Picture 1, at top, is a set of shelves in our living room. Left side contains the westerns I've read. Right side has John D. MacDonald, and series such as "The Survivalist," "The Destroyer," "Perry Rhodan," and "Doc Savage." The middle shelves are "selected" To Be Read books, meaning they are on top of my list for my next book to read. Although this often changes. Note my autographed copy of a picture of Losira (Lee Meriwether) from Star Trek: The Original Series on the bottom shelf at the right side. Now do you believe that I'm a geek?
Picture 2 at bottom left is a selection of my secondary "To Be Read" pile, which grows and grows. Picture 3, bottom right, is a built-in bookshelf to one side of our fireplace. The top two shelves are my stuff. The bottom is Lana's.
There's nothing like a peek at someone else's bookshelves. I love to look at them. It's not only the books, but even the way they're arranged and categorized that give us all kinds of insights into our friends. Or so we like to think. Autographed pictures of Star Trek people? Come on, who said you were a geek? :)
ReplyDeletewow so your books are a lot more organized then mine... Maybe I should get on that it would more then likely help cut down on the "Damn it where is that book" search I have every day...
ReplyDeleteyeah, i was gonna say... my books are in four-foot tottering piles all over the common area and den and in five-foot stacks on every table, desk, and counter space. it's pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteLisa, hum, I guess I should be careful which other book piles I show.
ReplyDeleteSarai, I've been a librarian. Plus, I refer to my books all the time so have to know where to find them.
Moonrat, sometimes they say an organized book shelf is a sign of a sick mind. well, I don't think they've said that but maybe somebody should.
Anyone with bookshelves is a soulmate, Charles!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought I had a lot of books! You have more. :) And yours are organized!
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I thought was how well organised
ReplyDeleteand then
Ohhh! Star Trek!
(I used to have a crush on Mr Spock when I was around 12 - my parents were horrified!)
I have a black hole under the stairs where the majority of my books rest. Every now and again my husband threatens that no more books are coming in until some leave...
Dang Charles -- that's a huge bunch of books to be read. I love it! I hate that feeling when you're looking around for the next great read. I'm lucky -- found a book of Truman Capote's letters that I forgot I had! So that's my reading this week. Love the froggy doll on Lana's shelf!
ReplyDeleteLovely bookshelves.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of my private library before all my "wives" seized them.
Now I have to realy on poor memory for anthologies of Paris Review interviews of the greats such as
Joyce Cary, W.H. Auden,William Faulkner and the like.
I especially like Joyc Cary's comment: Your plan: bad. God's plan: Wonderful.
Everyone; Yes, the bottom shelf in the 3rd picture is Lana's, but the biker teddy bear is Charles'. ;)
ReplyDeleteNote, too, that this is only 3 pictures out of 10 total. Charles is a chronic bookaholic.
Aw man....
ReplyDeleteThis was such a cool post !!!
Art by any and all means in my eyes. It is like looking at an arsenal of the mind. Fantastic!!
Great post. My book pictures wouldn't look as good. Most are still packed in boxes from a move a few years back. I guess I need to get off my ass and organize them. But then, there's always more new ones to deal with. What to do? What to do? Sigh...
ReplyDeleteThis post really kindles my imagination..... :)
ReplyDeleteLee Meriwether . . . did you watch her in "Time Tunnel"? I loved that show.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of separating the "TBR soon" books from the rest of the TBRs. I might try that myself.
My first thought was, "Lee Meriwether? But, she was my favorite Catwoman!"
ReplyDeleteHow big a geek does that make *me*?! :-)
Enjoyed the shots of the nature walk that you and Lana went on.
ReplyDeleteAw, Charles, now you've left me with a major case of shelf envy. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the literal, towering TBR piles on the floor! It's obvious you don't have cats.
ReplyDeletei absolutely love it!!!! Have you seen mine? (scroll my pics you'll find them eventually haha)
ReplyDeleteCharles,
ReplyDeleteI do think any of the discussed makes you a geek. There is something to be said about a well read man. I think your wife knows what I mean.
Too often we hide things like these. I rather enjoyed it. Makes me feel a tad better knowing that there are others that have books everywhere.
T
David, agreed. And we have so many great nature areas around where we live. I love getting out and walking.
ReplyDeleteBarrie, the curse of an ex librarian.
Miladysa, Lana and I debate that fact that all books which come into the house automatically become mine. She seems to disagree with me. Pshaw.
Michelle, yes, I like to know that if I'm in the mood for SF, Mysteries, westerns, classics, or whatever, that I have choice between a number of possibilities.
Ivan, I don't think I've ever seen an unlovely bookshelf.
Lana, the biker bear likes your frog.
RRN, those were actually some of my smaller sets of bookshelves. The ones in my office are the largest and fullest.
Julie, books will do that for me too.
Shauna, separating them like that was probably just an excuse to fiddle with my books, which I love to do. I did see Meriwether in Time Tunnel. She signed my photo with "I am for you, Charles," which is the phrase she said in that Star trek episode.
Steve Malley, she was my favorite Catwoman too. Pow! Wham! Geeks Unite.
Kate, you poor thing. But, uhm, you can't have any of my books.
Candice, no cats. And I have stacked my books higher but they keep falling over.
Sheila, I don't think I've seen your shelves. I'll check 'em out.
I love bookshelves. Yours are so neat! :*) Mine will be neat one day, right now, they're in plastc bins because I don't have room anywhere else right now. :*)
ReplyDeleteCenterfolds! Sweet!
ReplyDeleteThousands of words are worth a few pictures, ehh?
Glad to drop back by. I haven't had much time to blog, lately, between work, illness and yadayadayada, but hey, it's worth it when one steps back into the realm.
Keep on truckin'! And the book reviews were pretty good, too.
My book collection is probably a quarter of the size, but its potent. That's what counts, (besides numbers) right?
ReplyDeleteCharles, I have just read your entry on 'The First Page' contest. I know the name is not exactly that, but I think you know what contest that is.
ReplyDeleteI've read it, have not read all the 400+ entries, I read like 5-10 and skimmed like 20, and liked yours quite much!
To be honest, there was one tiny thing I did not understand, though: in paragraph 6 Morris talks about being kidnapped and taken to the forest.
Why does he refers to a forest as a national forest?
Is it an American way of saying...?
I mean a simple 'forest' would have just done as well.
For me adding 'national' makes it weird.
Yes! SicksickSICK!
ReplyDeleteSo neat and tidy and organized.
~gloom~
Hope you can wade through the swamp. Here the swamp's frozen over . . . must skate carefully . . .
ReplyDeleteCheers on the amassed books!
Tara, I always feel comfortable when I'm in a house with books. I am always bothered when I see a bookshelf in someone's house and it is filled with "videos."
ReplyDeleteDemon hunter, the main reason to have a house is for bookshelves.
Eric1313, yeh Eric, you just keep telling yourself that about the small but potent book collection. ;)
Szelsofa, I'm glad you liked my entry. As for the forest, I identified it that way because I had a specific forest in mind and it's offically named The Ozark National forest. It's going to play a prominent role later in the book.
Bernita, I have a hard time believing that you are so disorgnized. Methinks you doth protest too much?
Erik, as long as I don't have to carry all my books through the swamp I'll make it just fine.
ReplyDeleteHa! Charles, you'll be opening your own library soon.
ReplyDeleteI understand that you had one specail forest in mind and it feels nice that this forest comes into the play later on.
ReplyDeleteI also acknowledge that 'Ozark Nat'l Forest' is its official name.
But do people really, really call it a 'national forest'?
I mean if one's captured/kidnapped and is forced to dig one's own grave - does one have enough brain capacity to call the ONF in its long name?
Perhaps, it is part of Morris character...
But an average guy would just say: 'your brough me into this bloody awful forest'. Perhaps, Morris is not an average guy, I don't know about him.
Neither do I about speaking habits, that's why I asked.
(Sorry for that, I hope you don't mind)
I'm afraid to separate out the "to be read" books because the pile would be too overwhelming. (I got at least 10 review books last week-- gulp). I guess it's good I'm the only book worm in my family (though my daughter is starting to qualify) or we'd have piles like your and Lana's all over the place.
ReplyDeleteMichelle; On the back of the frog's vest is a Harley logo & the words; "Kiss Normal Goodbye." I love it. :)
ReplyDeleteDanette, but then that would mean letting other people fondle my babies. I don't know if I can handle that.
ReplyDeleteSzelsofa, good point. It is the way we commonly refer to it in the area of Arkansas I'm from. We talk about going hiking or hunting in the "national forest," not the forest, because there are many forests around. But folks outside that region might not recognize that.
SQT, for me it's mostly an excuse to play with my books.
Lana, my bear loves your frog.
I think I get it now: it is a habit of Arkansas people to refer to ONF as a 'national forest'.
ReplyDeleteThank you for making it clear.
And you are right: non-Arkansas people might find it strange.
Now that's my kind of place. Mine are totally full, and we're still trying to incorporate Pam's library with mine. Hers isn't as extensive and is mainly reference books for art and sculpture.
ReplyDeleteWe've had to start keeping our "to read" books underneath the coffee table.
Charles; My frog loves your bear, too. They're sitting in front of that poetry book so they can read to each other after we've gone to sleep. Awwwwwwww. :)
ReplyDeleteSQT; I don't have any piles of books--they're all Charles'. I have just one bookcase & a couple of shelves of my own (since I gave away most of my books in the process of a few moves.)
ReplyDeleteMan you are neat! Are you a Virgo? You should see how crazy messy my book piles and bookcases are.
ReplyDeleteSzelsofa, gives a nod. Yeah.
ReplyDeleteLana, awwww toooooo
Travis, I recently got more bookshelves and so was able to spread stuff out a bit.
Ello, I'm a libra actually, but for some reason I don't have the libra messiness.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have a Yahoo Group dedicated to Losira. Losira was played by Miss America beauty queen Lee Meriwether, who also starred as Miss Kitka aka Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie. If she's a favorite TOS babe/woman of yours & you're interested, drop by & join the following group...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Losira_Lee_Meriwether
Live Long & Prosper!
twstrekfan2008
I have over a thousand books, and I've had to buy some of them three times due to stripping down possessions and moving across country twice. I refuse to get rid of any more books except ones I dislike. So I have piles and shelves and piles on my shelves too. I recently posted pics of my shelves, so it must be that great minds are thinking alike! :)
ReplyDelete