As an avid reader who married another avid reader, I’ve resigned myself to my house always being a little dusty and my friends never wanting to help me move.
My house is pretty much a way-station for books. I read mostly in paperback or hardcover, and I almost never reread books. As a result I have stacks of books waiting to be read and then stacks of books waiting to be donated or shared. I used to hang onto to every book in case I needed it again, but that became quite unmanageable.
These are my two big shelves, which as you can see, feature a lot of fuscia. I have my Edith Layton romances (which I do reread and won’t part with) as well as a bunch of romances and mysteries I haven’t read yet. My organizational style is “shove everything in there as best at possible.” The binders in the lower right contain all my knitting patterns. I have four of them.
These are my husband’s shelves. Our books basically fall into three categories: my books, his books, and the books we read together. These are mostly his books. He refuses to part with his books for any reason so some of those are sci-fi and fantasy books from the Sci-Fi/ Fantasy bookclub from the 80’s. Remember the covers with the really busty women with big hair and a tiger skin bikini? He still has those. They are glorious.
Also there’s a framed black and white picture of Simon Baker in the top right corner. That’s mine. My mom gave it to me for Christmas. She gets me.
These books are also my husband’s. This shelf is devoted to his gaming manuals and my old style guides up top. Because you can’t be an English major without style guides.
Last year I bought some floating shelves and hung them up in the bedroom. Most of these are my books, but in the upper right shelf you can see the books we’re going to read together. My husband is dyslexic and it takes him a long time to finish a book. We started reading together when we were first married; I read out loud, he listens. It always gives us something to talk about, and there are authors that we have to read together. If he were to read the next Dresden Files without me (or vice versa) it might be grounds for divorce. We read Steampunk, some sci-fi (although I don’t like hard science fiction), fantasy and mysteries together. We’ve got Ready Player One, The Martian, The Suicide Exhibition and Raising Steam in the TBR pile, plus some others. Right now we’re reading The Kraken Project by Douglas Preston.
And more floating shelves! More romance novels! More owls! I’ve been searching for Downton Abbey-ish books lately so I’ve got some Daisy Goodwin and Judith Klinghorn waiting for me.
This shelf sits on the top of our staircase and right now contains mostly books we’ve read together and my Mentalist DVDs. We both really liked David Weber, although we agree that the Honor Harrington series has floundered majorly.
You’ll also see some China Miéville and of course, Jim Butcher. Photo bomb by Dewey. The disturbing Leprechaun is a Chicago Blackhawks lawn ornament my husband got in a Secret Santa at work, and we believe he guards the house from evil spirits.
Those are gaming dice in a vase that my husband says are way less stupid than decorative stones. Whatever.
Those are the actual bookshelves, but I’ve got books everywhere. Here’s my bedside table with what I’m currently reading or just finished. It also usually contains 2-3 pairs of glasses. I own five pair. Dewey has found that if I’m not getting up immediately at 6 a.m. to feed him, he can brace himself on the bed and shove the entire table over.
This is the side table next to my spot on the couch. It contains all the books I just grabbed at the used bookstore, a few new releases, a flask (currently empty) and usually my knitting. The mug is filled with pens, crochet hooks and double-pointed knitting needles. Perfect for stabbing yourself when you’re not paying attention.
And this is the stack currently waiting to find a home. Basically we use my dining room table for everything except dining. There is always a stack of books there as well as the usual junk like mail. But the books are the best part because I walk in the door, set down my purse and go “Books!” It’s the first thing I see.
So now you know what my collection, and my tchotchkes, looks like. I think one of the best parts about being a reader is that you can surround yourself with books you love, just like old friends.
That and it’s an excuse to always hire movers and to have a perpetually dusty house.
Given that I frequently move with the military, I tend to giveaway my books after reading. I have two bookshelves with keepers. My husband also have two bookshelves of military history, puzzle books, and humor books.
I also giveaway books on my blog which I receive from conventions – I store them in “under the bed” plastic bins, grouped by genre and then alphabetically.
I have a dusty house no matter how many books I have!
Another dusty house owner here. My books are spread out all over: a tall bookcase in the hall,a five-shelve utility closet, the top of said closet, a built-in cupboard in the hall, a small bookcase in the living room, the lower shelf of an antique library table, the nightstand, and any available space on my desk.
This past winter I finally donated a lot of books, just so the house’s foundation wouldn’t start crumbling. The dust is more noticeable as a result, so that’s my bad.
Holy moly! Dice in a vase instead of those blue glass thingies! BRILLIANT! I’d always know where my dice are for a change. And the threat of drowning beneath dead flowers may keep them in line and rolling well….
My eyes hurt.
Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to read every single title in each photo.
Anyone know how to lose that habit? It’s kind of awkward when I visit a house for the first time and people try talking to me and I can’t even hear them over the gloriousness of exploring unknown shelves.
OTOH, I did realize that Kleypas’s Hathaways are all in one picture, just by colour.
Elyse! I love your bookshelves! I totally want to come to your house and borrow books from you and your husband. I was straining my eyes trying to read the titles LOL
I love browsing other people’s bookshelves, especially geeky types 😀 I just got into the Dresden Files recently and have been alternating them with historicals, also a new discovery since I’d only read romantic suspense and early paranormals many years ago.
I may have to borrow the floating bookshelves idea for the remainder of my antique book collection. The books are stacked, and dusty, in the family room.
I will ‘fess up to a little eyestrain. I have The American Heiress on my keeper shelf and piles of glasses everywhere, too. Thanks for sharing!
Umm, I will be using a vase to hold my husband’s dice from now on! My four year old loves to play with a few (about 10) that Daddy gave him. And, btw, stepping on those is almost as painful as stepping on Legos. However I find the rest of his dice all over the house and at risk of being sucked into the vacuum. Into a vase they go!
Thanks for the tour of your bookshelves, Elyse; I always love to see what books others have. Move the Martian to the top of the stack for the next read aloud with your husband; it’s truly a fun read. I read it alone, and then my husband and I listened to it on a road trip. He described it as “porn for engineers.”
I… recognize a LOT of those books. Also the knitting and books everywhere, although I will say that having a child has broken those habits pretty well. Also I think it’s awesome that you and your husband read together. I might have to try that out.
Thanks for the tour, Elyse!
So, these scifi covers, are we talking Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell type stuff? I LOVE their work. I’ve never been much for reading scifi, but I could look at those covers all day long.
I’m so glad that your husband’s dyslexia did not cause him to hate reading. I know a couple of adults with dyslexia and while they struggle through when they have to, they hate it. I feel so bad for them.
My brother (an absolute genius,) never learned to read well enough to enjoy it. His comprehension is sky high and he can read well enough to follow directions and work things out but again he hates it for pleasure reading. He can read repair manuals all day long. And, I guess in some ways he must enjoy that, but fiction is beyond him.
I cannot even imagine.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Raising Steam when you’ve read it. I had to put it down about 100 pages in–I love Terry Pratchett so much and his last few books, for obvious reasons, just didn’t hold up. All the sads!
For glasses, have you discovered the wonders of online vendors? I love Zenni Optical because I can get a pair of glasses for $30, so when the cat chews on THE LENS it’s not a horrible disaster, just a pain. (I have like 6 pairs of glasses on my bedside table because they’re so cheap I just randomly buy multiple pairs at a time. (Protip: you can tint them as sunglasses as well–I match the lens tint to the frames (so, green frames with green lenses), and get loads of compliments.)
Celia Marsh, yes, Zenni’s is a great source for glasses. The important thing is to have all the specific dimensions saved someplace. When it was time for a new pair of computer glasses, I just ordered the same frames as before (in a different color) for the new Rx. Saves oodles of money.
If you changed out the actual bookshelves and the tchotchkes, it would look like the shelves in my house. Down to the mix of romance and sci-fi, style manuals and gaming books. We even have the vase of gaming and dust too! 😀
Does anyone actually using a dining table for dining? Seems so passé. lol
Oh, Ready Player One you will flat out love. Enjoy, it’s really great!
And “Fangirl” by Rowell (YA) has some adorable, adorable scenes where she reads to a boy- great book, btw.
Yeah my eyes hurt too…My family always said it was snoopy to browse someone else’s shelves but it’s like Christmas without the credit card bill!
I have 2 walls of books in 2 bedrooms, 10 bookcases filled in my living room and my closets are packed with boxes. And I just got rid of a few thousand due to space…I have a problem and I know it.
I love the idea of floating shelves but last time I tried it one fell and ruined some of my favorite books.
Love your photobomber!
I too have bookcases everywhere but I will admit that my love of shoes has temporarily overtaken my love of books. My beautiful shoes have taken over two of my bookcases. I replaced them with two more but the new ones have less shelves.
For the record, I have a bed set up in my dining room for guests. It also happens to have an excellent view of the TV. Is it a little odd? More than likely yes but since I consider my kitchen to be ornamental, when it’s ugly as all get out, the odds of me needing a dining room and a dining room table are practically nonexistent. Therefore, I will not judge your use or lack thereof your dining room table.