The Weaving One's library

"This is my library - the room I promised myself when I was just learning to read and realized I wanted my own books, not hand-me-downs or loans from the library. The only change I made for the picture was to shift my reading lamp out of the way.

Fiction (the first four shelves) is sorted by author, by publication date, except for Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series which are in best-guessed chronological Darkover time, and the Star Trek books where author doesn’t really matter. Reference, non-fiction, and YA are on the fifth shelf, and the sixth shelf holds books I haven’t read yet. I read one, decide whether I keep it or not, and then shelve it or send it away. I don’t buy many paperbacks any more - I find them too difficult to read since my eyesight is poor. It took a long time, but I can now not finish a book. I don’t have time to read bad books any more.

I keep books I want to revisit, and I rarely lend - I don’t think I ever got past the selfish “this is my book and you can’t have it!” stage of my development. Too many not returned, or even worse, returned damaged. I’ll buy another copy and send it to someone if I really think they’ll love it.

The chair belonged to my mom’s mother, the rugs belonged to my father’s. The shelves are filled with treasures acquired on travels, at auctions, or (in the case of the Star Trek ephemera) gifts from friends and family. It is the only room in the house that doesn’t have a computer, stereo, or working timepiece. The clock on the top right was rebuilt by my dad, but I’ve never been able to get the weights re-adjusted so it runs anything but slow, so I wind it once a year just to keep it exercised.

What most people don’t know about me: I’ve been poor enough to go hungry but still found money to buy books. I have books I read at least once a year. I can read a peperback a dozen times without anyone being able to tell it has even been open. I have another book shelf in my living room with several of those green grocer bags stashed next to it - the bags are so if the house catches fire, I can get the books on it out of the house before everything else goes. And yes, I’ve timed it."

---The Weaving One