Lost in the Stacks: Lyn

I'm sure I've mentioned here an online Yahoo Group that I belong to (discovered via Simon as a matter of fact) that began as a way for fans of Persephone Books to share their interest.  The group has since branched out and they read widely books that are often (though not always) similar in nature to Persephone titles.  Lyn is one of many readers I've come to know through the group, and I was thrilled when she announced she had started blogging.  She is amazingly well read, as are the others who belong to the group, and I can't count the number of times I've added titles to my wishlist thanks to discussions in the group.  Lyn, who lives in Australia, blogs at I Prefer Reading.  And now, over to Lyn:

I'm a librarian who has lived in Melbourne all my life. I've been blogging for the last three years & I've enjoyed the chance to write about the books I'm reading & have a conversation with other bloggers & the people who visit the blog. I love reading classic & middlebrow fiction, detective stories, history & biography. When I'm not reading, I'm cooking, learning how to grow vegies & making life comfortable for my cats, Lucky & Phoebe.

1. Describe your library/bookshelves. Are the books randomly placed or do you have them organized in a special way?

I'm lucky enough to have four walls of bookshelves made from Tasmanian hardwood. I paid for them with part of a legacy from my Dad who I imagined looking down, completely unsurprised at my choice.  When the bookshelves went in about 6 years ago, I thought they'd last me forever but, of course, they're almost full & I've started looking at the other walls in my house, planning for more shelves.  The books I've read are in alphabetical order but my tbr shelves are organised by subject or imprint. So, my Viragos, Penguin & OUPs are together & books on WWI, literary biographies, crime fiction, Scotland & English history are also together.  Maybe I shouldn't confess to this but now that my books are on Library Thing (all 2551 of them), I know exactly how many are unread - 850 which doesn't include nearly 200 on my ereader.

2. Do you like to weed and recycle as you read or do you prefer to hold on to all your books?

I tend to weed when I'm running out of space but I really think I'm down to the core collection of books I can't live without so I'll probably just get more bookshelves!

3. Are your books confined to one area or are they spread out over your house?

I'm pretty good about keeping the books on the shelves but I'm a neat person so it's not a struggle. I keep the books I plan to read soon, as well as the books I've borrowed from work, on my desk & the books I'm actually reading on the table next to my reading chair.

4. How long has your oldest unread book sat on your shelves.

I have some books that have been here so long that it was actually before I started writing the dates in them. I think the books that have been here the longest would be some OUP World's Classics I bought when they were phasing out the cover design so they were quite cheap. They're mid 1980s editions so I probably bought them around 1988-90. They are Felix Holt, the Radical by Eliot, Caleb Williams by Godwin & Sybil by Disraeli & I will read them one day when the mood strikes!

5. What is your most treasured book?

My most treasured book would be my first copy of Antonia Fraser's Mary, Queen of Scots. I have three copies ( the others are an abridged, illustrated edition & a Folio Society edition) but there's no need to enquirre too deeply into why I need multiple copies of my favourite books. The special copy is a 1978 paperback edition in a slipcase but I can still remember buying it at Collins Bookshop at Northland shopping centre. It cost $7.95 & I sat in the back seat of the car while Dad drove home, just gloating over it. The spine is very cracked now as I read it so many times. It was one of the books that nspired my love of history & a fascination with Mary that has persisted ever since.

6.  If you could pick one "lost in the stacks/on your bookshelves" book to rediscover and share with other readers, which would it be?

This is a really difficult question. So many of the books I love have been reprinted in recent years or I've discovered them through blogs & reprints by publishers like Persephone, Virago & Greyladies. One book that I don't own a copy of & seems to be almost impossible to get hold of secondhand is a young adult novel I read in the mid 70s. The Youngest Lady-in-waiting by Mara Kay. It's the story of Masha, a young orphan who is sponsored by Grand Duchess Alexandra, wife of the future Nicholas I. She goes to the Smolny Institute, a posh girls school for the Russian aristocracy (this is told in the first book, Masha) & then, when she leaves school, she goes to Court as the Grand Duchess's lady-in-waiting. The book takes place at the time of the mysterious death of Tsar Alexander I & Masha falls in love with a young man who gets involved in the Decembrist Revolution of 1825. I loved the romance & the history. I knew nothing about Russian history & this was the book that began another lifelong passion. I read my school library's copy over & over but I've never seen a copy since I left school. So, I don't actually have a copy on my bookshelves but I would love someone to reprint it so I could read it again.

So, if you've been following this series of posts, are you like me and scan the shelves and stacks in the photos for titles on spines to see if you recognize the books (or like me, note down titles you don't recognize to look up later and maybe add to your wishlist?)?  It's quite dangerous to browse in other reader's personal libraries I'm finding!  (Though entirely a pleasure, too).

Many thanks to Lyn for sharing photos of his bookshelves and piles with us.  Check back next Friday for a peek into another reader's library.

Comments

[Stefanie]

Gorgeous bookshelves! Legacy well spent :) The Viragos and Persephones look so pretty.

[Cornflower]

Another wonderful library, and Lyn's shelves are so neat!

[Kathleen]

I love taking a peak into how people house and shelve their books. Very interesting and I shall go an visit her blog as well.

[Judith]

Danielle,
I so look forward to "Lost in the Stacks" at the end of each work week. What a wonderful way to inspire book lovers on Saturdays and Sundays to organize their book clutter!

Thank you for hosting, finding new "stacks," and encouraging the bloggers to participate. I always enjoy it.

Judith (Reader in the Wilderness)

[Lyn]

Thanks for asking me to be part of the series, Dani. I enjoy reading about other blogger's libraries & it was lovely to be asked to be part of it.

[Jen K]

I love this series so much, and every week, I'm almost drooling over the shelves. It also makes me feel like I'm not alone and not even that bad in regards to unread book piles.

[Danielle]

Don't they look nice all together like that? Ever since I started seeing all these wonderful bookcases I have been contemplating buying a new bookcase myself that would hold all my Persephones and Viragos. I think I could only manage a tall, skinny shelf, but it would be just big enough for those books...plus a little extra room for growth. :)

[Danielle]

Aren't they nice? Unlike mine that have books piled all over and every which way--very crammed. You can actually see her entire library--how nice! :)

[Danielle]

I love seeing people's spaces for books, too. I hope she has a nice cushy chair close by to catch the sun where she can sit and read amongst all her books! :)

[Danielle]

I'm so glad you are enjoying these posts, Judith--I really love putting them together and keep getting ideas for my own bookish space--I am in need of a little reorganization and might have to borrow some ideas from what I see. My own bookcases could do with a little de-cluttering that's for sure!

[Danielle]

Thanks so much for sharing your books with us--I love those shelves--and how nice that they also bring back fond memories of your dad. What better way to use a legacy. It's been fun seeing how everyone does things a little bit differently. And I hope I can do these posts for the rest of the year.

[Danielle]

Thanks! It's a treat to get everyone's answers and photos in an email--I love opening them up and getting to be the first person to peruse all the photos. Isn't it nice knowing that you are not alone in loving (and collecting!) books! :)

[vicki (bibliolathas/skiourophile)]

What a wonderful library - so organized, and I love the shelving. I really enjoy Lyn's blog, so it's a delight to see her bookish space here.

[Edith-lagraziana.blogspot.com]

Really impressive ... and awesome! I wish I had only a quarter of the space for storing my books. Last year I saw myself compelled to start piling them on the floor for lack of walls to furnish with shelves.

[michelle]

What a lovely personal library Lyn has! So neat and pleasing to the eye, too. Can't think of anything better than to have four walls of bookshelves filled with beautiful books. Am especially drooling over those beautiful Folio Society editions on Lyn's shelves!
Thanks for sharing this treat with us, Danielle. :)

[Caroline]

These are lovely shelves. All the many Persephones and Viragos.

[Danielle]

I know how well read Lyn is and have been quite curious as well, to see what her library looks like. Very neat indeed. I am pretending my excuse (for messy shelves that is) is that I just don't have enough space for book cases--which means the overflow ends up in piles on the floor...and everywhere else I can stack books!

[Danielle]

I have some very precarious stacks of books lining walls as well! I don't know how they got so out of control. I remember when most of my books actually fitted in the bookcases. Alas, those days are longer over with!

[Danielle]

It looks, too, like her space gets just the right kind of sun, too. I hope she has a nice comfy chair close by and can sit and read in that space. What a nice, tranquil thought! :)

[Danielle]

I think Lyn might actually have all the Persephones that have been published (or close to it anyway) as I think she discovered them right at the start. They look so nice all sitting together like that on the shelves.

[Kathy]

How beautifully organized they all are! I am impressed that you have all your books on Library Thing, though I would be intimidated by the number of books TBR--I don't know how many I have, so I continually buy more... Ignorance is bliss in this case.

[Karoline]

I'm really enjoying peaking at everyone's bookshelves :) I think I would enjoy a good browse through Lyn's.

I remember reading 'The Youngest Lady-in-Waiting', I too would love for it to be brought back into print

[Danielle]

I have some of my books in LT, but not all of them. I didn't tag the ones I've read, though I like the idea of doing so in terms of organizational record keeping, but maybe--knowing how many unread books I must have on my own shelves--ignorance is better. I tend to be sort of meticulous in my own record keeping--so I wish I was as good as Lyn at organizing my books!

[Danielle]

I'm so glad that people are enjoying these posts--I enjoy them as well--both putting them together and seeing other reader's libraries and book piles. If I were as organized I wouldn't constantly be looking for books I know I own but cannot find! :) I am hoping to get The Youngest Lady in Waiting from ILL--it sounds like a book I would really enjoy, too.

[litlove]

Glorious bookshelves and so neat and tidy! I'm impressed by anyone who can catalogue all their library, but Lyn really shouldn't worry about having a mere 850 books to read. I bet I can match that, and then some!

[Danielle]

I bet I could, too. Most of the books in my bedroom are unread--and I am afraid to begin counting them. Surely there can't be more than a hundred...or two... :) I like her tidy shelves, too. It would be so nice to actually be able to find books rather than constantly have to shuffle them all about looking!