Daan's shrine-topped bookcase

"I moved to my current house 2,5 years ago and because its a smaller place i had to throw away alot of books. This is what's left. The most important ones are still here. At the top is a little shrine with stuff thats important to me from my parents and grandparents who all are no longer here. 

At the bottom shelf left are 8 Don Quichotte books bound by my grandfather during WW2 while he was hiding from the Nazis because he was Jewish. He survived. The rest of his family was murdered in Auschwitz."

Bob the Scientist's collection of green Penguins

"In tribute to your complete set of Agatha Christie, I'll share my Green Penguin = Crime bookshelves. I'm working on the assumption that there may be less interest in the Orange Penguin = General Fiction shelves and the Blue Pelican = Non-fiction ditto. 

We'd been collecting second-hand paper-backs since we were students in Dublin the the 70s. But things took off I went to Grad School in Boston in the early 80s and we'd often spend Saturdays cruisin' the Western 'burbs in an enormous Ford Galaxy with my boss and his wife. I was then collecting foreign language dictionaries and atlases in case any future children need to prep for their Grand Tour but it was hard to resist rescuing too many books [25c for hard-cover, 10c for p-backs] from the dumpster. When we returned to Europe, 10 USPS sacks of second-hand treasure followed us by book-post. 

The matching paper-back bookshelves are old wooden fish-boxes salvaged from the tide-line of many sandy beaches. Those boxes have all been replaced by plastic, which is better for firewood than books. 

As it happens the younger of those future children is even at this moment reading Peril at End House [Ag.Christie 1932] beside me on the sofa. She has, what with DuoLingo and Larousse Online, no interest in the several French dictionaries I picked up in the last century. Time to declutter. Salut!"

Blogger's note: for the other colors of Penguins, see Karyn Reeves' bookshelves.

John Farrier's bookcase

"I built this bookcase with my sadly now-estranged father. So it has a poisoned sentimental value. But so much of life is asking and answering, "Now what?" when bad things happen. My answer here is to keep the bookcase.

I have several bookcases that I share with my wife, but this one is all mine. The works of Richard Adams (of Watership Down fame) are prominent, as is the obscure comic book series Ninja High School.

I maintain what I call my "personal canon" -- a list of stories that are meaningful to me. To re-read one, such as Adams's Shardik or Diane Carey's Battlestations is to center my soul."

Lars' bookshelves

"I live in the house my grandparents bought in July 1929.  It was already over 100 at the time of their purchase.  If there is any common thread to my bookshelves, it is this: built-in. 

The panels that form the room facing side walls of the bookcases were from a massive pocket door.  I recut it to keep as much of the original stain/varnish as possible, then stain-matched modern hardwood plywood and vintage oak to complete the shelving.  It now houses board games and a collection of comic collections and coffee table size books; the other end holds photo albums and some items still in boxes that we hope to home properly in the coming year.  Beneath is a leather seating area with 2 side cushions atop a twin mattress to accommodate 2 readers sitting feet toward each other with a view of the squirrels romping on the grape arbor out the window.

Nearby is the smallest bookcase - a little space formed between a recently installed  faux raised panel alcove sized for a 1916 upright piano and a pocket door to the stairwell/front entry.   Currently only holding a Finnish English dictionary, collection of DVDs, and a plaster sculpture my grandfather made and my mom modeled for.  Intent is to use the incomplete bottom space for housing some forward-facing children's books in reach for our granddaughter to discover when she visits.  The organic shaped shelves were cut from salvaged maple shelving units discarded from my work -  academic building - in a lab remodel.

Upstairs.  At the head of the stairs, a narrow floor to ceiling shelving unit that rests on a wall within the very solid structure of one of the main bents of the timber frame. this is inboard of the earlier bookcases my grandfather installed.   These shelves are very early IKEA units purchased from the first IKEA store located beyond the Nordic countries (Germany) and shipped to USA in the 1970s.  

This shelving system  holds many of my pop reading pleasures and a portion my brother aptly named "The Incendiary Bookshelf." Here I house some of the oddities that were among my grandparents' many books.  L Ron Hubbard's Dianetics, pamphlets on surviving nuclear attack, socialist & communist tracts, Anne Frank's Diary, U.S. constitution, my copy of Local Literary Hero Nabokov’s Lolita  and... trigger warning... texts of Adolf Hitler. Neither of those were from my grandparents collection, but rather turned up in boxes my mother received in her role as library book sale coordinator.  I culled these from that event to see what was inside.  Only made it 90 pages in before I was so repulsed I could no longer tolerate turning a page to read what was printed.  I did not want these to end up in locations/hands where they could be held in high regard. As such, I have them flank Anne Franks diary and sit adjacent to the Socialist texts in a “dead letter bin" of sorts.  

Lastly, the bookcase that faces into our bedroom and is similarly housed in one of the main timber frame bents of the house.  These shelves were built from a vintage cabinet that once was used for the faculty mail slots in the Cornell physics department near my offices.  The cabinet inner partition dividers were made of stained tulipwood with grooves to hold thin tulipwood dividers for each slot. Cut down, those now support glass shelves for display and solid wood ones for books.  Housed here edge of left side upper shelf is a book I found on my parents shelves.  Had never seen it until my 30s.  It was inscribed to me at my birth by my grandfather as the first of many books I might someday own.  Glad we opened that cover when going through their collection."

Mistress Harley's bookshelves

"So obviously I'm an adult content producer, not that you'll find anything having to do with my business in my bookshelves. I'm an avid reader of everything from comedic fiction, to comic books, to sociology, history, and religion to name a few.

What I love about my shelves is that they combine everything I love- antique volumes sit next to signed copies of the funniest things I've read, the Histories of Studs Terkel nuzzle up to the Tin Tin comic books of the late 80s.

What most people would never assume about me is that I have a Masters in Library Science, I think my shelves say "Librarian" way more than they say anything else..."

Mistress Harley's blog is here.

Ruth Beaty's bookshelves

"Here is mine. You can't see the roughly ten boxes in the closet behind it, lol. The boxes of books next to them are the books I'm going through to see if I want to get rid of or keep. I've done this twice before, once after we moved to Oklahoma from Washington state three years ago, and once after my husband died a year later. Went from a three bed house to one bedroom and a kitchen (my son's house). Life shrinks as we age, just not our figures. I'm getting ready to weed again as there are still some duplicates and I only keep ones I might read again, a few sewing and craft books, and many graphic novels, a genre I've come to enjoy."

Peter Meitzler's bookcase

"It was almost 2 ½ years ago that our 2-unit apartment building was sold and the new owners immediately gave us a 30-day eviction notice so they could proceed with their plans for turning the building into a single-family dwelling. The upshot is we quickly threw everything we owned into a storage unit and embarked on what is now a series of year long temporary arrangements that amount to renting/caretaking furnished houses while their owners are away on adventures.

This has meant being mostly cut off from my considerable collection of books (and much else). I visit them on occasion at the storage unit and have kept a selection with me, mostly books that are on my “want to read” list or books that I like to have available for reference (primarily gardening and native flora and fauna books). Consequently, I am trying to squeeze as much into one small bookcase as possible, which is fine, but I also notice piles of books growing in various corners of the cottage in which we are currently living. It has been interesting to discover which books I want with me while also learning to appreciate the many books that are packed in boxes in that cold, dark storage unit located in another town. It is not out of sight, out of mind. It is more a comfort knowing that they are there waiting for a reunion, with the hopeful realization of my dream of one day having a room lined with bookshelves filled with all those books."

Dan's bookcase

"This a photo of one of my bookcases which also serves as sort of a cabinet of curiosities. This one is filled with books about mountaineering, exploration, and adventure. I also have three bookcases of engineering books and one that is fiction plus military. I've been thinking about the bookcase in the photo because I need to get rid of all these books.

In the image going clockwise around the bookcase you see on the left some boxes of seldom used engineering books. On top is a tortoise shell dad picked up in the Mojave Desert in the 1950's (He was a field topographer for the USGS). A 1956 California license plate that my brother gave me (I was born in Idaho in 1956) and various family photos. There is a globe and on the far right a bookcase of engineering books.

At the top of the left glass door is a couple of pictures from climbing trips with my son and below that a photo of dad with a transit in Antarctica. In the bottom you can see the flag from dad's service (WW2 USAAF) and a model of the Tiwanaku Gate of the Sun that my daughter and I made - also a pink elephant she made.

The center door has a photo of dad in Antarctica, a death Ride sticker (did that with my son), an old photo of my son, an old photo of my daughter, and a photo of the Sno-Cat dad lived in in Antarctica. The skull is a racoon.

The right door has two photos of some kids I met in Bolivia. Regina Mamane, her little brother Masianseno and their baby sister.

The little dog is Sadie and she has a Lamb Chop toy.

The bookcase came from San Jose State University were I studied and taught engineering from 1975 until 2013. They were throwing the case away so I took it. It was likely built in the woodshop at San Quentin. There were a lot of oak desks and chairs made at San Quinton but they weren't popular with the faculty and staff who seemed to prefer cheap new furniture."

Addendum: An update: I had a mountaineering book dealer come by and he took all the books in the case and left me a check for $3500. The case is still there and is now full of engineering books. My health is good besides the dissected aorta and I still go rock climbing. I have made many lifestyle changes including quitting the stressful parts of work like testifying in court as an expert. I am still working and making money evaluating the seismic safety of buildings. I will probably retire within the next few years and the engineering books will go to younger working engineers. Sadie the dog is still a very happy little dog.

Lois' bookshelves

"Here's a picture of my “bookcase” in my basement office, which is a little unusual. The shelves are on wall brackets and many books are in boxes, because I had a flood in my basement 10 years ago and vowed never to put a book on the floor again. The boxes are because in an emergency they can be easily carried. The shelves were a little long, so I arranged them this way to make them fit. Note that nothing touches the floor!

As far as content, I am a Christian author who writes about the Jewish context of Jesus and the Bible. Some books on that wall are commentaries, some are on Judaism in general, some are Christian authors."

Kay in Tampa's bookcases

"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."

Addendum: updated from 2013...

"We moved house a little over three years ago, and while we still have the white bookcases shown in the photo you reposted recently, they are configured differently and in different areas.

The attached photo is of half the bookcases in our "studio", and the ones on the left represent all the science fiction paperbacks my husband has purchased and read since he switched from comic books at age 14. They are double-depth, and roughly in alpha order by author. This year he decided to re-read his way through Heinlein and we had all but two titles on hand. Thank goodness he switched a few years ago to borrowing from the library.

I started using an app and website called Libib. I've catalogued our entire library with it, so when I'm at a bookstore I can quickly check to make sure an attractive title was not equally attractive in the past and already on our bookshelf."

A "crèche" of Penguins

A portion of the 2000-volume personal library of Karyn Reeves, who writes "A Penguin a Week."  She has an excellent blog; if you share her enthusiasm, there is a Penguin Collectors Society.

And I can't resist contrasting her bookshelves with this stack on a wall (original credit unknown) posted at Book Porn:

Karyn is not to my knowledge a reader of TYWKIWDBI, but I wanted to pay tribute to her collection in this category of the blog [sadly, her blog seems not to be accruing any new posts, though the old ones remain up].

Alphonsine's bookcases

"I like books and I have always dreamt of having a library. My husband fixed ours up in an attic. Obviously, our books are arranged by topic : detective novels, novels, textbooks, children's books, DIY, etc..." 

Alphonsine blogs at Des noeuds dans mon fil.

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."