31 December 2020

Celebrating the end of 2020...


 ... with a Far Side cartoon from back in 1981.

The bookcases of Frenchfarmer & The Shepherdess

"Brown bookcase is really old stuff.

The big brown book lying down is a bible from 1640 something, the row of five at the top is a 1902 dictionary of the bible and three books to the left is a set of the Ordnance Gazeteer of Scotland dated 1883. 
Yellow one is more modern.

Velikovsky, Berlitz (Not too sure about him.), Rennes le Chateau and lots of stuff written in old french and la Langue des Oiseaux (Bit like Cockney rhyming slang but using French puns etc.).

The attic ( Not shown) has loads more from our childhoods etc."

Shane's bookcases


This photo shows three of the six book cases in my anti-library. The first is primarily fiction, the second primarily philosophy, and the last being business.

I spend between $200-700 a month on books and donate the ones I don't think I'll need anymore to the local elementary school.

The last book I bought was Why Societies Need Dissent
Shane blogs at Farnam Street.

Grace in Canada's bookcase

"Though more "assorted stacks" than organized library, the bookshelf closet in my childhood-bedroom-come-study came to mind. Predominately reference books and assorted curiosities it is but one of the many book nooks located around our house."
"Barely visible in the upper left is my favourite in the stash and the only on this shelf that are not reference. Three miniature books of prayer rest under a kitsch figurine of a monkey who sits thoughtfully on a ceramic book with DARWIN inscribed on the spine. The occupied japanese take on Affe mit Schadel by Hugo Rheinhold perhaps?"

Mike and Rayne's bookcases

"My wife and I have wanted a bookcase in our house since we got married, and with the purchase of an old house several years ago, we finally had a place to put one - in, of all places, the kitchen.

We designed the floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and they were built by a local Mennonite cabinetmaker who does excellent work. Now we finally have a place to put many (most) of the books we have accumulated through the years.

The bookcase is L-shaped, with a window (and window-seat) in the middle. On the short side are my science fiction (top shelf), fantasy (2nd shelf), non-fiction, textbooks, biographies, and history (3rd-5th shelves), and below that childrens books and toys. On the other side are our "books to read", classics and 2 shelves of cookbooks. 
On the right side of the window are my construction and house repair books (top shelf). The red-covered books on the 2nd shelf are the 11 volumes of The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. Probably the best history books I've ever read.

Most of the rest of those shelves are books of a self-help or religious nature, along with some audio books (including the history series Story of the World - History for the Classical Child) and foreign language courses. Below are my daughters drawing and coloring markers and papers. More craft stuff is in the cabinet."

Kevin's bookcase


"I've got a nice comfy library with 7 built-in bookcases made of maple, a lot of art, and a secret door in a photo niche that leads into a theater. Most of the shelves have modern books. There's a science fiction section, medical/biology, text books, etc. The one above has a lot of 19th century science and engineering books. That's kind of my thing. Another case has other 19th century things like history and literature sets."

Brad's bookshelves

"The bookshelf in our house was made by my father. He's an electrician by trade but has always enjoyed woodworking as a hobby. He also made our coffee table (not pictured).

Top Shelf: This is the cartoons, graphic novels and art shelf. Lots of Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes. Sprinkled in are some instructional books on print making, watercolor and encaustic. Encaustic is pigmented bees wax which is melted and brushed onto a sturdy surface.

2nd from Top: Speaking of encaustics, this shelf has 4 examples of it from the class I took over the summer. These are painted on ceramic tiles and cardboard. Behind them are books on architecture. Some are written by architects, some are about architects and some are technical steel manuals. My wife and I met while earning our degrees in architecture; after a great purge of text books this is all that remains.
3rd from Top: Behind my painting of atomic bomb explosions are fiction and non fiction books. Topics include famous people, religion, food policy, dystopian science fiction and polar exploration. Also featured is "Wormface", a re-purposed children's book from the thrift store. This shelf also has a civil war bullet and family picture albums.

4th from Top: Science fiction and fantasy mostly. A jar of pebbles which I don't know the significance of and a Bible. There's also an empty x-acto blade box.

Bottom 2 shelves: This is a portion of my board game collection. I tend to put my favorites here that have nice artwork or impressive (often historical) subject matter, like the Cold War (Twilight Struggle), the Austrian Succession (Maria) and the French and Indian War (A Few Acres of Snow).

On the Chair: A small pile of books I just finished about Shackleton's expedition that I haven't figured out how to fit on the shelf yet.

Boxes/binders on floor to the left: I have no idea what these contain."

Laura's bookcases

"Our three-part library starts here, in the bedroom, on our fancy Home Depot particle-board shelves. They bow a bit, 'cause our studs aren't ideally placed, and we have too much media. Our books are mostly contemporary fiction, with some literary nonfiction and my grandmother's poetry books thrown in. These shelves have the first part of the alphabet: Louisa May Alcott to Carl Hiaasen, as well as some photo albums. You can see Shelly, my childhood Cabbage Patch Kid, staring at you benevolently from above. The shelves on the right have our CDs"
"Above is the weirdest thing in the house: my grandmother shrine. My grandmothers were both admirable ladies, so I decided to non-obviously memorialize them here. The white cloth is a khata, a Tibetan ceremonial scarf. I presented it in greeting to a lama, who blessed it and gave it back. The riding crops belonged to my maternal grandmother and are from Libya, where the family lived when my mom was young. The one in front has an iron spike in it. The silver coin purse belonged to my paternal grandmother. Inside are some Tibetan blessing pills given to me by the lama; I was supposed to swallow them, but I decided to do this instead. What does a secular humanist do when presented with sacred pills? She uses them to build a grandmother memorial.

To the right is the middle part of the alphabet: Homer to Jhumpa Lahiri, with heavy representation from John Irving and Stephen King. The bookshelf belonged to a former roommate. Note the attractively displayed cans of cat food.

This final section has the rest of our books. John LeCarré to Jeanette Winterson, as well as some reference and travel guides. The shelves were a wedding present from my mother-in-law; they're custom made by a local craftsman. Rob the cat, looking weirdly huge, supervises."

Craig's bookcase

"This is the bookcase that we installed several years ago on a side wall of a passage from one room to another in our circa 1930's house.

We have quite a range of materials and subjects. Among others, the shelves contain works by:

Top shelf: Doris Lessing, Brian Jacques, Karen Armstrong, Salmon Rushdie

2nd: Umberto Eco, Orson Scott Card, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford

3d: Lewis Thomas, Chaim Potok, George Eliot, Douglas Adams

4th: David Brin, Robert Heinlein, Sigrid Undset, Loren Eiseley

5th: kids chapter books: Paulson, Blume, Cleary

6th-8th: Thomas Pynchon, Bill Bryson, Margaret Atwood, Umberto Eco, Douglas Hofstadter, Bill McKibbon, E.O.Wilson

... along with many other classics and science fiction and science or history."

Eric's bookcases

"Three shots of my collection. Two views are necessary to show the 35+ year pile of (mostly) paperbacks I have amassed. I have read all but the top three shelves in the right-hand photo. Those are the 10-year backlog of Unread Books....

The bottom three shelves are "non-science-fiction" titles... mostly detective and adventure/thriller types. All the rest are of the general category of Science Fiction & Fantasy. Regrettably, with the advent of the Internet, my book reading has greatly slowed. Too many Salted Peanuts online...!
The third picture is of my shelves of old reference and history. Might as well keep my 1980 Britannica; the InterT00b might go out, and I will want to look up Amphibia... Also shown: (tan and red) Science and Invention set. Lower level left- (dark blue) The Story of the Great War; right- (green with gold lettering) 1927 History of Nations. A few other items... circa 1900 Unabridged dictionary ... some Fringe Science / Fringe Technology publications... maps and atlases... Do I get a frosted cupcake from the Greek bakery for my Horrendous pile?"

30 December 2020

Mama Bean's bookcases

"We have three shelf units, which were a wedding present. These two are in our family room. The left is one of the fiction units. It holds my husband’s Conan and fantasy books collections, a few shelves of our favourite series and novels, one shelf of things yet-to-be-read. In the bottom cupboard are the young adult novels (I don’t think I’ll ever stop reading YA literature,) and then my shelf of university/college texts (Chemistry and Chiropractic.) The right unit is the nonfiction one. The top shelves hold our bible collection, Calvin’s commentaries, and Luther’s sermons, and another shelf of miscellaneous theology books. (And some leaf art by myself and my daughter, and some keepsakes from the Northwest Territories, where hubby grew up.) The bottom cupboard holds more theology and religion books. There is a centre shelf of relief (lol) with our comics and art/museum books. (The unit not pictured has more fiction, including the Grisham collection, some books on gardening/home improvement, the photo albums, and my piano/choral sheet music collection.) "

"The second pic is our Children’s hutch, found in the same room on the wall facing the other units. The top shelves have the poetry books, the Tag Reader books, Little Mr/Miss books, Berenstein Bears, Little Critter, this behaviour series from when we were children ourselves, and the storybook collections/classics. The lower shelves have two bins of puzzles, a box of their daily daycare crafts, a shelf of “paper books” (with real pages) and two shelves of board books. They have almost outgrown those. My husband was just saying the other day we don’t have enough books for them. Thank goodness for the library!"

Anne in Alaska's bookcases

It is great fun to see the bookcases (and collections). My house is decorated in bookcases and maps, for the most part. In our humid climate, bookcases are against inside walls only.

Here are topically organized shelves, Chess set (tournament size) on the top, then some theory books, mountaineering guides and reports, bicycling, geology and ecology. 
Full length shot of the pine board bookcases built by DearHusband, decades ago now. This one is filled with favorites (Nevil Shute and Robert Heinlein on top shelf, and Make Way for Ducklings and Paddingtom Bear on the bottom)
Shakespeare, Owen Wister, TH White, Madeline L'Engle (new addition - that's a graphic version).

Hundewanderer's bookshelves

Hello from the Sunny Southwest - Arizona.

The photo shows a portion of our bookcase. At the top are stuffed animals from my daughter and son's childhood with a few cherished family photos.

On the center shelf are 1-1/2 rows of random books I intend to read. With few exception, I tend to donate my books after I've read them. I enjoy historical fiction and books in a series.

On the bottom shelf are books in a series by Clive Cussler that I'm collecting and saving for "someday" after all the other books have been read. The black/tan German Shepherd stuffed dog was a gift (I have a German Shepherd dog), and the red dog has traveled the US with me as I chase helicopters for work. The two pieces of pottery (1 green and 1 tan) were hand made by my late cousin. The wooly lamb was a gift from a dear friend living in the UK.

I'm currently reading "Shogun" by James Clavell.

Best wishes from Hundewanderer.
Lots of photos of Hundewanderer's dogs at her website, and some clarification about her "chasing helicopters" here.

Dumpsterkitty's bookshelves


"I need to start with the humblest shelf-the corner one in my bedroom [right photo]. When you first started this thread, Stan, I knew I had to participate… you pointed out your Agatha Christies... mine are on the second shelf. This one holds many of my well-loved paperbacks, 2 shelves are 2 deep. I must re-read some…I was wondering where In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall had gone.

The bedside table [top] holds the Harry Potter collection. I finished my last re-read about 6 months ago so they need to rest for a while. Birds, giant pandas, Craftsman homes…all subjects for a little light reading when sleep won’t come.

My late husband and I built the double bookcase in the living room. The American Brilliant cut glass was a passion we shared. The top right books are his… his textbooks sharing space with Dante, Homer, Hawking, and Einstein. I guess it’s a bit of a memorial shelf…the canisters are the ashes of my cats Nub and Inky. Next down are the collecting and handy-person works.

Of the rest I’ll just note where I find myself reaching over and over again…Isabel Allende, birds, Sherlock Holmes, needlework, Tolkein, Angela’s Ashes, Memoirs of a Geisha, Tutankhamun on many covers, Gone With the Wind, Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck.

Thanks for letting me share a bit of my world with all of you…"

Evilhayama's bookcases

"My shelves have a decent number of books my wife and I are both into - Comics, Japanese Culture, and Japanese Comics so we have even more of those! We are also hoarders and never sell things so there’s a lot here from a loooong time ago.

Top photo: Left shelf is my wife’s manga collection, mostly in Japanese. Also a shelf of video game art books. Right shelf is non-fiction, mostly art and cooking related. Small overflow fiction shelf peeking in there on the right. Ancient anime collection on top.

Second photo: Large format comics on top, start of fiction section on the bottom.

Two photos side-by-side below: Rest of the fiction featuring the obligatory Pratchett section, and our collection of english language manga. Ran out of space here so longer series are doubled up."

William Richards' e-books

"These devices together represent about one hundred books—so far. My library ranges from Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo to Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy to Walter Hunt’s A Song in Stone. (Forgive the shameless self-promotion as they are all open to my own book…).

Bit by bit—literally as well as figuratively—I am converting my library over to digital. My paper books have become worn out. Most of them are paperbacks. Many of them are so old, the paper has become brittle to the point where pages can crumple away when being turned. It is not uncommon for me to open a book and end up with half a book in each hand. Also, I tend to travel quite a bit and slogging across a city with ten pounds of books in my backpack is not pleasant. Gone are the days of trying to decide between underwear or one more book in the suitcases.  My physical library is spread among several boxes and crates, rather than on bookshelves, due to the lack of space.

Switching to digital books is not easy. It is very uncomfortable at first, much like switching from one computer operating system to another. I spent over forty-five years holding books in a certain way; getting used to holding an ebook reader took time before I found a comfortable position. Presentation of your library on an ebook reader is not as nice as looking at a bunch of books on a shelf and selecting one; you have to flip through a list of titles before you get to the one you are looking for. All that aside, reading on an ebook reader is just as enjoyable as reading a paper book.

It really isn’t necessary to have more than one ebook reader. The reason I have so many is I use them as guinea pigs to test out the layout of a book before releasing it for sale. While an ebook should ideally render the same on one device or another, invariably the differences in how each device renders the text makes it necessary to test an ebook on each device to ensure that it is really working correctly. The devices pictured are the Nook Simple Touch, Kindle Paperwhite, iPhone 5, and the Kobo Glo. (Note: the Kindle is showing the cover image of my book, not the text. That’s why it looks hazy compared to the others.)"

David's bookcase

"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."

Morganna and jrincayc's bookcases

"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.

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."
Morganna and Jrincayc's handmade crafts can be accessed at their Etsy shop.

Kari's bookcase in Finland

"Greetings from Finland!

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."
Kari's blog.

29 December 2020

Cathy M's repurposed-cabinet DIY bookcases

"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."

Hogie's bookcase

"I was inspired by Nolandda's bookcases to submit one of mine. I was actually more curious about the bookcase he mentioned that wasn't there - the one with the D&D books and boardgames.

About a year ago we converted our living room into a 'board game room', and this is one of the shelves I have set up storing some of my board games. I was fortunate to work with a colleague years ago who had a zeal for board games. These weren't the same board games I grew up with, but more recently designed games he called 'Euro' board games. These types of games reward smart play, engage everyone, and have clever game mechanisms. I've been hooked ever since.

The best thing about these games are the memorable experiences they create and I'm glad to hear that these types of games have become more popular in the past few years. It's my hope that people will unplug more from their electronic devices and have some more real face time through these games.

A few games that you may find interesting: Campaign Manager 2008, a 2 player game based on the 2008 US election. Pandemic, a co-operative game where you work together as a group to find cures for spreading diseases around the world. T'zolkin, the Mayan Calender, a 'worker placement' type game that has multiple gears that rotate throughout the game. Power Grid is my personal favourite, an economic game that has a bit of everything. A worthy successor to Monopoly!"

Hallam's family's bookcases


"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."

Roy's bookshelf

"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.

 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."

28 December 2020

Bruce and Carol's bookcase with Emmys

"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 of books, 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...
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.

 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.

Capewood's bookcase

"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."

Steve Miller's bookcases

"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 note:  I Googled Stickley + bookcases and found them being auctioned by Sotheby's !]

Stan B's bookcases

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")

Nolandda's bookcases


Right bookshelf - more "serious" (i.e. pretentious) stuff
  • Right bookcase, top shelf right : Only surviving photo of my maternal grandparent's wedding.
  • Right bookcase, top shelf left : A photo of my paternal grandparent's wedding.
  • Right bookcase, 2nd shelf from the top : literature. Here some mingling of my lovely and brilliant wife's books is evident.
  • Right bookcase, 3nd shelf from the top : Philosophy, religion, etc
  • Right bookcase, 4th shelf from the top : Languages (German, Spanish, Latin), travel guides, photo of vacation in Puerto Vallarta
  • Right bookcase, 5th shelf from the top : Some non-fiction and Tolkien for some reason. A telegraph sounder I picked up at an antique store for 20 USD. Photo of wife's grandfather.
  • Right bookcase, 2nd shelf from bottom : photos of wife's family, fossilized trilobite.
  • Right bookcase, bottom shelf : Textbooks that might be useful as reference some day. Here the wife's neurology / psychology books have begun to creep in from the right.
·  Left shelf - More guilty pleasures:
  • Left bookcase, top shelf : Mostly general si-fi. Other misc stuff. Notebook used to record borrowing from my shelves.
  • Left bookcase, 2nd shelf from top : Marcus Didius Falco series (Lindsey Davis), Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)
  • Left bookcase, 2nd shelf from bottom : Misc books, stack of dense European Literature left by Dutch exchange student
  • Left bookcase, bottom shelf : Graphic novels / comics
·  Of course the Dungeons & Dragons stuff has its own bookcase in the back (with the board games) where it isn't immediately visible to visitors as these shelves in the parlor are.

Adrian's bookcase

"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."
p.s. - a video like this is a quick way to create documentation for insurance purposes in case of fire, flood, tornado, or other biblioholocaust.

27 December 2020

Professor Batty's bookcase

"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."
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