What's on your bookshelf?

[worldsapart]

I was sitting here staring at my bookcase, trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read (a perpetual issue with me), and it made me think -- I wonder what everyone around here likes to read...we've done so much discussing movies and tv that I'm curious about books (and I currently run a used bookstore, so books are typically on my mind).

It's weird how many different things I have on my bookshelf. I'm very anal about how they're arranged, and I've got them all categoried and in numerical order and such (I know, I'm a dork). Here's just a general idea of the books I currently have displayed (by author or series):

-Barbara Michaels (a new favorite)
-Elizabeth Peters (who happens to be another pseudonym of the above, and is therefore on the same shelf)
-Frank Peretti
-C.S. Lewis
-Harry Potter (the British editions -- I'm a purist)
-John Bellairs (creepy kids books with Edward Gorey illustrations)
-Little House on the Prairie (faves since I was like 10)
-Roald Dahl (just the Charlie books)
-Louis Sachar (Sideways Stories series)
-Animorphs (have them all, have read through book 32 of 54)
-Everworld (read the first 2 -- need to start them over now that I finally have all 12)
-Jane Austen
-various other classics (a few by Milton, Poe, Dumas, Wilde etc)
-shelf of books recommended by customers (Philip Pullman, Maggie Shane, Greg Iles, Shannon Drake, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kathy Reichs etc)
-Stephen King (I'm collecting them all in hardback, I have 18 plus a few paperbacks)
-Star Wars (the 5 by Timothy Zahn and some Young Jedi Knights)
-MSCL novels (even though the 2nd SUCKED)
-Madeleine L'Engle
-Tolkien (LOTR and a few others)
-King Arthur and Robin Hood (pretty much anything I can find)
-Buffy/Angel (I have all of the novels/novelizations and the official reference books, plus 2 books of essays -- one done by a professor at my alma mater)
-Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys (old hardbacks, a few of the more recent paperbacks, mid 90s)
-Oz (all the Baum paperbacks, 6 early 1900s hardbacks, and several books in the series by other authors)
-nonfiction (about thirty books, most on writing, some on filmmaking and music)

And those are just the books I keep.
So what do you guys read?

Tracey

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Books are like old friends. When I mentioned to a coworker that my bookshelves are full and I don't have room in the house for another one, she suggested getting rid of some of them. She might as well have told me to cut my foot off or sell my family into prostitution - the horror! I can't get rid of any of my books!

[SanDeE*]

My problem is that I can't check out books from the library. CDs and movies are fine, just not books. I can't read them in only three weeks. (Well, I have read books in less than 3 weeks before. Books assigned for my college classes tend to get in the way of my leisure reading.) I usually just end up buying the book and letting it sit on my shelf for a while before I get around to reading it. Here are the books, in no particular order, that I brought along with me to school this year (I have more at home in Madison):

Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
Arthur Golden - Memoirs of a Geisha
Steve Martin - shopgirl, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Cruel Shoes, Pure Drivel
John Gunther - Death be not Proud
Aldous Huxley - Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell
Joann Harris - Chocolat
Dalai Lama - The Path to Tranquility
J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
Paulo Coehlo - By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Alchemist
Willa Cather - My Antonia
Frank McCourt - Angela's Ashes, 'Tis
Billie Letts - Where the Heart Is
Langston Hughes - The Return of Simple
Janet Fitch - White Oleander
Benjamin Hoff - The Tao of Pooh, The Te of Piglet
Antoine de Saint-Exupery - Le Petit Prince
Robert Cormier - I am the Cheese
John Knowles - A Separate Peace
Alice Walker - The Color Purple
Melissa Bank - The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Barbara Gowdy - The White Bone
William Goldman - The Princess Bride
Wally Lamb - She's Come Undone (I'm reading this right now)

I also have several music-type books...bios on musicians and history of jazz, stuff like that.

[Double Espresso]

My recommends

George Orwell - read everything, not just 1984 and Animal Farm. His other books make commentaries on racism, imperialism etc. He was way ahead of his time.

Dr Zhivargo - it's a hefty volume, but it's a classic for good reasons

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Aldous Huxley - Brave New World, Island, and Eyeless in Gaza. Personally I thought The Doors of Perception was rubbish.

[worldsapart]

Wow. I feel so un-cultured or something. I don't have nearly as many literary novels. Oh well, what can I say? I'm a pop culture-loving kinda girl. Oh, but I must say, I LOVE Where the Heart Is, and The Princess Bride!

Tracey

PS-- I can completely relate to your book issues, candygirl. I would rather get rid of my bed to make room for another bookcase than part with my treasured books (well, maybe something not quite that extreme)

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Wow. I feel so un-cultured or something. I don't have nearly as many literary novels. Oh well, what can I say? I'm a pop culture-loving kinda girl. Oh, but I must say, I LOVE Where the Heart Is, and The Princess Bride!

Tracey

PS-- I can completely relate to your book issues, candygirl. I would rather get rid of my bed to make room for another bookcase than part with my treasured books (well, maybe something not quite that extreme)

Hey, CS Lewis is literary!! I left my Narnia books at home when I moved out of the house, but I bought the big compilation at Cost Co a few months ago. And Princess Bride? One of my all time favorites! William Goldman is an incredible writer - thankfully some of his "out of print" books are being reprinted now. Until recently, I had to go to the school library to read most of his books.

Don't get rid of the bed - you can use the space underneath for another row of books - perfect size for paperbacks to stand up along the perimeter! As long as you don't hide your clothes under the bed anymore.

[Nostradamus]

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they organize their bookshelves.

My best friend, whose bibliophilia borders on perverse obsession, uses an inexplicable shelving system that only he can understand. This results in a distinctly slapdash and chaotic style, with tomes of Egyptology next to cheap romance novels next to the repair manual for a Chevy Nova, all of them seemingly jammed into place with a mallet.

I, on the other hand, keep only one shelf of books perfectly arranged as a counterpoint to the despair and neglect of my bedroom. There aren't enough volumes in my library to warrant filing, so I keep them in a finely tuned array by size and color. The effect upon visitors first seeing the room is that a deranged circus clown lives here, but when they see that one neat bookshelf they know that this particular deranged circus clown has a core of good taste. Even if that good taste is surrounded by outdated posters and a colony of dust bunnies that has developed an advanced iron-age civilization.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

You had me thinking pretty hard to determine whether my bookfiling system borders on perverse obsession!

When I moved last year, I bought two of the HUGE Ikea book shelves plus the extra shelves. In order to maximize the available space, I did some shelves for short books, some shelves for tall books, and the majority of the shelves for normal sized books. As a result, the Great Organization I had planned had to take a backseat to where the books would fit. Luckily most of the books that belong together are about the same size anyway, but I did have to split some up due to the size constraints. That is where the seemingly nonsensical neighbors were born. I must say that it is somewhat amusing to have Nietzsche between Betty Friedan and the Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh (side note: our CDs are in alphabetical order and I love the musical neighbors that system creates!). Unfortunately, my boyfriend has quite mastered my system so sometimes he stands in front of the bookcases just browsing until he finds what he is looking for. He recognizes his books by the color of the spine.

[Paint it black]

If you want to read a truely great book, forget about what everything else that other people have written, go for Sophie world by Jostein Gaarder.
Truely it is an eye opener. Its scandinavian, what more needs said!

[Natasha (candygirl)]

"Forget about what everything else that other people have written"?

This is a forum to share ideas, not to force your views on other people.

If you think Sophie is a great book, then thank you for sharing that, but be respectful of everyone else's opinions. The fact that you like this particular book does not mean that you have to dismiss everyone else's choices.

Given what you said in the Happy Thanksgiving thread, you have very strong opinions, which you are entitled to, but you do not have to insult other people's preferences, holidays, or nationalities in order to express yourself.

[zero]

I solved all my book filing woes with the cunning ruse of giving all my books away. These days once I finish a book I hand it on - with the intention that once the person is done with it they pass it on again. My plan for world domination - Free books the world over!

If you have not read it yet then seek out Carter beats the devil by glen david gold.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

[Nostradamus]

This is a sample from my "neat freak" shelf.

The Merchant Prince by Armin Shimerman and Michael Scott

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of AS's first non-DS9 novel; working with fantasy veteran Scott was a good idea. If anything, this was too much of a page turner; the plot moves so fast I'm left wanting a fleshier ending, plus John Dee sequals. You can sense AS's Shakespearean background in the dialogue; Dee's sixteenth century insults and anecdotes are hilarious as well as believeable.

Alas, make assay, my lady Urinal. Someday you will meet a midget without a sense of smell.

[katy]

The Merchant Prince by Armin Shimerman and Michael Scott

Would that be Armin Shimerman, aka Principal Snyder? If so, that is so cool! Why did I not know this?

Even if not, books with sixteenth century insults are always worth a read. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation...

[Nostradamus]

The Merchant Prince by Armin Shimerman and Michael Scott

Would that be Armin Shimerman, aka Principal Snyder? If so, that is so cool! Why did I not know this?

The very same. Also known as Deep Space Nine's Quark, and a recurring judge on Ally McBeal. He even poses as the title character for the cover artwork, with long flowing hair prominently featured! He must not take himself very seriously, as there are plenty of small stature and hair jokes throughout.

Even if not, books with sixteenth century insults are always worth a read. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation...

You might be interested to know that the book was loosely based on a real historical figure, Dr. John Dee, widely regarded as the 007 of the Elizabethan era. And yes, sixteenth century insults are even more fun than nineteenth century prospector profanity, consarn it!

[Denie]

My guilty pleasure author is John Grisham. I know he's not one of the greatest literary figures of all time. But after a long day it's nice to come home and read a thoroughly engrossing book that I can finish in a day or less. Sometimes mindless vegetative reading is just what I need!