Shelfari

I’ve added a bookshelf to my sidebar. They’re very personal things, bookshelves. I don’t know about you but I find it fascinating to find out what people read. It gives you a little insight into what kind of people they are don’t you think?

I used to keep almost every book I read which was fine when we lived in a high rise flat with a living room so huge we had three full book cases along one wall! Then, when we moved to this house the book cases had to go, there was simply no room. And if the bookcases went then the books would have to go too, it was a simple matter of logistics. Getting rid of my beloved books though, wasn’t quite so simple. I procrastinated for days over which ones to keep and which to give away but necessity won through in the end. I put on my determined face, braced myself for the affray and, with loins as girded as could be, I tackled the almost impossible task of whittling fifteen shelves of books down to just three. (Well, four if you count the cupboard full of cookery books in the kitchen.)

There were some tough choices to make along the way but here I am a good few years later and I’m still managing with those same three shelves. (Not neat and tidy like that pretty little Shelfari thing in my side bar – but then who has bookshelves that look like that!?) I’ll willingly admit, they’re a little overcrowded these days and in grave need of another downsizing but that chore has become a little easier with time and now I can be quite brutal about it when I have to. Many books I buy I can simply pass along to friends and family once I’ve read them and only a select few can find a permanent place there to be re-read at a later date.

Here’s a strange thing though. I hadn’t been signed up to Shelfari for more than a day when I received two emails from fellow Shelfari signer uppers, both asking me if they should read this or that book. Now, to me, that’s just odd. I mean, you wouldn’t stop a stranger in the street just because he’s carrying a book, and say “excuse me, but do you think I should read that book too?” Would you? How am I supposed to know if a complete stranger will enjoy the same books as me? I swap books all the time with a couple of friends but that’s because we’ve spoken about them and we know what each other likes. But these people don’t know me from Adam so why would they want my opinion on whether they should read something? Very strange indeed.

It occurs to me though, that you can probably tell as much about a person from the books that are not put on the shelves as you can from those that are. And seeing as that’s what this entry is about – putting a bit of myself out there – I thought I’d leave you with a few of those that didn’t, for one reason or another, make it from the real world to the virtual:

The third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Tales of Baron Munchausen

Mr God, this is Anna

The works of Rudyard Kipling

The works of Oscar Wilde

Bernard Cornwall (Tales of Roman legionaries)

Far Side cartoons

A host of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books

More Stephen King and Dean Koontz

The little Prince

The rest of Spike Milligan’s war memoirs

Readers Digest book of facts

The Bible

History of photography

Many books on selected photographers

A Guide to badminton tactics

O.E.D, Roget’s Thesaurus,

Various dictionaries: Reverse; Quotations; Slang; English/Spanish; English/Italian; English/Greek; English/French

And let's not forget that cupboard full of cookery books in the kitchen.

So there you have it, a little glimpse into my reading habits, make of it what you will.

Tatty - bye. X