"I'm unreasonably proud of our new house, and though having a dedicated library wasn't the top selling point, it makes me very happy. There are some boxes still to unpack. Most of these aren't opened in any given decade, but I refuse to be parted from them and tend to hyperventilate if I can't find one when I want it. The clock at top left was given to my father by my mother about 35 years ago. It's thought to be in working condition but he never wound it and I'm not going to break precedent."
"These are just 2 of our many bookcases, but they represent a good cross-section of our interests. At the very top, from left to right is: a Japanese vase brought back from Japan for us by a friend, my husband's 2 meter handheld radio, a tiny Japanese sand garden (with a tiny bulldozer -- it's the construction version), 2 candlesticks given us by my husband's grandmother, a sushi set, and a tin with my seashell collection.Morganna and Jrincayc's handmade crafts can be accessed at Lizbeth's Garden, or at their Etsy shop.
In the lefthand bookcase, top shelf, is my L.M. Montgomery collection, I believe I have all her books in modern paperbacks. The next shelf is game and card books on the left, and engineering and machine books on the right. The 3rd shelf down is my Alexander McCall Smith and Laurie R. King books. A water egg-timer is in front of the books. The 4th shelf is a collection of science books and atlases on the left, and guidebooks to animals and birds on the right. The bottom of the bookcase (not seen) is a cupboard and is full of the 1956 Compton's Picture Encyclopedia and some extra kitchen items.
In the righthand bookcase, top shelf, is our collection of Ursula K. LeGuin books, my collection of small cat sculptures, and a jadeite casserole dish, complete with metal stand. The next shelf is our poetry books, my collection of nesting dolls, and a cat pepper shaker. The 3rd shelf is art books, some gardening, cooking, and craft books, a book on Tibet, and some poetry books that don't fit on the shelf above. The bottom of the bookcase (not seen) is a cupboard with more extra kitchen items."
"Greetings from Finland!Kari's blog.
Most of the books in my bookshelf are in Finnish and on the most shelves they are in two rows; one behind another, so you can't see all of them in the picture. Some English, German and Swedish are there too.
Top right you can see Grolier's "The New Book of Knowledge" from the sixties. I bought it some years ago, when our library was selling away old (and never used) material."
"I adapted some unfinished cabinets that I bought at a big box store. I ripped the provided shelf in half lengthwise and then built small bookshelves to hold paperbacks and attached them to the doors. This way I can stuff more paperbacks in a small space then close the door for a neater look and keep the dust off the books. I have three of these. "
I then built a computer desk to fit the space left on the wall with the cabinets so everything fits together. You can see my monitor screen in one picture with TYWKIWDBI on screen. It's fun seeing all the different ways people keep and display their books."
"These are actually the bookcases combining my books and my husband's. The left end is (more or less) his non-fiction area, the rest of the non-fiction is pretty much mine. On the right end, almost 100% of the science fiction is his, and the rest of the fiction is mine. I read science fiction, too, but he reads it almost exclusively. Other shelves in the den hold decades worth of paperbacks."
"The first image is a very poor-quality scan of a print showing my late father, Charles 'Bud' Payne, a self-described 'steam-age horticulturalist' in his office in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe with an unnamed colleague, and roughly one third of his library on deciduous fruit. It also clearly illustrates the pack-rat gene common to many of the male members of my family."
"The second shows him in front of about one-fifth of his and my mother's general non-fiction collection. He was an amateur archaeologist, among many other things, and she a professional ornithologist and later a high-school biology teacher. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of his extensive (around fifteen metres of shelf length) fiction collection, which included a great deal of Penguin paperbacks, hence the Christmas present from my sister. The shelves are homemade and rather utilitarian, but travelled with my father through three successive households
Further images of family members with the pack-rat gene (and one rather hidden bookshelf, or rather bookpile), are in an article written by my brother Brett, the historian of my generation, in his vintage photography blog."
"We moved from Southern California to Vancouver, WA a few years ago and trimmed our belongings mightily-- distilling by donation a couple of thousand books down to the easily re-readable few. This primary case has hardback Terry Pratchetts on the top row and halfway along the second, then a mix of Christopher Moore, Eric Sloane, Twain, political, religious, history, bio and autobigraphical books, computer graphics, dog guides and a few strays. We are serious readers but not always serious stuff.
Maybe weirdly, it was the Pratchett books I was concentrating on in the photo. A dear friend hooked me on the series years ago and we've shared Discworld anecdotes, enjoyed his signings, and then feasts featuring potatoes afterwards. So those books have become a vital refuge from the almost inescapable now. And then, I didn't want to slight the other books, and that opened the framing down to include the rows below."Blogger's note: After scanning the rows below, my eyes were drawn to the top of the photo, where sharp-eyed readers may note on the bookcase the bases of some trophies. I emailed Bruce back to inquire whether they would be of interest to TYWKIWDBI readers. The answer startled me. See if you can guess/recognize what those statuettes are before peeking at the answer below the fold...
The bases on top of the bookcase are seven Emmy Awards that Carol and I received for our work as title designers (Cheers, As the World Turns, The X Files, Caroline in the City). With a partner, we designed and produced openings and graphics for over 300 tv series, pilots, specials and a few theatrical features.Addendum:
In that little corner of the industry we were able to create and pitch ideas (live action, animation, clip cuts, a mix), then produce sequences, direct, shoot, edit, animate, design logos, and work with terrific people. When we started in the late seventies everything was on film and transferred to tape and when we eased out of the business a few years ago, the last projects were pure computer graphics generated on home computers (at home) with the files laid off to digital media, not a camera in sight.
Since moving to Vancouver, WA we've only done a couple of pieces for the Portland PBS station and a pilot out of LA. This is our web site.
So that's us professionally.
"I do about two-thirds of my reading electronically or through using books on audio (nothing is better than going on a long bike ride while enjoying a good book). Over the last couple years, I have assimilated a rather odd collection of books. About half of these came from garage, library, or bookstore clearance sales.(Blogger's note: six more entries have been submitted since my recent reminder request, so I'm good for material for another month).
My favorite book on here is The Princess Bride. I loved the movie, but had no idea that the book existed at all. As in most cases, the book is far superior to the movie. It is both excellent to read to children, and delightful to read as an adult.
The far left shows my recent selection which I read to my two boys. I had to purchase new copies, as those that I devoured during my childhood were completely tattered. We're about halfway into the Fellowship of the Ring.
The far right shows my push to develop a little more self-sufficiency. We're in an area that I can do a bit of gardening, and we tend to lose power due to winter storms, wind damage, and tornadoes Much like myself, the book selection is a tad eclectic."
"I actually built this beast myself about 30 years ago to consolidate my books. Some of the dimensions were specifically for my Encyclopedia Britannica. Since then I've also added Encyclopedia Britannica year books, I have most of them back to my birth year in 1951.It now contains most of my hardback collection and odd-sized books. Lots of atlases, a shelf of religious books, my leather bound Lord of the Rings, and Science Fiction Book Club of the month selections from the late 1960s. Plus knick-knacks. This lot represents a bit less than half of the books I currently own."
"I build book cases, but I can't keep up with the books. This one in the kitchen holds the "more-frequently referred-to" cookbooks. There are five shelves' worth elsewhere. I started cooking (and collecting) seriously after designing several cookbooks. I didn't know then I'd start designing furniture. Yes, the legs do curve on both outer surfaces."
"Nope, not more cookbooks. Not too sure what's in the boxes... This case is based closely on a Stickley D-handle bookcase, so it holds woodworking books. Occasionally, it's unloaded and hauled out for demos, since I now teach woodworking."Blogger's addendum: I looked up Stickley + bookcases and found them being auctioned by Sotheby's !
Except for the books on the floor and the last shelf, bottom right (the wife's interior design books), this is my collection of photography books (mostly monographs) that I've purchased since the late '70s. They're basically like poetry books that can be repeatedly seen and contemplated depending on mood- glean what you will. I buy only those of photographers whose various styles appeal to me, not because of potential value.
All the stuffed stuff and other crap "art objects" are also the wife's. The three and one half legged cat's name is Flynn- Nelson, our one eyed cat would not participate. The Hank Hill action figure on the upper right is mine...
Phone photo by: Lisa Wood (aka- "The Wife")
"Just showing what's on my main bookshelf at the end of 2012. Not every title is legible, but it's the best of several takes. There's one more shelf underneath (containing textbooks and magazines) which I chose not to include.
Happy to answer any questions."Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
"This is my personal shelf, my wife has her own. The top row are all Icelandic books, with many of the sagas and all of the translated work of Halldór Laxness. This is an active reference for my Laxness in Translation site. There is a fair amount of modern Icelandic fiction on the second row as well; the Arnaldur Indriason mysteries, Sjón's strange novels, along with the late Minnesota author Bill Holm's evocative essay collections. The rest of the case holds music-related books (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Björk), mythology (Robert Graves, Joesph Campbell), folktales, some modern fiction (Douglas Coupland, Jeffery Eugenides, Charles Portis), a variety of art books and some miscellany. Some of the more interesting titles:
Songs of a Sourdough, by Robert W. Service (1907)
The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire, by Charles Morris
The Art Journal Volume XVIII, (1879)
After 1903—What?, by Robert Benchley (1938)
California and the West, by Edward Weston (1940)
Growing Pains, by Wanda Gág (1939)
Most of these books I look at or read fairly often, I don't keep books I won't read again."Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
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"I didn't do any tidying up, it's always a bit messy. A bookcase is a window in one's soul - I always look at them when I visit somebody. You can spot lots of atlases and historical books, a.o. about NY, Berlin. There are some photo books, books about science, travel, etymology, and even the Von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu I still have to read.Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
At the top there are two dinosaurs I made when I was (very) young."
"This picture was taken a couple of years ago when my husband and I had just moved into our first home together and merged our books collections. Not knowing how best to organize them, I went for visual appeal. So it ends up being a mix of my favorite novels (best is the Dark Tower series), his technical and 'geek' reads (tons of Make magazines on lower shelves not shown because it didn't fit the rainbow effect I was going for), and baby books since we were new parents. As you said in your post, the rest of our lives are delineated by other bookshelves in other rooms."Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
I have one entire bedroom plus my dining area dedicated to some fifteen bookshelves. My large library has always been an integral and important part of my life and identity.Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
Instead of wide photos of lots of shelves, here are some pics of my “Special Bookshelf” containing books I’ve had the privilege of having signed by the authors. Most of these are science-fiction novels and some are from famous authors that have now passed on, including L. Sprague de Camp, Roger Zelazny, and Jack Williamson, or from once obscure but now well-known guys like George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones). I interviewed most of these folks back in the ‘80s for a nationally syndicated radio show I co-produced, so most of these were personal signatures.
I also treasure several signed books on shamanism, alternative history, and visionary art from my friends, author Graham Hancock and artist Alex Grey. I’m including a pic of one of the books signed by Golden Age science-fiction author, L. Sprague de Camp and his wife Catherine. At the time I met them, he owned the Conan the Barbarian stories of Robert E. Howard and I got to go along to Cross Plains, Texas while they interviewed people who knew Howard back in the ‘30s.
Of all my possessions, I think I’d grab these signed books right after rescuing the family photos if there was some disaster.
"These are our bookshelves. Best part about our house over the last year and a half we've lived here, is not needing our old make-shift bookcases. So nice to think, "hey, maybe we need more books!"Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
"As for the books, I'll let them speak for themselves."
"Here is a picture of my book case that I lost in the floods that hit southern Alberta this year The most ironic book was the first one that floated up at me: Fooled by Randomness by Taleb - one of my favorite books.I had intended this "reader's bookcases" topic to be a couple-times-a-month feature, but the stories are so interesting that I'm eager to post them, even though I'll use up the material faster. Readers who would like to submit material for this feature will find guidelines here.
My bookshelf was a mix of finance-oriented books, good novels, knick knack curiosity books picked up at used book stores, and the occasional decoration that my wonderful wife put on the shelf to pretty it up. Lately the bottom two shelves were full of children's board books and early readers. I have finally gotten my oldest interested in reading Tolkien and hopefully Bradbury and Asimov soon. It is going to be fun going to used book stores to discover these books again.
In total the volunteers that helped me lift all the useful and useless memories out of my basement lifted thousands of books - God bless the volunteers that lifted my textbooks out. They were heavy enough lugging to classes, but full of water....
The things I was sad to see go were: my Economist magazines - I saved the ones that were 'historical,' culling them every couple of years; my small print finds like a collection of 22 proactive Canadians in the spirit of Bob Edwards; and compilations of Economist papers that I had personally compiled from all the AER tombs and painstakingly photocopied and bound for seminar course reading lists.
Really though I just realized that this bookcase was memories, and sooner or later it and the books on it were destined for a dumpster. The friends that came to help muck it out in the goo and stink and lift the water-filled books and couches up a lot of stairs ... well those I was glad to have. Heck of a wake for all those books."
