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Personal libraries
Oct. 3rd, 2006 11:43 amJay Parini says here:
We arrange our books in several different collections: autographed books are in the dining room (and this represents a battle lost: when we moved into our house, I told Rob I really didn't want books in the dining room. We now have four floor-to-ceiling bookcases in that room. Three are autographed books, both hardback and paper, and one is non-autographed general fiction paperbacks.) My office has my personal SF and Fantasy collection, as well as my 19th century multi-volume edition of the collected works of William Shakespeare, inherited from my great-grandfather. Rob's office has general fiction hardbacks. The living room has two collections: oversized and mysteries. Non-fiction has been banished the basement for lack of room. Our bedroom has Rob's SF and Fantasy, all paperbacks. The girls room has children and YA books. All collections are autographed, except for the girls' and nonfiction in the basement.
Then there is another tottering stack in a corner of the dining room, reaching almost to the ceiling, of books of every possible type which represent a catch-all pile of "books we cannot jam into the bookcases."
What does your library reveal about you?
A personal library is an X-ray of the owner's soul. It offers keys to a particular temperament, an intellectual disposition, a way of being in the world. Even how the books are arranged on the shelves deserves notice, even reflection.My library says that I like SF and Fantasy, with a particular interest in Tolkien. I also enjoy 19th century British literature. I think, however, that it doesn't quite represent my most current tastes, simply because I ran out of room a number of years ago for adding new volumes.
We arrange our books in several different collections: autographed books are in the dining room (and this represents a battle lost: when we moved into our house, I told Rob I really didn't want books in the dining room. We now have four floor-to-ceiling bookcases in that room. Three are autographed books, both hardback and paper, and one is non-autographed general fiction paperbacks.) My office has my personal SF and Fantasy collection, as well as my 19th century multi-volume edition of the collected works of William Shakespeare, inherited from my great-grandfather. Rob's office has general fiction hardbacks. The living room has two collections: oversized and mysteries. Non-fiction has been banished the basement for lack of room. Our bedroom has Rob's SF and Fantasy, all paperbacks. The girls room has children and YA books. All collections are autographed, except for the girls' and nonfiction in the basement.
Then there is another tottering stack in a corner of the dining room, reaching almost to the ceiling, of books of every possible type which represent a catch-all pile of "books we cannot jam into the bookcases."
What does your library reveal about you?