You asked a further question of how to strap your **** down. Books slide against one another and 4-5 books bungied down and your off just doesn't work. Since you're clearly dead set against any of the elegant solutions for carrying multiple small items I highly suggest you at least a get a strap to bind the books together before you throw them on the rack.
Also I never called you a hipster I called cetmas hipster racks because they are completely inappropriate for most peoples uses yet hipsters buy them anyway. Why are they so popular? Hmm they limit bar choice, they get in the way, they aren't designed for panniers, they are detrimental to handling, they are expensive, they aren't that much easier to install.... oh wait messengers and other hipsters use them. The big ones are good for strapping one or two very large items too otherwise you're better of with a real rack.