Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First, these are very nice book cases ( I bought 2). They are solid wood and I found only one tiny spot flaw on a shelf in the otherwise smooth dark finish....which I was able to put towards the back of the case. I read the many reviews about the difficulty of assembly. I am a petite woman with little-to-no upper body or hand / grip strength. However, I make up for it with tools. I equipped myself with a power drill, a hex bit that fit the hex screws that come with the bookcase, a rubber mallot, and later, a small file ( a coarse sand paper or sanding block would have been ok too.) There is no way I could have used that wimpy hex wrench provided to tighten those big-arse screws. No way I could have used my fist to pound the boards onto the peg holes. I put the first one together in less than 20 minutes by myself. I felt pretty smug and figured the second one would go even faster........THEN I found out about the frustration when the peg holes are off alignment by 1/8 inch. I figured out how to get it to fit without re- drilling. The pegs can be pulled out, and then sanded or filed just a bit at a slope on the edge that won't quite reach the peg hole. That slight angled edge allows the peg to slide into the peg hole when pounded down with a mallot. I would not recommend this bookcase if you do not have the power tools or do not have hand-strength enough to crack walnuts with your bare fingers...I will try to upload pictures if I can.