What's on your bookshelf?

[Brian G Turner]

Good idea: let's all crash round to Mariannes one day for a "reading week".

 

[littlemissattitude]

Good idea: let's all crash round to Mariannes one day for a "reading week".

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[rune]

I couldnt list all the books on my shelves, even though I have had a clean out lately
I have about 150 books, all fantasy novels and always on the look out for more

 

[Devillishgirl]

I couldn't even begin to list...I have well over 500 and had to promise my husband I'd stop buying books until we bought a house with a library. Minus fiction & poetry, I mainly own books on history...pre-bolshevik Russia, English and Irish history. Several biographies(I'm obsessed with Rasputin, don't ask) and text books from college round out the collection.

 

[polymorphikos]

1.Brian Aldiss: Hothouse, All Summer In a Day (anth.)
2.Edwin L. Arnold: Gulliver of Mars (Lieut. Gulliver Jones: His Holiday)
3.Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
4-23.Edgar Rice Burroughs: Tarzan 1-5, Martian series 1-9/11, Beyond the Farthest Star, Pellucidar 1-3, Caspak (all), I Am A Barbarian,
24.Richard Calder: Malignos
25.Lewis Carrol: Alice in Wonderland
26.Cervantes: Don Quixote
27.Michael Crichton: The Lost World
28.Phillip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
29.Kenneth Graeme: The Wind in the Willows.
30-31.H. Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines, She
32.Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Identity
33.Herman Melville: Moby Dick
34.R. L. Stevenson: Treasure Island
35.Bram Stoker: Dracula
36-37.Graham Greene: Travels With My Aunt, The Honorary Consul
38-39.R. M. Ballyntine: The Coral Island, The Gorilla Hunters
40.Samuel Becket: Waiting For Godot
41.Terry Brooks: The Elfstone of Shanara
42-43.John LeCarre: The Tailor of Panama, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
44.Agatha Christie: Ten Little Niggers.
45.Pinnochio
46.Marriane de Pierres: Nylon Angel
47.Frederick Forsyth: Day of the Jackal
48.Alex Garland: The Beach, The Tesseract
49.William Golding: Lord of the Flies
50-51.Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley's Game.
52.D. H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers.
53.Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Chronicles of a Death Foretold.
54.Eric Paice: Buccaneer
55.Anonymous: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
56-58.Tennessee Wiliams: A Streetcar Named Desire/ The Glass Menagerie/ Sweet Bird of Youth
59.David Zindell: The Broken God
60-73.Ian Fleming: The Complete Bond Books


That is two of six pages of my fiction section. Not up there with Marianne, maybe, but some day... My goal in life is to collect the world's largest selection of non-crap books.

 

[rune]

I would find it hard to list every book on my bookshelves Got about 200 after giving 50 horror books away earlier this year

Most of my books are fantasy, with some dark fantasy
I have anything from a lot of books by the following authors or just one of their books (trying to get more)

Tolkien
James Clemens
Robin Hobb
Mark Anthony
Katharine Kerr
Sarah Zettel
Philip Pullman
Tanya Huff
Chris Wooding
China Mieville
Alan Dean Foster
Christopher Golden
Raymond Feist
Terry Brooks
Terry Goodkind
Anne Bishop
R.A Salvatore
Ian Irvine
Louise Cooper
Jim Butcher
Elizabeth Haydon
Elizabeth Lynn
Lian Hearn
Trudi Canavan
Jonathan Stroud
Greg Keyes
Deborah Chester
Sarah Ash

 

[Princess Ivy]

too many, and growing all the time. somehow i always manage to really need.... whichever book is in the book club. hahaha.
i've collections of eddings, maccaffrey, prattchet, adams. reference books thrillers... i'm having a clear out at the moment. no books in it though, but i'm clearing out so that i can get more book shelves in.
Shhhhhhh, don't tell my husband

 

[Shoegaze99]

This question can be answered literally - as in a list of those books you physically have in your collection or figuratively with a list of those books you would like to have in your collection or a combination of the two.

I can't do this.

Here's why: Two weeks ago, my order came in from Staples. It was 11 bookcases.

Those 11 bookcases will fall about two short of what I need to actually have everything shelved, if my estimates are correct. (This does not consider children's books and my graphic novels, both of which I would like to shelve if possible)

This is why when my wife and I had our house built, this was included:



My future library. (The bookcases are temporary until the customs are built)

 

[Leto]

Now, I'm officialy green with jealousy. I'd dream to have my own library instead of having my books scattered all around the flat, the basement and the garage, and my parent's house in South of France.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Our house is another one of those where all the available wall space tends to go for bookshelves. Except at the moment, a lot of books are packed away due to my husband and youngest daughter's ongoing house remodel.

The books on my own personal bookshelf (actually three bookcases joined together) in my own private writing space (which would get packed away for months at a time ONLY over my dead body) are all either fantasy novels, or books about fantasy, or on subjects related to the writing of fantasy: history, mythology and folklore, magic, alchemy, etc. Right now it's even actually organized enough so that I can find things.

There is more of all of the above in the bedroom, along with quite a bit of science fiction, and a sprinkling of other kinds of fiction. This part is totally disorganized, and I regret to say that not all of it is actually on shelves. (Maybe someone could start another thread entitled "What books are piled on your floor?" and see how many of us blushingly reply.)

My husband's new study (formerly a small bedroom) is crammed full of books on history, medieval military history and weapons, archery, theater, and film.

The books that are packed away form a more eclectic collection, though the fantasy, science fiction, and history elements are definitely predominate. There are also a couple of bags full of the westerns that my late mother favored.

In my eldest daughter's room, it's a collection of fantasy, horror, and mystery novels.

Still, there are times when I can't find anything I want to read.

 

[Shoegaze99]

Still, there are times when I can't find anything I want to read.

I can certainly relate. The more "stuff" I accumulate, the harder it becomes to decide what bit of "stuff" I want to enjoy. I’ll buy books several at a time, read one or two, and then rotate out one or two of the unread books as I buy more. I just … must … buy … more.

The same holds true for most “stuff” I buy. The fact that I'm a pack rat doesn't help.

Video games, for instance. Not counting emulation (through which I have thousands of games), this is my collection. (Scroll the pages to see them all). No, I don’t have the time to play them all … and when I do want to play a new game, deciding which to grab is often impossible. There are just too many choices.

Give or take one or two recent purchases, these are my DVDs. And I can’t even begin to list my albums, which between CD, vinyl, and cassette numbers at about 2,000, with maybe 500 digital albums. The CDs alone take up the better portion of a wall in my living room, with the DVDs next to them. There are times I KNOW I want to listen to music, and yet all I can do is stare at this mass of albums, lost.

I tend to be very stingy with large purchases, agonizing over spending the money. Instead, I destroy my budget in drips and drabs, $10 at a time. All of this stuff is a solid ten years of buying stuff, except the books, which took longer.

 

[LadyFel]

I only just saw this topic...I think it would take me a week to name them all...

We have mainly fantasy, some dictinaries and thesauri and a load of classics such as Dickens, Austen etc...They're all over the place, our combined collection. I also own a couple of roomfulls in Split, but they're awaiting shipment to Zagreb as soon as we get a place of our own

I sort of see myself enlarging my collection of children's books in the near future

 

[Tsujigiri]

My lady and I have a collection of over three thousand books. We've been together for a while now and have the oak shelved study...which is overflowing...the boxes in the attic, shelves in the hallways and stairwell, shelves in the bedrooms (all of them) and books stuffed into the map holders in the doors of the car.

The oldest book we own is a 200 year old, leatherbound and locking bible. Although the lock no longer functions the book itself is beautiful. It sits behind glass on the shelf where no one goes without loosing fingers.
Same place where I keep early copies of other works as well as some fairly expensive hand made weaponry.

Following in her parents footsteps, my daughter has a shelf oozing books in her bedroom and pesters continually for more.

E-books? We don't need no steeekeeng e-books!

 

[Shoegaze99]

E-books? We don't need no steeekeeng e-books!

If you're going to be involved in online discussion about specific subjects and/or authors, e-books are wonderful. I used to participate in a lot of Tolkien discussions, and having Tolkien's works in a searchable PDF and/or text document was a godsend AND helped broaden my Tolkien knowledge.

 

[Tsujigiri]

If you're going to be involved in online discussion about specific subjects and/or authors, e-books are wonderful. I used to participate in a lot of Tolkien discussions, and having Tolkien's works in a searchable PDF and/or text document was a godsend AND helped broaden my Tolkien knowledge.

It was humour......I have e-books for just that purpose, but they will always lack the feel of a genuine bound book.

Of course...the pages fall out less.....

 

[rune]

I just realised that if I hadnt given away so many books I'd probably have well over a 1000 on my bookshelves. Nope, when I think of it my bookshelves wont hold a 1000 books, most would be boxed somewhere

I try to be very strict with myself and only keep my favourites. Though my favourites are creeping up

 

[stencyl]

Most of my books are currently at my office and in storage. I'll be busy arranging them and sorting out the ones to donate or throw out in two weeks when my house is finished.

I have about 6 bookcases worth: three for sci-fi and lit, one for philosophy and history, one for poetry and criticism and one for reference. I have a few shelves of old and signed copies: A signed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, a 100 year old Divine Comedy, a few old editions of Hemingway, a signed House Harkonen, and others. I also have boxes that won't fit one my shelves.

I'll finally have a first floor study to house them in.

 

[rune]

Got an awful choice Need to make room on my shelves and have to think if there are any books I have that I'll not read again


I tend to sell on the books I wont read again and only keep my favourites, unfortuantely not been buying many books lately I didnt want to keep.

Does everyone else have this problem. Not wanting to let go of books, despite knowing you'll probably not get around to reading some of them again?

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well, there's certainly been occasions when I've bought a book, given it away thrown it out (and then bought it again about 3-4 yrs later to read again! D'oh! )

To carry on with the general trend, I could not list the books I have as I would get RSI and this forum is already fast on the way to crippling me as it is!
Short list of my re-readable favs:

Lots of Harry Turtledove stuff
Nearly all of Terry Prachett's stuff (I don't buy the compendiums or diaries though)
5 or 6 Myth/Phule novels by Robert Asprin
Dayworld series by Philip Jose Farmer
10-ish David Gemmell books - Jon Shannow series, Druss the Legend, Stormrider series, Dark Prince series
7 or 8 Raymond Fiest - riftwar & serpentwar series
4 or 5 David Eddings books (the early stuff, mind you!)
10-ish Douglas Hill books - Last Legionary Series, Colsec series, Master of Fiends series & Fraxilly Fracas series
A song of Ice & fire series - George R R Martin
Uplift series by David Brin
Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
A few dragonlance books by Margaret Weiss
Several Battletech novels by various authors

And that's enough before I bore myself. Lots & lots more than that but those are the ones I currently keep close to hand for moments of boredom!

One of these days I will sit down a do a database for all my books but so far, everytime I've tried I keep stopping to read a book!

 

[Novocaine]

Ah, I just moved into my new room so I have minimal items on my bookshelf:
1. Harry Potter Books 1-4
2. Sea of Trolls
3. Eragon
4. Sabriel
5. Lord of the Rings
6. The Hobbit
7. The Atlas of Middle-Earth