Welcome to my wee little book room. As you can see it is crammed tightly with all manner of books. You may not be able to tell from this photo, but the bookcase to the right (which my grandfather built), is leaning precariously forward. I rarely sit in front of it...I can imagine how the obituary might read...death by literature. I doubt it will fall on its own, but I dare not tempt fate. Of course the problem is that it is entirely overloaded with books. On each row including the top, there are books behind the books you see! This is what comes of working ten years in an independent bookstore.
This "bookcase" (sorry, I am no carpenter), replaced one that was ready to fall over. It is very sturdy, but not terribly attractive. You ask, "have I read all these books?". My answer...I am working on it. I have read quite a few of them, but not all. I also have a small bookcase in my bedroom, and several stacks near my bed. There is a continual shifting of titles up and down as something falls out of favor (and goes...down), and something else peaks my interest yet again (and is brought...up). If I haven't perused my stacks in a while, I like to go and shift things around, and I can find books I have forgotten about. It is almost like going to a bookstore, but without spending any money.
Yes, there is still more. This comes from working in a bookstore, as well as having been an Art History major in college (well, there are actually more art books on the floor opposite). There is a nice round "oreo cookie" chair to the left of this, which is to the right of the wooden bookshelf. To the right is a tiny closet, which happens to be crammed with, yes, you guessed it--books. This is where all my cookbooks and old textbooks are. It tends to be the mystery closet as I also have plastic bins with books that I can never remember what they contain.
Okay, whew. This is the last little bookshelf. It sits between the closet and the doorway. The books in the shelves are all my books on Italy (I have a soft spot for Italy--it gets its own bookcase!). But there are yet more hardcover books sitting atop it. I consider these my before pictures. The room is in dire need of being completely reorganized. I hope to undertake this project sometime this summer. It will mean moving the leaning tower of books. The thought of pulling all those books off the shelf is somewhat daunting as there is not much room at all to move around in there. I think the chair will have to go, and I have a nice table to add instead. Anyway, I will let you know when the revamping has occurred!