Colophon

About this index

Cult Classic Books is maintained by the makers of Spines, an iOS app that puts a name to every spine in a photographed shelf. We spend an unreasonable amount of time in second-hand bookshops and charity shops, and we kept noticing the same thing: the books with the most devoted readers are the ones the book trade has quietly stopped selling. Somebody should keep an index. Now somebody does.

The money

The Spines links are ours; app downloads are how this site pays for itself. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements, nobody pays to appear in the index. We'd say that arrangement keeps us honest, but really it just keeps us opinionated.

The editorial line

• Opinions are argued and signed by the site. Take them or leave them.
• Facts are never invented: no fabricated statistics, prices, quotes or publication histories. Where we aren't certain, we say less.
• No cover art — publishers own it, and spines are the honest view of a shelf anyway. Typography does the work here.