Book Tour

Since I was recently asked how I store my books, and since it's Friday and I'm feeling frivolous, here's a little book tour.  Most of my books are kept here in my book room.  This is a small room (appearing smaller no doubt because of the angle of my camera), perhaps 12' x 12'.  It opens off my living room.  I'm literally standing with my back to the opposite corner (and am on a chair so I can look down on the piles).  The cinder block shelves to the left hold NF titles--biographies, women's studies, and travel books mostly.  The piles next to that are hardcovers and mysteries that I posted about a few days ago.  And the bookshelf on the right has lots of fiction.  And those books are double shelved--meaning there are books behind the books.  As you can see I am very cramped for space and books long ago overflowed the shelves.  In a world where I was wealthier, this would be a bigger room, I'd have enough shelves for all my books and it would be much more aesthetically pleasing.  However, beggars can't be choosers.  I'd love to give the room a makeover, but in order for it to be more attractive, I think I would have to seriously weed out books to make space, and I just can't bring myself to do that.

This is the other corner (the bookshelf I just mentioned is to the very left--you can see the edge of it).  This taller bookshelf has most of my classics, my Viragos on top, along with some of my Persephones, some reference books and most of my Dorothy Dunnett collection.  My classics have overflowed on to the floor in front.  The shorter shelf on the right has poetry, plays (not many of either I'm afraid), short story anthologies and books about books, as well as my Horatio Hornblower books, and novels about King Arthur and Camelot.  And, yes, the carousel does move and play music.  It was stored here during Christmas and needs to be returned to its correct home.  I'm afraid I didn't take a photo of the opposite wall.  It only has one small bookcase (books on Italy and coffee table books on top) as my niece has a large stack of toys in front of the books and I was too lazy to move them.  There is also a closet on that side and the doorway into the room--so not much to see really.

This bookcase is in my bedroom, so all the books are unread.  It has gotten far too full and I need to move some of them downstairs to my bookroom.  I wish I could say all the books in my bookroom have already been read and enjoyed, but they haven't.  Many, many have been read, but...do you see why I always have so many books started?  The two stacks on the top of the bookcase and on the left are more classics.  The middle stack is NF.  The next stack is the rest of my Persephones and fiction, and the stack on the far right is all new hardcovers (well, some are not so new anymore--I hate it when I don't get a book read and it comes out in paperback, which is why I've been so addicted to the library--better to borrow those new books from them!).  The books on the shelves themselves are mysteries and more NF.  I've also got some books in the floor to the right that are hiding.  There's a window next to the bookcase, and it has yellowed some of the edges of the books--I hate it when that happens!  The bin on the floor holds some of my needlework.  And oops, meant to move that cat toy!  No doubt they cats were lurking in the background--not in the mood to be photographed.

And this is my nightstand, which you've seen before.  This used to be my grandmother's table and she also kept books stacked on top and on the shelf below!  My grandmother was a great reader (though I think she was mostly very fond of Regency romances!).  The stacks on the right and underneath are nearly all fiction, but there's some NF as well.  The stack on the left are all books that I've gotten from the UK.  I'm not at all sure why I've segregated them (in my bookroom they're all mixed together).  There's no reason they can't happily commingle.  Things are on the messy side, I'm afraid.  You'll have to forgive me, I wasn't expecting company!

Comments

[Ashleigh]

Wow! I really don't know what else to say! Luckily funds and the idea of hauling everything home when I'm through here has kept my book collection to a pitiful 13, only 6 of which I bought when I got here (4 of those books will be donated when I leave) and 2 which were gifts. That is why I treasure libraries!

[Lyn Baines]

I feel so much better now, Dani! Seriously, you have a version of my trouble, I think. What do I read next? Sometimes it's so paralysing I can't start anything at all. Yet, I can't stop buying books, especially bargains, when I see them. One day I will read everything on my tbr shelves, and I'm sure you will too.

[Sylvia]

Whoah. Good thing you don't live in earthquake country!

[Andi]

I looove seeing pics of other people's shelves!! I'm itching to look through them closer.

[chartroose]

This is amazing, and it's also pretty cool. Now all you need is a bigger house to put all these books in!

[Jodie]

I love when you post pictures of your reading stacks. Once I move into my own house I hope to create something to rival them ;)

[Dorothy W.]

Very fun to see all your books! We've got ours spread out throughout the house, some in the living room, and some in our two studies, so they don't make such impressive looking piles. I like the way your nightstand looks -- it's cool to have so many books on hand for reading before bed!

[Dark Orpheus]

I am so impressed by how neatly you stacked those towers of books. Breathlessly envious!

[Jeane]

Wow, that's staggering. How do you find books that are in the middle or behind stacks? Do you remember where all the titles are? I can never double-stack mine because I get anxious if I can't see them all well! I thought I was pushing it at 490 books, but you've obviously beat me out on that account.

[Wendy]

Wow, impressive stacks! Mine are quickly getting to this point too :) Actually, you don't really need a bigger book room...you just need somebody who is handy with tools to build you bookcases that go all the way to the ceiling (and then get one of those adorable little ladders that slide around the room!). See all that white space between the books and ceiling? You have plenty of room left!!! Now you know why my friends call me an enabler ;)

Thanks for the fun post!

[Litlove]

This was so fascinating! What is it about other people's bookcases? And how I would love to have a really good poke around your collection, Danielle. Your nightstand is just so cool. I must show the picture to my husband and see whether he thinks he could make me anything similar!

[Jaimie]

Wow Danielle! You have alot of books! I love your pile of unread ones, now I don't feel so guilty. Thanks for the tour!

[Danielle]

Ashleigh--Some years ago I lived in Austria (after graduating college) and I was in the same predicament as you. I think the books I owned there I could fit into a backpack and still have room left over. It was too expensive to buy new books, so I found a place with used books and would buy or trade books I hadn't read. It was a weird selection (I read lots of Margaret Atwood, Stephen King and Rita Mae Brown! amongst others), but I managed. I wasn't going to school, and I didn't have access to any sort of library (though the books would have been in German anyway). This is what happens after you've worked in a bookstore for ten years and then own you own house! :)
Lyn--I can't stop buying either, though I am better now at getting used books and buying at library sales! It can be hand choosing. I have all these mental lists, but I never seem to get to them as I get a library book or something new and it always throws me off track...
Sylvia--Ha. Isn't that the truth. It's terrible when piles topple over!
Andi--I should have made the photos so you could enlarge them, but I don't think I hit the right buttons. I'll try and go back and fix them.
Chartroose--I wish. I would probably just buy more to fit the space! :)
Jodie--Since living in my own house (much larger than any apartments) they have grown to fit the space and then some!
Dorothy--I'd like to spread mine out more, but I'm in a household of nonreaders and I think it'd make them feel claustrophobic. It is nice having so many books right by the bed--too bad I can't stay awake long enough to read more than two pages every night!
Dark Orpeus--I could be neater actually...the stacks tend to hold each other up.
Jeane--I am pretty good at remembering where a book is. I have them divded by subject, but I do forget sometimes what's behind the books on the shelves. And the piles in the rear can be problematic. And I've yet to ever find my copy of The Stone Diaries.
Wdndy--I'd love to have those sorts of shelves. That's what I've always wanted. And glass over some of them, too, the kind with doors that open out...
Litlove--I like looking at other people's bookcases, too. You can learn so much about a person by the books she reads! And I think my grandfather might have actually built the table for my grandmother. He was a very good carpenter. The bookshelves in my room (the real bookcase) he built for my older sister, but when she moved she couldn't take it with her, so she gave it to me and I've put it to very good use.
Jaimie--Nah, never feel guilty! I wonder if I actually now have more unread ones than read ones...better not to contemplate this...

[Susan]

I love that nightstand.

My cats would destroy those neat stacks without a moment's notice.

[Smithereens]

Wow, I now feel so ridiculous with my concern of having too many books before the baby comes! I guess Mr. S and I have about 1/10 of what you kindly showed us! You could open your own public library...

[kimbofo]

I thought I had a problem with books. Now, having seen your shelves, I realise I don't. I probably have 1% of what you have!! ;)

[PamelaHD]

And I thought we had alot of books. I would love to have a bookroom - we have book cases in every room but the bathrooms.(There the books are stacked on the counter.) You're far more organized than I am too. When I look at a shelf, I never know what I'm going to find. Makes it hard to find a book I'm looking for, but I'm frequently surprised by something I forgot I had.

[Jill]

I think it is time for me to invest in bookshelves as my household has books sprouting in stacks by the baseboards. You have quite inspired me!

[Simon Thomas]

Amazing!
What a lovely place - books absolutely everywhere. I feel quite under-booked now... though mine are spread out in two cities, so each one looks contained.

[sassymonkey]

Hahahaha! I just showed your pictures to my boyfriend and he said, "Oh dear. You might be getting ideas now..." ;-)

[iliana]

I wanna come play at your house - you got lots of books :)
I loved the book tour Danielle!

[Danielle]

Susan--I usually strategically lay a notebook or something in front of some of the stacks to keep them diverted. I doesn't always work, but I try. I do keep the door to my bookroom closed though.
Smithereens--I've often thought that, too--I could open a lending library. What would I do if someone didn't return something through?! :) If you feel like you have too many books, you could always stack them under the crib? Or maybe not! Good luck sorting that out. Babies don't take up much room at first, but they will later!
Kimbofo--Yes, there is always someone with a worse problem than you (so there is someone with a worse problem than me, which makes me feel better, too)! ;)
Pamela--I often forget what I have as well, and it can be fun looking through shelves and rediscovering books!
Jill--There was actually a time when all I had was two bookcases--both full and one stack of books on the floor next to one of them. I'm not quite sure what happened...(well, actually I do know...).
Simon--Eventually you'll be able to join the two groups of books and introduce them. It would be hard though, don't you sometimes get in the mood for a book that's in the other city?!
Sassy--No doubt inwardly he's thinking Thank God you don't have THAT problem! :)
Iliana--After posting this I took most of my library books back to the library (except the ones I'm reading and two I plan on reading for sure) thinking how I need to read more of my own books! :)

[Juliette]

You are very brave to show your library. I am not the only one! That is so refreshing to know. I have piles upon piles and almost every day I sit in front of one of my stacks .... just feeling happy that I will always have something good to read. Only book lovers really understand.

[Simon Thomas]

Yes I do, Danielle! It must be like in the war, evacuating one child to the country and keeping one in the town... am I being over-attached??

[3m]

Excellent! I love seeing books like that. Your nightstand is way cool.