher: I KNOCK ALL DEEZ OVER!

Once you have your books sorted, you need to create the base layer of your tree. Using your largest books, in my case hardcovers, make a ring of books with the spines facing outward.

Congrats! You have now created a summoning circle for cats!

Your cat, dog, child, or especially brave parakeet will now want to sit in the center of this circle more than it wants anything else in the world. From now on, just assume that every other step will be “remove cat, child, chinchilla, etc. from circle of books.”

For your next layer keep going with your largest books and lay another ring down. Place these books so they overlap two of the books on the ring below.

Keep doing this, moving the books slightly inward every few layers to create a cone shape. Once you are done with your largest books, move on to the next largest. This means your mass market paperbacks should be at the top of the tree.

Fisher: WTF is this. Why I must sit in it? So confused.

So keep building upward with your books, moving slightly inward as you go. That means every few rings you’ll be reducing the number of books you use.

Fisher: TIMMY!? TIMMY ARE YOU DOWN THERE?!

The center of your Bookmas Tree will be hollow with the opening getting smaller as a you go.

Fisher: For the love of God, Montresor!

Once you get to the top you’ll have a final ring of four mass market paperbacks. Stack a few more paperbacks directly on top of each other on top of this to make a “point.”

Finally you are ready for lights!

Fisher: It’s so beautiful. I wants to eats it.

I used these fairy lights from Amazon. These are battery powered, so you will need three AA batteries per pack. Any type of holiday lights will work.

Now that you’re tree is lit, you’re ready to enjoy it all holiday season.

Dewey: So, hooman, you are proud that you spent your precious waking hours stacking and lighting books. Did you hunt for mices? No. Did you secure your territory? No. Did you menace the leaves on the patio? No. You would die without me, hooman. You are terrible at catting.