Displaying Books in My New House
I bought a house a couple months ago, and since then I've been working to get it into livable shape. For me, an important part of that process means getting my books out of their boxes and onto shelves where they belong!
I've finally managed to do most of that, and I figured I'd share some of my book setups. Hope you enjoy!
Built-In Bookshelf
One of the coolest features of my new house is a built-in shelf in the living room right at the bottom of the stairs. It's particularly great because I really need more shelf space. I'm using it to display some of my more photogenic pictures. The pride of my collection here is my hardcover (and one softcover) Library of America books, which are high-quality publications of the works of highly acclaimed writers. On the bottom I have books by two of my favorite journalists/essayists, Benjamin De Casseres and H. L. Mencken (they were friends). On the top are somewhat random sets of nicer books in my overall collection, including 5 books from the complete set of Ralph Waldo Emerson's works, a 2-volume set of Longfellow's poems, an 8-volume Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire set from the the Folio Society, and a 4-volume set of Josephus' works. I've got a little room to add a few more things up there, but I'm still deciding what to put there (the several Folio Society editions of Thomas Hardy works I have make a logical possibility).
Star Wars Books
I've been reading books set in the Star Wars galaxy since I was in high school, and I don't plan to stop any time soon. I read everything from the Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy to the Rogue Squadron novels and a bunch of other stuff. I had drifted away from reading Star Wars books around the early 2000s – not solely because of the prequels, but they certainly didn't help – and I even gave away a huge box of books and comics that I had been collecting since I was a teenager (one of the dumbest things I've done, I can admit now). I took up reading books from the Star Wars galaxy again a few years ago after I participated in a Star Wars class from Signum University. While I was disappointed when Disney-owned LucasFilm tossed out the Extended Universe stories, some of which I had enjoyed very much, I have to admit that many of the new storylines coming out have been well done. I've particularly liked the stories by Claudia Gray, Lost Stars and Bloodline. Anyway, I've been building up my collection again, and here it is in my new house.
Norton Critical Editions
For the most part, I don't collect books that are in the public domain unless I have a particular interest in the author, I find a great deal on a first or early edition, or I run across a particularly nice publication. One series of classic works that I've really come to enjoy the look of are the Norton Critical Editions (NCEs). They're printed in nice trade paperback formats with extra materials in them – which is why they're so often used in literature classes. Of course, a lot of the ones I run across are at library sales or used bookstores, which means they often have writing in them, and it's a little difficult to find one in really good condition.
The first NCE I had was Emma by Jane Austen, which I bought back in college for a class. I had gotten rid of it awhile back, but I recently ran across one in good condition at a used book sale. I've now got more than 30 NCEs and I'm always on the lookout for more.
Stephen King Bookshelf
This one is right next to my bed – which puts it within easy reach, but maybe isn't so good for having sweet dreams! I wouldn't say I'm a huge Stephen King fan, but I probably do have more of his books than anyone else (mostly because he's such a prolific f***). I really like his Dark Tower series – see my review of The Gunslinger – and some of the stories connected with it are worth reading. All in all, I tend to think that his short stories and smaller novels are better than his epic tomes. When he gets to explaining himself too much, things just become a bit too convoluted and...well, unbelievable.
While I still have some of his books as mass market paperbacks, I generally keep an eye out for first edition hardcovers whenever I got to book sales. There's a really good reference site, Stephen King Collector, that provides important details about first editions of all his works. It's not always easy to tell, especially when it comes to having the right dust covers and everything.
But Wait, There's More!
These are not all of my books by any means. I have quite a few more, but this post has already gotten quite long. Perhaps I'll follow up in a week or so with some more pictures of how I'm displaying my book collection in my new house. Until then, thanks for reading!
Recent Posts
- Milestone: 300 Followers
- Monday Motivation: Dusting Off
- 5 Free(ish) Cryptocurrency Courses Online
- Road to the Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
- Salt City Comic Con Recap
| Follow Curtis | Follow Bookdotes |
|---|---|
Wow, awesome S. King bookshelf! Really hoping to collect more of his works in the future. Though I'm not sure he has written anything that could top Misery - that was one hell of a ride reading that book.
Thanks -- I read Misery awhile back, and remembered liking it but don't remember many specifics (except a few differences between the book and the movie).
I loved the part in the end where on several pages of the book certain letters start to get missing as the author in the book loses keys from his typewriter. Quite the immersion technique!
This is nice men. Good job
I am a big reader too. I am connecting on your social media profiles. Are you on goodreads.com? My profile is https://www.goodreads.com/sallylovesanimals It really helps me keep track of what I want to read, etc. Especially for series. I have read 127 books so far this year. LOL.