Book of Hours

Book of Hours

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How to Build A Book Sorting System for Memory Generation
By eightroomsofelixir
This "Memory Generator" or "Memory Reference" room setup will offer an efficient approach to organizing your library. In addition, it will also be an engine for memory generation and skill upgrading, helping you progress further into the game.

UPDATED FOR HOUSE OF LIGHT DLC
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Theory for a Memory Generator
What is a Memory Generator room
  • In BOH, once you have mastered a book, reading the book further (costs 1 min) will always offer you a particular Memory. Considering certain items (costs 30 sec) will also yield a Memory without consuming the item.
  • "Memory Generator", then, is a room that has every book for each unique Memory, as well as a collection of many Memory-generating items nearby. It is basically a reference library for the Memories.
  • By using books and items in this room, you can generate basic Memories in a straightforward manner, and have a set of different Memories in no time.

(Memory, the bread and butter of the game.)

Why do you need it as the Librarian

Memory-making is part of the core game loop.
  • In BOH, the Librarian's daily routine is unlocking rooms, reading books, upgrading Skills, as well as crafting stuff to help with the above three.
  • To achieve these actions, you need to reach a certain Principle requirement, and you can always use memory to boost the principles.
  • Essentially, Memory is the bread-and-butter of the game (rather than books; reading books is simply a means to get more Memories), and it would be better to have most of the Memories within your reach. Want to unlock a room but lacking 2 Heart? Read a book. Trying to reach 10 Sky when crafting? Grab another book.
  • You can also read multiple books simultaneously by using different Desks to read them and generate a set of different Memories in 60 seconds.

In particular, when upgrading Skills, every level of upgrade needs an extra piece of Memory with at least one matching Principle.
  • For instance, upgrading a Skill from lv1 to lv2 requires 1 Memory, upgrading from lv2 to lv3 requires 2 Memories, from lv8 to lv9 requires 8 Memories, etc.
  • This means, unlike reading or crafting, upgrading Skills is asking for the quantity of the Memories, instead of the quality.
  • You need as many different Memories as possible to upgrade a Skill, and having a quick reference collection for each unique memory can help with that tremendously.

The reference collection also makes organizing the library easier in the long run.
  • There are 280+ books in the game, with more than 170 books in the Hush House (the rest are in the Oriflamme's). Meanwhile, reading books will only generate 22 different Memories (excluding Numen).
  • Labeling 22 books and a couple of items is inherently more manageable than sorting out 170+ books.
  • Once you build up the 22-book collection, you can safely discard other already-read books into a random corner in the House afterward. Organizing the entire occult library now becomes a much simpler task.
Memory from Books
There are a total of 22 different Memories you can get when reading books. Building a reference library of such books will go a long way toward generating different memories when needed.
The list below provides "easy" books for each unique memory, so you can start to build up a Memory-generating collection in the early game.
  • The list is sorted by the memory's main Principle(s).
  • Not all the books that share the same unique memory are listed here, only the "easy" ones. "Easy" means books with a relatively low Mystery level, if possible, and without requiring a language Skill or a unique workstation (with the exception of two recordings that are very easy to access).
  • It also means that you are very likely able to finish the full 22-book collection around mid-game (before even unlocking the back parts of the Hush House proper).


Edge Main Memories
Contradiction: Edge 2, Moon 1
  • De Horis book 3 (Edge 4)
  • The Victory of Crowns (Edge 4)
  • Wainscot Histories (Lantern 4)
  • De Bellis Murorum (Edge 6)
  • An Exorcist's Field Manual (Moon 6)
  • Honey: the Comprehensive Guide (Nectar 6)
  • Those Indignities Perpetrated By the Deceitful Fraternity of Obliviates (Winter 6)

Forge Main Memories
Foresight: Forge 2, Lantern 1
  • De Horis book 2 (Edge 4)
  • The War of the Roads, 1451-1551 (Edge 4)
  • Vinzant's Minglings (Forge 4)
  • Bancroft Diaries (Lantern 4)
  • In the Malleary (Lantern 4)
  • The Six Letters on Necessity (Moth 4)

Grail Main Memories
Satisfaction: Grail 2, Heart 1
  • Kitling Ripe's Tasty Treats (Nectar 4)
  • An Impertinent Vitulation (Grail 6)
  • Fekri's Herbary (Nectar 6)

Heart Main Memories
Cheerful Ditty: Heart 2, Sky 1
  • **Perugian Diaries (Sky 4)
Solace: Heart 2, Sky 1
  • The Orchid Transfigurations: Noon (Heart 4)
  • *Travelling at Night, vol 2 (Sky 6)

Knock Main Memories
Pattern: Knock 2, Forge 1
  • Advice on Containment (Knock 4)
  • The Raptures of Forculus (Knock 4)
  • Travelling at Night, Vol 3 (Knock 4)
  • By Their Marks Shall Ye Know them (Knock 6)
  • The Elations of Limentinus (Knock 6)
  • Just Verse (Rose 6)
  • Against Vitruvius (Sky 6)
  • On What is Contained By Silver (Sky 6)
Secret Threshold: Knock 2, Rose 1
  • The Temptations of Architecture (Forge 10)
  • An Almanac of Entrances (Knock 10)

Lantern Main Memories
Revelation: Lantern 2
  • **Locksmith's Dream: Stolen Reflections (Sky 4)

Moon Main Memories
A Stolen Secret: Moon 2, Knock 1
  • An Investigation of A Foundered Country (Moon 4 - Note that this is a Recording, rather than a Book)
  • Velletri Interviews (Heart 6 - Note that it is also a Recording)
  • The Account of Kanishk at the Spider's Door (Moon 6)
  • On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Loss (Moth 6)

Moth Main Memories
Impulse: Moth 2, Nectar 1
  • *Travelling at Night, vol 1 (Knock 4)

Rose Main Memories
Gossip: Rose 2, Grail 1
  • Three Flowers Hath the Tree (Nectar 4)
  • The Queens of the Rivers (Scale 4)
  • The Humours of a Gentleman (Sky 4)
  • On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Pursuit (Grail 6)
  • The Kerisham Portolan (Moon 6)

Scale Main Memories
Fear: Scale 2, Edge 1
  • The Sun's Lament (Edge 4)
  • The Treatise on Underplaces (Knock 4)
  • The Viennese Conundra (Moon 4)
  • Stolen Histories (Scale 4)
  • Seven Faces of Icarus (Sky 4)

Winter Main Memories
Bittersweet Certainty: Winter 2, Lantern 1
  • Musgrave's Sketches (Winter 8)
  • Glimmerings (Forge 10)
Hindsight: Winter 2, Scale 1
  • An Introduction to Histories (Winter 4)
  • The Carbonek Schism (Moth 6)
  • Oblations in Iron (Winter 6)
Regret: Winter 2, Forge 1
  • The Twelve Letters On Consequence (Moon 4)
  • Annals of St Brandans (Winter 4)
  • Lady Eva's Repose (Winter 4)
  • The Fallen Cross (Sky 6)
  • Chione at Abydos (Winter 6)
  • The Five Letters on Memory (Winter 6)

Memories with Two Mains
Beguiling Melody: Grail 2, Sky 2
  • The Skeleton Songs (Grail 4)
  • The Wind's Ruin (Grail 4)
  • The Morphy Codex (Moon 6)
Intuition: Moon 2, Rose 2
  • The Orchid Transfigurations: a Feast (Grail 4)
  • The Tripled Heart (Grail 4)
  • Collected Hush House Lectures (Moon 4)
  • The Book of the Centipede (Rose 6)
  • The Republic of Teeth (Scale 6)
  • Against the Sisterhood of the Knot and the Foulness of their Depraved Customs (Sky 6)
Earth-Sign: Nectar 2, Scale 2
  • Rapt in the King (Heart 8)
  • De Ratio Quercuum (Nectar 8)
  • Tamed Viper (a Beast, you need to feed it after every use)
Savage Hymn: Scale 2, Sky 2
  • Singlefoot Songs (Scale 6)
Storm: Heart 2, Sky 2
  • Apollo and Marsyas (Heart 4)
  • **What Does Not Bark (Moon 4)

Memories with Three Mains
Confounding Parable: Moon 2, Rose 2, Sky 2
  • The Other Line (Heart 4)
  • The Moon's Egg (Moon 4)
  • One Hundred And Eight (Scale 4)
  • Locksmith's Dream: Portions and Proportions (Sky 4)
Salt: Knock 1, Moon 1, Winter 1
  • A Pale Lady and a Prince of Wines (Moon 4)
  • Journal of Thomas Dewulf (Sky 4)
  • The Larquebine Codex (Moon 6)
  • The Sea Does Not Regret (Moon 6)

Important Notes
* These two books (Travelling at Night, vol 1 and vol 2) are directly unlocked (revealed) at the beginning of the game in the Cabin.
** These three books (Perugian Diaries, What Does Not Bark, and Locksmith's Dream vol 4: Stolen Reflections) belong to a unique deck, which is so small that you are guaranteed to get all of them. Cataloging all the books in the Dispensary will always yield three guaranteed books.
Memory from Items
Touchable Items
There is plenty of stuff sitting around the Hush House that can generate a Memory when considered for 30 seconds. The list below includes some of the items that will not be consumed after being used.
  • Any Armchair/Chair——Touch (Forge 1).
  • Hush House Key——Sound (Heart 1). After using one to unlock the House, you can recover it randomly from Gathering.
  • Quire of Paper——Sight (Lantern 1). It can also be used for reading books in the early game when there is very little Nectar.
  • Paradise Palm——Scent (Nectar 1). Located in the Grand Ascent - Ground Floor.
  • Yellowing Newspaper——Occult Scrap (Knock 2, Moth 2, Rose 2). Note that the RNG for finding it is insanely low. Better live without it.

Unique Items
  • Basket of Towels——If you go swimming at Crosscrow Sands (use Health), swimming with Towels will yield Salt (Knock 1, Moon 1, Winter 1) and Solace (Heart 2, Sky 1). The towels will become wet, but they will revert back the next morning. Useful when you don't have the books for these two, or only have one Health card left.
  • Swaddled Thunder——Storm (Heart 4, Sky 4). Considering it will generate Storm the weather, which is different from Storm the Memory, and both can co-exist.
    • Note that since the House of Light DLC, the Swaddled Thunder will be destroyed after considering, and its usefulness has been greatly reduced. Still, it is the only consistent way to generate Weather: Storm.

Note: How to craft Swaddled Thunder (easily and consistently)
  1. Catalogue all the Nocturnal books in the Motley Tower, which will always yield a copy of Perugian Diaries. Read the book and learn the Skill: Strings & Songs.
  2. Thunderskin's Paean (10 Heart) = Hallowed Drum (instrument): lv2 Strings & Songs (2) + Chor (2) + Heart Memory from Books (2) + Chor (2) + another Heart Memory from Books (2)
  3. Swaddled Thunder (15 Heart) = Dispensary: lv5 Strings & Songs (5) + Chor (2) + Thunderskin's Paean (4) + Canned Ham (2) + Canned Ham (2)
I highly recommend focusing on leveling up Strings & Songs (or Drums & Dances) ASAP to make crafting Swaddled Thunder easier.
Memory from Numens
Certain books can generate a unique Memory called Numen, which has three high-level Principles and can decide the game's ending.
Only one Numen can exist at the same time, so they are mostly useful for unlocking, reading, and crafting, and less useful for upgrading the Skills.

Most of the Numen books are locked behind in the deeper parts of the Hush House. However, there is one Numen book that can be easily accessed in the early/mid-game.
Using Skill: Sickle & Eclipse (or Sacra Limiae) together with any Soul at the Chancel of the Abbey Church will grant you a scroll named The Sun Disfigured.
To read it, you only need 10 Grail and Cracktrack; learning Cracktrack early would be really beneficial.


All the Numen books and the corresponding Numen
At the Chancel of the Abbey Church, using Sickle & Eclipse or Sacra Limiae:
  • The Sun Disfigured (Grail 10, Cracktrack)——Numen: the Sun's Weakness (Grail 5, Lantern 5, Moth 5)
  • This is the easiest Numen book to get.
At the Altar of the Knot in Our Lady Beneath, using Hill & Hollow or Tridesma Hiera:
  • Serpent-Root (Nectar 10, Cracktrack)——Numen: Loopholes (Knock 5, Moon 5, Moth 5)
  • Likely the second Numen you can reveal.
Located in Crucible Tower: Governor's Quarters:
  • Towards a Fundamental Aesthetic (Knock 10, Ericapaean)——Numen: Inescapable Confinement (Knock 5, Scale 5, Winter 5)
At the Oubliette, using Disciplines of the Hammer or Disciplines of the Scar:
  • The Sun's Design (Lantern 10, Cracktrack)——Numen: the Paths of the Sun (Forge 5, Knock 5, Lantern 5)
  • Better level up the Disciplines of the Scar which is a much useful skill than the Hammer.
At Shrine to St Tentreto, using any Ink plus Resurgences & Emergences or Preliminal Meter:
  • The Writing on the Wall (Nectar 10, Vak)——Numen: an Irresistible Feast (Edge 5, Grail 5, Nectar 5)
  • This book is called "Hush House's final secret", but you can unlock it much earlier than like half of the Numen books since it has less room to unlock if beelining.
At the Rowenarium, using the Hush House Key:
  • Towards a Fundamental Aesthetic: Second Edition (Winter 10, Ericapaean)——Numen: A Final Understanding (Rose 5, Sky 5, Winter 5)
Located in Silver Vault:
  • Shuritic Book of Suns (Sky 10, Deep Mandaic)——Numen: the Great Counterfeit (Lantern 5, Moon 5, Nectar 5)
  • The Turquoise Hand (Nectar 10, Rasmund)——Numen: That Old Lost Music (Rose 5, Scale 5, Sky 5)
Located in Ivory Vault:
  • Kopralith Omphalos (Moth 10, Killasimi)——Numen: Weaving the World (Heart 5, Moon 5, Nectar 5)
  • The Sky in the Scar (Edge 10, Sabazine)——Numen: Back Into Balance (Heart 5, Sky 5, Winter 5)
Located in Iron Vault:
  • A Child's Treasury of Golden Afternoons (Edge 10, Hyksos)——Numen: Merciless Alteration (Edge 5, Forge 5, Grail 5).
  • Amiranis Beteli (Forge 10, Fu cine)——Numen: the Bells of Ys (Edge 5, Forge 5, Rose 5)
Sleep with Inscribed Stone (in Librarian's Quarter) plus Edicts Inviolable or Edicts Liminal in a Bed:
  • The Three and the Three (St Chiavi Manuscript) (Moon 18)————Numen: Three Rules (Heart 5, Moth 5, Scale 5)
  • Even if this book is in the Hush House proper and you can get it fairly early, the 18 Moon requirement means this is likely the last Numen book you are going to read.
An Exemplary Memory Room
This is the Memory Generator Room set up in one of my recent playthroughs.

I am using the Reading Room because of its central location and easy access to multiple desks. You can certainly use other rooms for the job, since the 22-book collection is quite small, and it doesn't even fill half of the shelves of the Reading Room.

Every cluster of books shared a particular main Principle. I also labeled every shelf with the Principles of the Memories so that I don't need to alt-tab out the game and check the spreadsheet.

All the Numen books I have read are on the left parts of the shelves.

I also placed the memory-generating items in the room, such as the House Key, the Swaddled Thunder, Quire of Paper, etc. Yellowing Newspaper isn't here because I just couldn't find it in this playthrough.

(Besides all the memory books and items, I also drop tools that can help me read books in the room for convenience. There are plenty of Great Inks, a Dearday Lens, and a Mazarine Fife as I needed to crack Sky books earlier.)
When Upgrading a Skill

(An example for upgrading the Anbary & Lapidary. This skill is very worthy of upgrading, it can craft plenty of inks and two different Encaustum Terminales.)


Say, for instance, you want to upgrade Drums & Dances, one of the most useful Heart-main Skills, from lv6 to lv7. It will require 6 different Heart Memories. And with a fully developed Memory Generator room, what you can directly get are:
  • Kitling Ripe's Tasty Treats——Satisfaction: Grail 2, Heart 1
  • Perugian Diaries——Cheerful Ditty: Heart 2, Sky 1
  • Travelling at Night, vol 2——Solace: Heart 2, Sky 1
  • What Does Not Bark——Storm (Memory): Heart 2, Sky 2
  • Swaddled Thunder——Storm (Weather): Heart 4, Sky 4
  • Hush House Key——Sound: Heart 1
That will be a total of 6 Heart Memories.

Drums & Dances also has a Nectar Principle, which means the below Memories are also applicable, in case you don't have enough Heart Memory Books:
  • Travelling at Night, vol 1——Impulse: Moth 2, Nectar 1
  • Rapt in the King——Earth-Sign: Nectar 2, Scale 2
  • Paradise Palm——Scent: Nectar 1

Together, you can even gather 8 different Memories to upgrade D&D to lv9 (highest level). Just put the books into 8 different Desks (there are exactly 8 Desks in total across the entire Hush House), and you are all set.

Note: To upgrade even further, sometimes you might reach a point where the book memories are numerically not enough. In those rare cases, you need to craft extra craftable memories, or use the non-unique universal lessons (Numa-season specific) to substitute the unique memories.
Postscript
For a more detailed guide about how to meet various requirements and progress the game, please you may check my other guide here -

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3306481059
11 Comments
eightroomsofelixir  [author] 2 Jan @ 9:01pm 
@etsubmariner - Yes, but reading Traveling at Night is much easier.
etsubmariner 2 Jan @ 4:48pm 
You get Impulse from reading Ceaseless Tantra.
0bsidianFire 10 Oct, 2024 @ 4:06pm 
@arbitrayer - If you click on a shelf, there opens up a prompt in the upper-right corner where you can type in two rows of text to label the shelf. These texts will appear as a nameplate you can mouse-over to see the text. This means any room with lots of bookshelves (like the Reading Room) also has lots of nameplates you can fix with text. So you can run your mouse over he nameplates and find the aspects you need without having to memorize which exact books they are in

What generally happens is that books are grouped two to a shelf and then the memories that come from each one (and often the aspects those memories have) are entered into the label. How you group the books exactly is up to you.

The way I do the bookshelf text is like this...
Regret = 2 Winter + 1 Forge -> Repose; Winter
Hindsight = 2 Winter + 1 Scale -> Histories; Winter
with the two books on this shelf being "Lady Eva's Repose" and "An Introduction to Histories".
arbitrayer 7 Oct, 2024 @ 11:22pm 
Hello, great guide. It would be really helpful if you could share more details about how you labeled each shelf and did your grouping. For example, where do you file the triple principle memories like confounding parable? Which principle do you file it under, or is it on a unique shelf?
Thanks for helping me become a more organized librarian!
eightroomsofelixir  [author] 3 Oct, 2024 @ 8:39pm 
@Landis963 - Yep, I am going to edit that out later.
Landis963 3 Oct, 2024 @ 10:34am 
Reqiuescat in pace the infinite Weather: Storm generator that was Swaddled Thunder.
Elendar 17 Aug, 2024 @ 3:44am 
@eightroomsofelixir Good point, but you can move wall arts to some other rooms. I move them to the right of the Memory Room, in the stairs for easy access.
I think it has some advantage since you can consider them using a maladied soul.
Also, there are others wall art in the practice room that grant memory: sound et scent using a maladied soul.
eightroomsofelixir  [author] 16 Aug, 2024 @ 4:46am 
@Elendar - Yes, in that cell, there are several weapons that can give you this memory. Although this is quite a late-game room, and these items are all wall arts, which means you cannot move them around to your Memory Room for easier access.
Elendar 16 Aug, 2024 @ 4:43am 
I found a wall art that give Memory: Contradiction in the late game room 'Cell: Long'
Thermite 8 Aug, 2024 @ 9:43pm 
Fabulous! Thank you!